Preston, William Ballard, 1805-1862

Scope and Content Member of the Virginia General Assembly from Campbell County from 1853 to 1858. Letter written June 28, 1857, to William Ballard Preston (1805-1862), a Montgomery County, Virginia, lawyer who rose to the office of Secretary of the Navy (1849-1850) under Zachary Taylor. In 1858 Preston was involved in the negotiations to establish a line of steamers from Norfolk, Virginia, to the west coast of Africa, which failed to materialize due to the Civil War. Deane writes Preston about the possibility...

Abstract

The Henry Edmundson Letters contain nine letters, eight of which were written to Edmundson and one, the earliest of the nine, written by Edmundson in 1814 to General John Preston. The senders of the various letters include William Ballard Preston; Francis H. Smith, superintendent of Virginia Military Institute (V.M.I.); Bernard Peyton; Isaac White; and Joseph Robert Woods.

Abstract

The collection consists of family papers, receipts, correspondence, and original and photocopied materials relating to the Preston family, primarily William and Susanna Smith Preston, John Preston, and William Ballard Preston, dating from the 1740s to the 1880s. Other materials include 19th and 20th century genealogy research on the Prestons.