Preston family (Solitude, Blacksburg, Va.)
Biographical Note
Robert Taylor Preston was born at Smithfield Plantation in Blacksburg, Virginia, in 1809 to James Patton and Nancy Ann Taylor Preston. He was a student at Hampden-Sydney College from 1825 to 1828. He qualified as a captain of the 75th Regiment of the (Virginia?) Militia in 1830 and was commissioned as Justice of the Peace of Montgomery County in 1837. In 1833, he married Mary Hart (1802-1882) and they had three children: Virginia Ann Emily (1834-1898), Benjamin Hart (1836-1851), and James Patton (1838-1901). Robert Taylor Preston built his residence "Solitude" in the early 1830s. At the start of the Civil War he was appointed a colonel of the volunteers in the Provisional Army of Virginia. In July 1861, he was appointed a colonel of the 28th Virginia Infantry, Confederate States of America, where he served until the infantry's reorganization in April 1862. Beginning in August 1864 he served as a lieutenant colonel and then a colonel of the 4th Virginia Reserves, and surrendered with the troops of General J. E. Johnston in North Carolina in April 1865. In 1872, he sold the land to the state to establish the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College on the condition he and his wife could live in the house until their deaths. Robert Taylor Preston died in 1880. Mary Preston died in 1881.
Found in 259 Collections and/or Records:
General Order, No. 20: Organization of the First Corps. of Army of the Potomac. By order of Brig. General Beauregard, Signed: Thomas Jordan, Manassas Junction, June 21, 1861 (Ms1992-003)
General Order, No. 25: Ordered changes in leave application process. By order of Col. Cocke, Manassas Junction, June 23, 1861 (Ms1992-003)
General Order, No. 29: Concerning the mustering of troops tomorrow. By order of Genl. Beauregard Signed: Sam. Jones, Manassas Junction, June 29, 1861 (Ms1992-003)
General Order, Order of documentation of the sick of the Company by the surgeon and report to company commander. Signed: Col. Cocke, Head Quarters, 5th Brigade, June 28, 1861 (Ms1992-003)
General Order, Surgeon Thomas H. Williams appointed Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac. By order of Brig. General Beauregard, Signed: Thomas Jordan, Head Quarters, Army of the Potomac, June 27, 1861 (Ms1992-003)
Invitation, Inauguration Ball, Miss Virginia T. Preston, March 5, 1849 (Ms1992-003)
Anna Whitehead Kenney Papers
The Anna Whitehead Kenney Papers contains a collection of biographical information about local families compiled by Kenney during her time as a curator at Smithfield Plantation.