Sheriff William Preston's identity crisis Part 1 of 3

Thanks to the efforts of many, our family enjoys the luxury of various written family tradition. We are also fortunate to have stories about family members memorialized in county history books written in the 19th and 20th century. Every so often a snippet of family tradition here or there, or brief mention by a historian has led us down an unfruitful research path. So became the case of research about William Preston of Williams County, Ohio. We affectionately refer to him as Sheriff William Preston--he migrated to and became the first sheriff of Williams County, Ohio, twice elected.

Mistaken identities and relationships often lead to improper genealogical links and brick walls. This series of blog postings explains how a group of researchers ultimately collaborated to better identify William Preston, and how that reformed identification led us to his ancestral family.

Part 1-No shortage of inconsistencies, 10 June 2011
Part 2-Driven to a more historical account
Part 3-Putting it all together - Part 3A

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WILLIAM PRESTON married, at probably Defiance, then Williams County proper, 7 Dec 1820, ASENATH BUTLER (1802-1888), the daughter of John Butler. William's five identified children were born at Ohio, in or near Defiance. The children ranged in age between two and ten in 1837, when William is thought to have died.

1. William Preston, b. 06 Feb 1826; d. Bridgewater twp., Williams Co., Ohio, 17 May 1910
2. Alice Loraine (Preston) VanWormer, b. 17 ?Dec 1827; d. Cedar Falls, Iowa, 27 Feb 1919
3. George Washington Preston, b. 07 Dec 1832 (twin) d. Jones County, Iowa, 5 Nov 1901
4. Henry C. Preston, b. 07 Dec 1832 (twin) d. Jones County, Iowa, 10 Mar 1910
5. James P. Preston, b. 22 Feb 1835; d. 20 Dec 1906 (resided Deer Lodge, Montana, from 1870-1900)

The eldest of the identified children, William Preston (1826-1910) lived at Bridgewater twp., Williams County, Ohio. Three of the children, Alice, George and Henry, removed with their mother, Asenath, step-father, Asa Ruggles Thomas and family, to Jones County, Iowa. The youngest, James P. Preston, set out from Ohio for the California gold mines, shortly after 1851.

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PART 1-No shortage of inconsistencies

Mistaken marker
Those who travel the beautiful shoreline area of Defiance, Ohio, will find historical markers at the former locations of Fort Defiance (1794) and Fort Winchester (1813). The latter marker, most recently placed in 2010, includes the statement, "Shortly [after the "Army abandoned the post in the spring of 1815"], settlers inhabited the fort. These included William Preston, a veteran of Gen. Anthony Wayne's army ..."

This reference is certainly about Sheriff William, as he was a first settler of Defiance, but the officer serving under General Wayne was not a first settler. If the marker's claims were true, however, he would have been Maj. William Preston (1765-1821) of Virginia and Kentucky, appointed captain by President Washington in 1794.

The origin of the mistaken identity is not yet clear; however, Slocum's 1905, History of the Maumee River ..., supposed the same confusion.

Helen (Burgoon) (Von Clasburg) Preston (1899-1988) took up Slocum's published lead in the late 1960s, hoping further research might develop a DAR connection for descendants. Helen's husband,  John Preston (1904-1997), was a grandson of James P. Preston (1835-1906).

Modern family researchers believe the good sheriff likely served in the war of 1812, but no evidence of service in the Regular Army has been found that might be attributed to him. Research continues about those who served in Ohio militias at that time.


Premature demise
Perhaps nothing is more disheartening than to read over and over again that your ancestor died seven years before the birth of his son, also your ancestor.

• History of Defiance County, Ohio (Chicago: Warner, Beers, 1883), p. 157, "William Preston ... removed to St. Joseph Township, Williams County, where he died about 1828."
• Nevin O. Winter, History of Northwest Ohio (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1917) 1:405, "William Preston ... finally removed to Williams County, where he died about the year 1828."
• Charles Elihu Slocum (1841-1915), History of the Maumee River basin from the earliest account to its organization into counties (Indianapolis: Bowen & Slocum, 1905), p. 524, "He removed to a farm in St. Joseph Township, Williams County, probably in 1827, where he died about 1828."

Sena, Cynthia, 1800 and four
By the mid-1940s, Sarah Asenath “Sena” (Preston) Stupka (1880-1963) had written a family history (booklet). Sena was the daughter of George Washington Preston (1832-1901), and the journal mostly mentions her Iowa cousins' families (descendants of William and Asenath's three children who removed to Iowa). Sena sometimes commented about how she learned information ("I came across the letter I received in 1943, from Myrtle Van Wormer, she said ..."), but other notes are unsourced.

One unsourced passage concerns Sheriff William and his parents. Sena wrote, "[Williams' father (she calls him Charles)] came from England, away back when there were pilgrams [... and Indian Wars;] he was a teacher and preacher at the Crossroads ["born 1760"] had a family of children. was married to Cynthia Lord ["1762"][who] was 40 years old when George W was born. [Their son] William G Preston was born June [1 or 9]st 1800 [appears an altered year] died 1837 married 1828 to Asenath Butler, born 1802 died 1888 ["86 yrs old"]. 4 children were born to this marriage."

