PRESCOTT 937 PRESTON six feet in height. His son, Dr. Oliver Pres- cott, Jr., vouches for the truth of his father's sleeping habit and says he has frequently travelled with him and witnessed it, "the horse continuing the whole time at the usual travel- ling pace." "He would, when drowsiness came upon him, brace himself in the stirrup, rest one hand on the pommel of the saddle and resign himself without fear, for miles together, to quiet repose." Dr. Prescott was one of the original incor- porators of the Massachusetts Medical Society and was president of the Middlesex Medical Society during the whole period of its exist- ence. In 1791 Harvard conferred upon him the honorary degree of M. D. He took a prominent part in the Revolution. Having been major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel of militia under the King ; in 1775 he was made brigadier-general of militia by the Supreme Executive Council of the Massachu- setts Bay, his command being assigned to guard duty, for the most part, and in organ- izing the town committees of correspondence. In 1779, on the death of John Winthrop, he was appointed his successor in the office of judge of probate for the county of Middlese.K. and gave great satisfaction by the tactful di.s- charge of his duties. He was the first president of the trustees of the Groton Academy, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1756 he married Lydia, daughter of David Baldwin, of Sudbury, by whom he had ten children, four of them surviving him. He died at Groton "of a pectoral dropsy," November 17, 1804. Walter L. Burkage. The Physicians of Groton, S. A. Green, Groton, 1890. Amer. Med. Biog., James Thacher, 1828. Prescott, William (1788-1875) William Prescott. naturalist and genealogist, was born in Sanbornton, New Hampshire, De- cember 29, 1788, and died in Concord, New Hampshire, October 18, 1875, at the age of 86. He was indentured to a farmer at sixteen years of age, received few educational advantages, taught school and studied medicine, receiving an M. D. from Dartmouth Medical School in 1815. From this time he practised in Gilman- ton until 1833, when he moved to Lynn, Massa- chusetts, and joined the state medical society. Wliile in New Hampshire he was a most active member of the New Hampshire Medical So- ciety, acting on important committees to revise the by-laws and to visit medical institutions, and attending most of the meetings. Lynn was his home until 1845, when he went to Concord, New Hampshire, becoming a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Medical Association. He served in both branches of the legislature. He was an enthu- siastic collector of minerals and shells. He wrote the "Prescott Memorial" (Boston, 1870). Gen. Cat. Dartmouth Coll., 1769-1910. Hanover. 1911. .Appleton's Cyclop. Amer. Biog., N. Y., 1888. Trans. N. H. Med. Soc. Preston, Ann (1813-1872) Ann Preston was the daughter of Amos and Margaret Preston, and was born at West Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Decem- ber 1, 1813. Her reputation as a physician was gained in Philadelphia, where she spent most of her time after leaving her country home. Being closely confined by grave responsi- bilities, her early education was not a liberal one. She took an active interest in the anti- slavery cause and early became known as a forcible writer on the subject. An incident is told of her which illustrates the fearless courage which characterized her actions and the work she did to help those who were fleeing from bondage. One Sunday morning while her parents were attending a Friends' meeting a fugitive slave woman was forwarded to their house. Miss Preston concealed her in a closet in the garret and made her comfortable, anxiously waiting the time of her removal to the next station. The man at vv'hose house the woman was last concealed came running with the infor- mation that his house was being searched by the slave-catchers and they would be there next. Miss Preston was alone, but with great cool- ness she locked the woman into the closet, then went to the pasture and caught a horse, harnessed him to a carriage and after dress- ing the woman in her mother's Quaker clothes, carefully adding the two veils often worn by Friends when riding, they started in the direc- tion from which the slave-catchers were ex- pected. They soon appeared, riding rapidly toward them, but seeing only a young girl and an apparently elderly woman leisurely going to meetifig, they rode rapidly on. Miss Preston took the woman to the house which had been recently searched and she eventually reached Canada in safety.
