Mike -
William Hudson Hunt, the engineer on Cooke's 1840-41 Military Road Expedition, platted the Preston townsite in 1845.
Previously I had searched all available Texas military rolls for a Lieutenant Preston without success. There were a couple of enlisted men in the 1836 volunteers and another in the Somervell Expedition, but again, none appear to have been officers.
Gerald R Pierce in Texas Under Arms. Austin: Encino Press, 1969 offers some clues:
He cites a Texas Army Camp Preston in 1837 as a temporary headquarters of General Albert Sidney Johnston near Port Lavaca. The namesake was believed to be Senator William Preston of Kentucky, Johnson's kin by marriage through his wife Henrietta Preston.
Fort Johnson <sic>, where part of Cooke's command spent the winter of 1840-41 ten miles above Coffee's Trading House, was believed named for General Albert Sydney Johnston, so perhaps Hunt had those connections in mind when he platted Preston.
I recall the Dallas William Gilwater Preston descendants tried to make a family connection to the Senator but seemed a bit of a stretch to me. Worth checking again though. There was another William Preston of Revolutionary War fame and the Dallas Prestons may have confused them. The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame lists Lt William G Preston's service as April to June 1858 at Camp Runnels and that is consistent with his time awat from Dallas.
Pierce also debunks the premise of a Fort Preston, though Coffee is believed to have had a stockade of sorts and there was a Preston Supply Depot nearby used briefly by Federal Troops about 1853.
Pierce also states, and I concur, any references to Preston Road and/or Preston Trail prior to 1845 would be erroneous.
M C
William Hudson Hunt, the engineer on Cooke's 1840-41 Military Road Expedition, platted the Preston townsite in 1845.
Previously I had searched all available Texas military rolls for a Lieutenant Preston without success. There were a couple of enlisted men in the 1836 volunteers and another in the Somervell Expedition, but again, none appear to have been officers.
Gerald R Pierce in Texas Under Arms. Austin: Encino Press, 1969 offers some clues:
He cites a Texas Army Camp Preston in 1837 as a temporary headquarters of General Albert Sidney Johnston near Port Lavaca. The namesake was believed to be Senator William Preston of Kentucky, Johnson's kin by marriage through his wife Henrietta Preston.
Fort Johnson <sic>, where part of Cooke's command spent the winter of 1840-41 ten miles above Coffee's Trading House, was believed named for General Albert Sydney Johnston, so perhaps Hunt had those connections in mind when he platted Preston.
I recall the Dallas William Gilwater Preston descendants tried to make a family connection to the Senator but seemed a bit of a stretch to me. Worth checking again though. There was another William Preston of Revolutionary War fame and the Dallas Prestons may have confused them. The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame lists Lt William G Preston's service as April to June 1858 at Camp Runnels and that is consistent with his time awat from Dallas.
Pierce also debunks the premise of a Fort Preston, though Coffee is believed to have had a stockade of sorts and there was a Preston Supply Depot nearby used briefly by Federal Troops about 1853.
Pierce also states, and I concur, any references to Preston Road and/or Preston Trail prior to 1845 would be erroneous.
M C
