Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434) 560 Drillfield Drive Newman Library, Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 Business Number: 540-231-6308 specref@vt.edu URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu
Special Collections and University Archives Staff
Repository
Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Identification
Ms.1997.002
Title
Smithfield Preston Foundation Papers 1784-1881, n.d.
Quantity
0.6 Cubic Feet, 2 boxes
Creator
Madison, Elizabeth Preston, 1762-1837
Creator
Preston, Edmonia M. (Edmonia Madison Randolph), 1787-1847
Creator
Preston, Francis, 1765-1835
Creator
Preston, John, 1764-1827
Creator
Preston, Thomas L. (Thomas Lewis), 1812-1903
Creator
Preston, William C. (William Campbell), 1794-1860
Language
The materials in the collection are in English.
Abstract
The Smithfield Preston Foundation Papers consist of 200 letters written almost exclusively by two generations of members of
the Preston family of southwest Virginia, Kentucky, and South Carolina, to James and Sarah Preston McDowell of Rockbridge
County, Virginia.
These materials are not in copyright and personal, scholarship, and educational use is permitted. Contact Special Collections
and University Archives for assistance in determining exhibit/display, commercial, or other use.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization
form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition
form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with
forms or to submit a completed form.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Existence and Location of Copies
Selected letters from this collection have been digitized and are available online (most with text transcripts).
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Smithfield Preston Foundation Papers,
Ms1997-002, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Source of Acquisition
The Smithfield Preston Foundation Papers were donated to Special Collections in May 1997.
Processing Information
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Smithfield Preston Foundation Papers commenced in 1997 and was completed
in 1998. Additional description was completed in 2009. Minor updates to the finding aid were made in 2020.
Smithfield Plantation is the historic home of the Preston family, one of the founding families of Blacksburg and Montgomery
County, Virginia. It was built by William Preston (1729-83), who emigrated from northern Ireland with his family in 1737.
He married Susanna Smith in 1761 and settled at Greenfield in Botetourt County in 1769. Preston established himself as a leader
in the Virginia frontier by serving in the militia in the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars, in the House of Burgesses
representing Augusta County from 1766 to 1768 and Botetourt County in 1769, and as County Lieutenant of Fincastle and Montgomery.
He was appointed surveyor of Fincastle County in 1772 and moved his family to that area. He built Smithfield, named in honor
of his wife, in 1773. Smithfield was the birthplace and home of three Virginia governors, including James Patton Preston (son
of William), and John Buchanan Floyd and John Floyd, Jr. (grandsons of William).
Smithfield Plantation remained in the family for generations and is currently maintained by the Montgomery County branch of
the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. Greenfield was a home in Botetourt County where William and
Susanna Smith Preston resided in the 1760s.
For more information about the Preston family, see John Frederick Dorman, The Prestons of Smithfield and Greenfield in Virginia (Filson Club, Inc.; Louisville, Kentucky, 1982).
The Smithfield Preston Foundation Papers consist of 200 letters written almost exclusively by two generations of members of
the Preston family of southwest Virginia, Kentucky, and South Carolina, to James and Sarah Preston McDowell of Rockbridge
County, Virginia. The collection also includes a will of William Campbell Preston, an obituary of John Smith Preston and his
photograph, and a circular asking for funds for a memorial in honor of John Smith Preston.
Many of the correspondents are the children and grandchildren of William (1729-83) and Susanna Smith (1740-1825) Preston,
settlers of Botetourt and then Montgomery County, Virginia. The letters were written by Sarah Preston McDowell's brothers
and sisters, and their spouses. Other letters were written by the children of her brothers Francis Preston and James Patton
Preston. Most of the letters are addressed to Sarah Preston McDowell and James McDowell or their son James McDowell and his
wife Susanna Smith Preston McDowell.
There are several collections in Special Collections related to the Smithfield Plantation and the Preston family in Special
Collections and University Archives and the University Libraries. Links and descriptions can be found on the Preston Family Resoures Research Guide .
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