FRANCIS PRESTON.
The distinguished lineage of the Preston family has been referred to
many times in previous pages of this work. The subject of the present
sketch traces his connection with the family through his father, who was
Col. John Preston of Walnut Grove, and his mother, who was Margaret
B., daughter of Col. William Preston of Montgomery county, Virginia.
Francis Preston was born at the family homestead at Walnut Grove,
March 26, 1822. At Waverly, Loudon county, Virginia, he married Virginia
Moffett, who was born at Waverly, the daughter of Robert Moffett,
of Loudon county, her mother a daughter of William Mead, of that
county. Of this marriage four sons were born: Francis E. and William
A., now deceased; Robert M., now an officer in the People's National
Bank at Leesburg, Virginia; John C., now a practicing physician at
Dade City, Florida.
Francis Preston married secondly Martha Powell Fulton, and there
were two children of this marriage, Charles Fulton (deceased) and Mary
Taylor. Mrs. Preston is the daughter of Rev. Creed Fulton, an eminent
divine of the Holston conference, the principal founder of Emory and
Henry College in Washington county, Master Mason. Her mother is
Mary, daughter of Major James Taylor, grandniece of Gen. Wm. Campbell
[1]
of Kings Mountain fame.
