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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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Reverend Edwin T. Preston Reverend
Edwin T. Preston, a venerable and representative citizen of Sherman Township,
Jasper County, now living on section 2, is a native of Campbell County, VA. He
was born March 14, 1813, and is a son of Peter and Abbie (Hole) Preston. His father was born in Virginia, and was of English lineage.
In 1635, two families by the name of Preston left England and immigrated
to the New World. Soon after two
more families of the same name crossed the broad Atlantic, and all located in
New England. A fifth family left Yorkshire, England, and settled in Backs
County, PA, in 1718. William Preston was the founder of the family to which our
subject belongs. Three uncles of
Edwin served in the War of 1812, and another uncle fought in the Indian War
later on. When
our subject was a lad of twelve summers he removed with his parents to
Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1825, becoming early settlers of that locality.
There he was reared amid the wild scenes of pioneer life, and aided in
clearing and developing a farm. The
subscription schools afforded him his early education, and he afterwards
attended a Quaker select school. Though
his privileges were limited, he has been a student all his life and has become a
well-informed man. For several
winters in Ohio, he engaged in teaching school, and then studied law under E. R.
Eckley, of Carroll County, Ohio, for two years, after which he was admitted to
the Bar. In 1842, he began the
study of Bible theology, and after several years, in 1857, was duly ordained as
an Elder and engaged in ministerial work for some years. On
the 30th of May 1844, Mr. Preston wedded Mary J. Chambers, who was horn in
Washtenaw County, Michigan, June 15, 1825, and is a daughter of Thomas and
Prudence (Morton) Chambers, the former a native of Ireland, and the latter of
Massachusetts. Her parents were
early settlers of Washtenaw County, and Mrs. Preston is said to have been one of
the first white children born in the city of Ann Arbor, a portion of which her
father at one time owned. During
her girlhood the family removed to Washington County, Ohio, and she was there
reared. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Preston
were born the following children: William S., a graduate of the law department
of the Iowa State University, now in Sioux City, Iowa. Rev.
Charles W., a graduate of the Iowa State University and the Yale Theological
School, now pastor of the Congregational Church in Curtis, NE; Rev. Abi L., who
graduated from the medical department of the Iowa State University, and went as
a missionary to Turkey several years ago, but owing to failing health was forced
to return home, and is now located in Magnolia, Iowa, as pastor of the
Congregational Church; Junius W., formerly a student in the Iowa State
University, and the present Assessor of Sherman Township; Rev. Hartwell L., who
graduated at the State University, was a student in the Chicago Theological
Seminary, and is now pastor of the Congregational Church in Rico, CO.; Edwin E.,
an artist by profession, who served, as one of the
Columbian Guards at the World's Fair in Chicago; George A., a noted
vocalist and musician, who sang for one year at St. Paul's Church in Chicago,
and is now teaching vocal and instrumental music in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and
acting as leader of the Congregational choir at that place; and Carrie, who is
conducting a kindergarten in Newton, Iowa. In
1855, Rev. Mr. Preston of this sketch left Ohio, and came with his family to
Jasper County, Iowa. At length he
located on his present farm, which comprises two hundred acres of valuable land,
and to the cultivation and development of which he has since devoted his
energies. He was also one of the
early surveyors of the county, beginning that work here in 1855.
He served for six years as County Surveyor and has followed that work in
Ohio and Iowa for almost half a century. In
1840, Rev. Mr. Preston was secretary of a convention, in Columbiana County,
Ohio, which met to organize the Liberty Party, and the platform
adopted by that organization was the foundation of the Republican Party.
Mr. Preston has always been a strong advocate of temperance and now votes
with the Republican Party. For many years he and his estimable wife have been
identified with the Congregational Church and have been prominent and benevolent
in church work. Through out the community they are held in the highest regard,
and it is with pleasure that we present to our reader this record of their life
work. Portrait and Biographical Record, Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, IA, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, IL, 1894, p. 192. |
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