William Preston (abt. 1757 - 1798)

Born about 29 Apr 1757 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 24 Dec 1798 at about age 41 in At Sea

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Biography

William Preston was born about 1757. He was lost at sea, 1798. He was the son of Andrew Preston and Mary Lambert.

William married in Salem, 7 February 1757, Hannah Neal, the daughter of David Neal, and his wife, Hannah Webb.

Family

William and Hannah (Neal) Preston were the parents of eight (8) children,^[1]

1. David Preston, born 10 May 1779, died 1 August 1754.
2. William Preston, born 9 June 1781, lost at sea, with his father, 24 December 1798.
3. Hannah Preston, born 7 September 1783, died May 1827; married (1) Capt. David Brown; married (2) William Summers.
4. Polly Preston, born 13 July 1785, died 1836; unmarried.
5. John Preston, born October 1787, died in Salem, 9 August 1855; married Sally Driver
6. Priscilla Preston, born 21 April 1790, died 20 October 1796.
7. Jonathan Preston, born 14 November 1792, died in 1881; married Alice Gray Turell.
8. Samuel Preston, born 8 December 1797, died at sea in 1821; married Mary Fisher.

Research Notes

William Bentley's Diary. There are many entries about Andrew and Mary, and their family in The Diary of William Bentley D.D., pastor of the East Church, Salem, Massachusetts, which dates from 1784 to 1819. One entry, in particular, about this William (there are probably others); from 15 February 1799, "News of the loss of Capt. Preston's Son & G. Son at Wood Island off Saco. They were upon their passage upwards. This Preston was a Baker & lived in the S. part of the Town. A wife & six children survive him. He was lost on night before Christmas."^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Harriet Ruth (Waters) Cooke, The Driver Family : A Genealogical Memoir of the Descendants of Robert and Phoebe Drive of Lynn, Mass. (New York, Printed for the author by J. Wilson and son, 1889), 450-451 (45. Capt. David Neal); digital images, HathiTrust, for the entry about Hannah Neal, married Capt. William Preston; includes child list; credits Mary (Fisher) (Preston) (Estey) Bowman for the much of the Preston record.
2. ↑ William Bentley, Joseph G Waters, Marguerite Dalrymple, et al., The diary of William Bentley ..., 4 vols. (Salem, Mass: The Essex Institute, 1905-1914), 2:296; digital images, HathiTrust.

• Harriet Ruth (Waters) Cooke, The Driver Family : A Genealogical Memoir of the Descendants of Robert and Phoebe Driver of Lynn, Mass. (New York, Printed for the author by J. Wilson and son, 1889), 450-451 (45. Capt. David Neal); digital images, HathiTrust, for the entry about Hannah Neal, married Capt. William Preston; includes child list; credits Mary (Fisher) (Preston) (Estey) Bowman for the much of the Preston record.