80 College Rd, Hampden Sydney, VA 23943, United States
William Preston attended Hampden-Sydney College from 1821 to 1824.
In 1825 William Ballard Preston studied law at the University of Virginia.
80 College Rd, Hampden Sydney, VA 23943, United States
William Preston attended Hampden-Sydney College from 1821 to 1824.
In 1825 William Ballard Preston studied law at the University of Virginia.
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1849
William Ballard Preston was born on November 29, 1805, in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. He was the eldest son of James Patton and Ann Taylor Preston, a grandson of William and Susannah Smith Preston, and a great-grandson of John Preston, first of the family in America, who came to Virginia from Ireland about 1740.
William Preston entered Hampden-Sydney College in 1821, took an active part in literary and forensic activities, and was graduated in 1824. In 1825 he studied law at the University of Virginia, which had been chartered during his father's governorship.
William Ballard Preston was admitted to the bar in 1826. He soon rose to prominence in the legal profession and served in the House of Delegates, 1830-32 and 1844-45, and in the state Senate, 1840-1844.
In 1846 he was elected as a Whig to Congress, where on February 7, 1849, he made a speech in support of the Whig policy of admitting California as a free state, California and New Mexico (1849). In March 1849 he was appointed a secretary of the navy by President Taylor and served until the reorganization of the cabinet by President Fillmore in July 1850.
Resuming his law practice, he acquired a state-wide reputation as a defense lawyer. In 1858 he was sent on a mission to France to negotiate for the establishment of a line of steamers from Norfolk to Havre, but this plan, apparently on the way to success, became impossible with the opening of the Civil War a few years later.
He was elected from Montgomery County to the secession convention of Virginia that met in February 1861. With his committee he met Lincoln informally on April 12, the next morning heard him read a statement of policy and reported to the convention on April 15. Since on the same day came the call for 75, 000 volunteers, the report was not discussed except in one speech by Stuart of the committee.
He was elected senator from Virginia to the Confederate States Congress and served till his death.
William Ballard Preston as a Secretary of the Navy made so, that the United States Navy acquired new duties in the course of America's westward expansion and acquisition of California. During his administration, the Navy also was progressing through a technological transition, especially in the area of moving from sails to steam propulsion, and with the improvements in gunnery and naval ordnance. He also influenced the Preston Resolution passed, and Virginia left the Union.
In the session 1831-1832, William Preston took an active part in the opposition to slavery, supporting the "postnatal plan of abolition" enunciated by Thomas Jefferson, and in this, he had the support of his uncle, John Floyd, who was then governor.
On November 21, 1839, William Preston was married to Lucinda Staples Redd, of Patrick Court House, Virginia. The couple had three children: Waller Redd Preston, Lucinda Redd Preston, and Janie Grace Preston.
