Background
PRESTON, John White was born on May 14, 1877 in Woodbury, Cannon Company, Tennessee. Son of Hugh Lawson and Thankful Caroline (Doak) Preston.
PRESTON, John White was born on May 14, 1877 in Woodbury, Cannon Company, Tennessee. Son of Hugh Lawson and Thankful Caroline (Doak) Preston.
Burritt College, Spencer. Tennessee, Bachelor of Arts; P.G. Work, Bethany College, W. Virginia.
Admitted to Tennessee bar, 1897, and practiced in Woodbury. Removed to California, 1902. Member Preston & Preston, Ukiah and San Francisco.
President Preston Loan & Investment Company. Director Fort Bragg (California) Commercial Bank. Chairman Mendocino County Democratic Central Committee, 1904-1908.
Member California House of Representatives, 1908. Renominated, 1910 (declined). United State Attorneys Northern District of California, December 23, 1913-July 24, 1918, resigned.
Special assistant United State Attorneys general for war work, July 24, 1918-May 15, 1919, resigned. Practiced in San Francisco. The American Association For Justice of Supreme Court of State of California, 1926-1935, reelected, 1930, without opposition, to 12-year term.
Resigned and resumed private practice, October 1935. Appointed by the President as special counsel for United States Government to prosecute Elk Hills Oil litigation. Also special assistant to attorney general of the United States in charge tideland eminent domain proceedings at Terminal Island.
President Lawyers Club of Los Angeles, 1940.
Member American, California State, Los Angeles and San Francisco bar associations. Clubs: Commonwealth, Press (San Francisco).
Spouse Sara Rucker, January 8, 1902, Nashville, Tennessee.