Of the entry as a whole, after years of research, descendants have only been able to reason Sena's assertions about (a) William's relationship to Asenath Butler, (b) Aseanth's lifespan dates and (c) the year given for Sheriff William's death.

Separate from the passage above, Sena reports William drowned in the Auglaize River. Likewise separately, without reconciling the conflicts, Sena calls him Sheriff William C[harles] Preston and reports he died 1837, then age "fifty two."

Richard, Charles, Surrey and 1760
Richard Paul Springer (1940-2005), a second great-grandson of Henry C. Preston (1832-1910), made trips to Iowa, Ohio and elsewhere, interviewing cousins and visiting cemeteries. He loved history and the quest. After Richard passed away, his widow shared genealogical records found on Richard's computer.

Only partially echoing assertions in Sena's journal, Richard's computer notes suggest the sheriff's father was "Charles Preston," born in "Sussex or Surrey England in 1760 [who] married Cynthia Lord in 1780. Came to America settling in New Hampshire where he was a teacher and preacher." Richard reported son William was born in 1785; another son, John, 1787, but also reported the man we know otherwise as Sheriff William Preston to have been born in 1760. Richard supposed William had settled in Ohio "By 1810," and believed he was the Sergeant William Preston of Captain Joseph Carpenter's Company (2nd Ohio) in the War of 1812.

As with Sena's journal, researchers have not found evidence or explanation for a some of the details Richard provided in his notes about Sheriff William Preston. 

James, the captain and ten
James P. Preston (1835-1906) would have been only two years old in 1837, when the family believes his father died. James seems to be the first to migrate from Ohio. He traveled originally to California, but later settled at Deer Lodge, Montana. In 1885, a biographical sketch was published about dear old James P. Preston. This publication calls the father "Captain William Preston, an officer of 1812." James reportedly "left his parents" at age seventeen and was "the youngest of a family of ten children."

 

Henry C. Preston and "fifty two"
In 1910, a biographical sketch of Henry C. Preston was published. This sketch reports Henry was born "in Defiance county, Ohio, on the 7th of December, 1831," to parents William C. and Acenath (Butler) Preston. The father is described as "a native of New Hampshire," who settled at Fort Defiance where he operated a "trading post for ten or twelve years." After which "he removed to Williams county, Ohio, where he entered a quarter section of land and turned his attention to general agricultural pursuits. This farm afterward became the site of the town of Edgerton." Henry's sketch remarks about William Preston's death in 1837, "when he had attained the age of fifty-two years."

About Sheriff William, the sketch continues, "His political allegiance was given to the Whig party and he served for two terms as sheriff of Defiance county. He was a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity and the weight of his influence was ever given on the side of right, truth, justice and progress. His widow, long surviving him, removed westward in 1854 and throughout the remaining years of her life made her home among her children in Iowa. She lived to attain the ripe old age of eighty-five years, passing away in April, 1888. At the time of Hull's surrender she was a resident of Detroit."

Tom, William and Cynthia, Furness Abbey and collaboration
In 1998, Thomas R. Preston (1941-2001), a descendant of Henry C. Preston (1832-1910), sent a query to Fred Preston's "Preston Bulletin Board." The query suggested the immigrating parents, William and Cynthia Lord, came from Furness Abbey [Cumbria] and settled at Rumney, New Hampshire; had sons  William and John. These "sons migrated to Ohio, around Defiance and fought in the war of 1812."

By that time, Tom was collaborating with our cousin, Gene Preston of Michigan, a descendant of George W. Preston (1832-1901). Gene already had a copy of Sena's 1940s era genealogy and had begun the process of seeking supporting documentation.

Interestingly enough, on the same date Tom's query was posted, Dr. William Smith, a descendant of James P. Preston (1835-1906) sent a query to the same board, seeking research about the same family at Defiance, Ohio. Dr. Bill had long been developing web pages about Sheriff William and his family. In part because of this ironic set of queries, researchers descending of all five of William's identified children ultimately came to exchange notes and records.

What does it all mean?
In the midst of the process to uncover, question and evaluate yet other documents, Tom Preston sent an e-mail to this blogger asking "What does it all mean?" We hope the next article in this series begins to answer his question.

For now, I wonder how many inconsistencies readers can spot in the various information related to this blog entry?

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Supplemental blog pages, below, include more extractions from some of the historical references mentioned in this article. Each extract is further linked to digital images of the publication at InternetArchives.org.

• History of Defiance County, Ohio (1883)
• Slocum, History of the Maumee River Basin ... (1905)
• Winter, History of Northwest Ohio ... vol. 1 (1917) 

>>> Continue reading - 2.01 William and his Miss Butler >>>