PRESTON 939 PRESTON He bought a farm near Chester, then sold it, and traveled into Georgia, where he spent some of his time with General Wayne, finally returning to Chester and practising his pro- fession for several years. In 1794 he married Orpale Reese, the only daughter of William and his wife, Mary Reese, a woman with a fortune which Preston in- vested so wisely that the estate grew largely and formed the fund by which the large charity that bears his name has been sustained. After marriage he removed to Newton and took an active part in public affairs. During the western insurrection he volunteered, and under Colonel McClelland served as a soldier in the expedition to maintain the laws and preserve the peace of the country. For this violation of discipline of Friends he was dis- owned, but by his inherent force, clear judg- ment, patient and admirably regulated mind he later became one of their most useful mem- bers. Preston was a member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature, first in the House (1794- 1800) and then in the Senate (1808-1811), and while in the Senate, as chairman of the com- mittee on education, prepared the bill which became the law in operation for more than twenty years, under which the poor children of Pennsylvania received gratuitous education. His second marriage to Jane, daughter of George Thomas, farmer of Newtown, took place in 1812. In 1816 his wife induced him to move to Philadelphia, where the following year he became a member of city councils and was chiefly instrumental in promoting the construc- tion of extensive water works for the city. He became a director of the Bank of Pennsylvania and his services as director of the Schuylkill Navigation Company were attested by the gift of a silver vase from the stockholders that is now in the Preston Retreat. He died at Philadelphia, .A.pril 4, 1836. In his last will, dated May 12, 183S, he made various bequests to relatives and friends, and then left the larger portion of his estate, nearly $250,000, to the foundation of the Preston Retreat, "The persons to be admitted shall be married women of good character, and in indigent circumstances, who are near the time of their confinement and at the time of appli- cation shall be resident in the city or countv of Philadelphia or county of Delaware, and shall produce satisfactory testimonials of char- acter." In pursuance of the bequest, the lying-in home was incorporated June 16, 1836. by an act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania with the title of "The Preston Retreat," and the cornerstone was laid July 17, 1837, Eli K. Price, his close friend and an executor, de- livering the address. Owing to shrinkage in investments which prevented the opening of the institution for many years, it at last threw open its doors for the service of the public and at once made a great reputation for itself 1)y the wise choice of William Goodell (q. v.), the eminent gynecologist and professor in the University of Pennsylvania (1865-1887), as the first resident physician. The second choice. Dr. Joseph Price (q. v.), was no less remark- able (1887-1894), and the latest incumbent is Richard Norris, surgeon, obstetrician and writer. Howard A. Kelly. Founders' Week Memorial Volume, F. P. Henry, 1909, pp. 781-794. R. C. Norris. Preston, Robert J. (1841-1906) Robert Preston, alienist, was the son of John F. Preston, of Washington County, Virginia, and was born in that county in 1841 ; he was a member of a prominent Virginian family. He went as a lad to Emory and Heniy College, Virginia, taking the A. M., and study- ing medicine at and graduating from the Uni- versity of Virginia in 1867. He was a member of the Tri-State Medical Association of the Carolinas and Virginia; honorary fellowship was conferred upon him by the Boston Gynecological Society, the Lynchburg (Virginia) Academy of Medicine, and the Medical Society of Virginia (1895). During the Civil War he served his state first as a private and, later, by promotion, as a captain in the Twenty-first Virginia Cavalry, and made for himself a record of gallantry. He joined the Medical Society of Virginia in 1871, proved a zealous member, and had tha honor of election to the presidency in 1894; he had the same honor conferred upon him by the Abingdon Academy of Medicine and by the American Medico-psychological Association in 1901-02. Was president of the latter in 1892. In 1887 he was elected first assistant physician to the Southwestern State Hospital (for the Insane), and in November, 1888, superintend- ent of the same, a position he filled until his death. Dr. Preston was a man of a high order of intelligence and an excellent physician. As superintendent of the hospital he made a faith- ful and popular official ; a good disciplinarian, using reason and persuasion rather than harsh- ness and force, he was eminently successful in the management of his unfortunate charges. Dr. Preston married twice; his first wife.
