Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/140

PRESTON. Thomas Scott, clergyman, b. in Hariloi-.l, Conn., 23 July, 1824; d. in New York city. 4 Xciv.. is'ii. He was graduated at Trinity in 1843, and at thr (General theological seminary in 1846, after which he was assistant rector of the Church of the Annunciation, and subse- quently of St. Luke's, in New York city, until 1849. Accepting the Roman Catholic faith, he then went to St. Joseph's theological seminary in Fordham, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1H50. After serving as an assistant in the cathe- dral in New York city, and as pastor of St. Mary's church in Yonkers, N. Y., he was in 1853 appoint- ed chancellor of the archdiocese of New York, and in 1873 became vicar-general in connection with the duties of the chancellorship. Since 1861 he had been pastor of St. Ann's church, and in 18.81 he was appointed a domestic prelate of the pope's household, with the title of monsignor. The de- gree of S. T. I>. was conferred on him by Scion Hall college. N. J., in 1880. He has published 'Ark of the Covenant, or Life of the Blessed Vir- gin Mary" (New York. 1*60); "Life of St. Mary Magdalene" (1860); "Sermons for the Principal Seasons of the Sacred Year" (1864); "Life of St. Vincent de Paul and its Lessons " (1866) ; " Lec- tures on Christian Unity, Advent, 1866 " (1867) ; Tin. 1 Purgatorian Manual, or a Selection of Pray- ers and Devotions" (1867); "Lectures on Reason and Revelation" (1868); "The Vicar of Christ" (1871); "The Divine Sanctuary: Series of Medi- tations upon the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus" (1878) ; " Divine Paraclete " (1880) ; " Protestantism and the Bible" (1880); "Protestantism and the Church" (1882); "God and Reason" (1884); and " Watch on Calvary " (1885).

PRESTON. William, soldier, b. in County Donegal. hv!and, 25 Dec., 172'l; d. in Montgomery county, Va., 28 July, 1783. His father. John, emi- grated to this country in 1735, and settled in Au- gusta county, William received a classical educa- tion, and in early life acquired a taste for litera- ture. He became deputy sheriff of Augusta coun- ty in 1750, was elected to the house of burgesses a short time afterward, and accompanied Gen. Va-h- ington on several exploring expeditions in the west. This led to a correspondence and a friend- ship between them, which continued till Pivsion's death. He was appointed one of two commission- ers to make a treaty with the Shawnee and Dela- ware Indians in 1757, and, by negotiations iih Cornstalk, secured peace along the western fron- tiers for several years. The privations that the party suffered on their return journey compelled them to eat the " tugs " or straps of rawhide with which their packs were fastened, and Preston, in memory of the event, called that branch of the Big Sandy river "Tug Fork," which name it still retains. He became surveyor of the new county of Montgomery in 1771, was early engaged in the organization of troops for the Revolutionary war, became colonel in 1775, and led his regiment at Guilford Court-House, S. C., where he received in- juries that caused his death in the following July. His son, Francis, congressman, b. at his resi- dence in Greenfield, near Amsterdam, Botetourt co., Va., 2 Aug., 1765; d. in Columbia. S. C., 2"> May. 1835, was graduated at William and Mary in 1783, studied law under George Wythc. praeti-ed with success in Montgomery, Washington, and other counties, and in 1792 was elected to congress, serving two terms. He then declined re-election and removed to Abingdon. Va., where he subse- quently resided. At the beginning of the second war with Great Britain he enlisted with the appoint- ment of colonel of volunteers, and marched with his regiment to Norfolk, and subsequently he was appointed brigadier-general and major-general of militia. He was frequently a member of the Vir- ginia house of delegates and of the state senate, where his ability in debate and graceful elocution gave him high rank. He was the personal friend of Madison. Jefferson, Monroe, and Chief-Justice Marshall. He married in 1792 Sarah, the daugh- ter of William Campbell, the hero of King's Moun- tain. Their son. William Campbell, senator, b. in Philadelphia, Pa.. 27 Dec.. 1794; d. in Columbia, S. C., 22 May. 1860, began his education at Wash- ington college, Va.. but was sent to the south on account of his delicate lungs, and was graduated at the College of South Carolina in 1812. On his return to Virginia he studied law under William Wirt. and wa~ admitted to the bar, but failing health again compelled him to seek a change of climate, and, after an extensive tour of the WCM .,n hor-rliack, he went abroad, where on his arrival he formed the beginning of a life-long intimacy with Washington Irving. Through Mr. Irving he was placed on terms of intimacy at Abbotsford, and in the intervals of his law studies at the Uni- versity of Edinburgh, where Hugh S. Legare was his fellow-student, he made several pedestrian tours with Irving through Scotland, northern England, and Wales. Together they witnessed many of the scenes of the " Sketch-Book." He re- turind to Virginia in 1820, and settled in South Carolina in 1822, where he at once won a brilliant reputation as an advocate and orator. He was in the legislature in 1828-'32, was an ar- dent advocate of free- trade and state rights, became a leader of the nullification party, and in 1833 was elect- ed to the U. S. senate as a Calhoun Demo- crat. Among the most carefully prepared and eloquent of his speeches in the senate wasthaton the French spoliation claims, which was praised by Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and states-

men of all parties.

Differing with his colleague, John C. Calhoun, and also with his constituents, in regard to the support of President Van Buren's policy, he resigned his seat and resumed his law-practice in 1842. He was president of the College of South Carolina from 1845 till his retirement in 1851. When he accepted the office the institution had lost many members, but under his guidance it rose to a prosperity that it had never Before enjoyed, and became the most popular educational institution in the south. He also established the Columbia lyceum, and gave it a large and valuable library. Harvard gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1846. As a popular orator Mr. Preston was the peer of his maternal uncle. Patrick Henry, in many instance-. arousing his audiences to enthusiasm and the next moment moving them to tears. l- style lia- lieeii described as florid, but his vocabulary was large, and the illustrations and classical allusions that ornamented his speeches were as naturally employed in his familiar conversation. He was a classical scholar, and it was universally