PRESTON, Edward Verrance, Civil War Veteran, Insurance Official.

Major Edward Verrance Preston, general manager of agencies of The Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, is one of the best known insurance men in Connecticut, his native State. He was born June 1, 1837, in Willington, son of Joshua and Caroline (Eldredge) Preston. Major Preston was born under the handicap of having to maintain the prestige of a distinguished ancestry, which has been traced back through a number of families to early Colonial days. Major Preston has made good, not only as a volunteer when the unity of the nation was threatened, but in the more peaceful paths of business, and as a worker in the cause of religion, in which his family through many generations has been prominent.
The Prestons have been in Connecticut for many generations, and prior to locating in this State were early settlers of Massachusetts. He also traces to Elder Thomas Dimock, Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1635; Lieutenant Abel Wright, to whom a "homlot" was granted in Springfield, Massachusetts, 1-2-1665; Zoeth Eldredge, a soldier in the Revolution from Willington, Connecticut; Samuel Hinckley, of Scituate, in 1635, whose descendants were patriots of the Revolution. The list of Revolutionary soldiers published by Connecticut shows twenty-five representatives of the Preston family of Connecticut in the service. Another ancestor was Deacon Joseph Huntington, of Norwich. The Preston family is one of the oldest in New England, and the surname Preston is of great antiquity in North Britain. It was assumed by the family from territorial possessions in Mid-Lothian, in the time of Malcolm, King of Scots. Leophus de Preston, of the time of William the Lion, in 1040, was grandfather of Sir William de Preston, one of the Scotch noblemen summoned to Berwick by Edward I. in the competition for the crown of Scotland between Bruce and Baliol, the division having been referred to Edward. After the death of Alexander III., in 1291, this Sir William de Preston was succeeded by his son, Nicol de Preston, one of the Scottish barons, who swore fealty to Edward I. He died in the beginning of the reign of David II., of Scotland, son of Robert Bruce, and was succeeded by his, son, Sir Lawrence de Preston, who was seated at Preston in Westmoreland in the time of Henry II. Sir Richard de Preston, fifth in descent from the above Richard de Preston, represented the county of Westmoreland in Parliament in the seventeenth year of Edward III. His son, Richard de Preston, had likewise the honor of being knight of the shire of Westmoreland in the same reign, 27th Edward III. and in the same year, 1368, obtained license to embark five hundred acres. His successor was Sir John de Preston, of Preston Richard and Preston Patrick, and was a member of Parliament for Westmoreland in the thirty-sixth, thirty-ninth and forty-sixth years of Edward III. His son Richard had no male issue. His son John was judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the reigns of Henry IV and VI., and retired from the bench in consequence of great age, in 1427.
Children of Judge John: Rev. John; Richard. his heir, and a daughter. The American families are undoubtedly descended from some branch of this family. The Connecticut family has been traced to George Preston, of Valley Field, who was created a baron of Nova Scotia in 1537, through his son William, who died April 23, 1585: his son John; his son William, the Connecticut immigrant, came in 1635, died in 1639, leaving land in Yorkshire. whence he had come to this country.
Roger Preston was born in England in 1614. In 1635, at the age of twenty-one years. he took the oath of allegiance in London, and sailed for America in the ship "Elizabeth," April 8, 1635, William Stagg. master. His name first appears as a resident of Ipswich in 1639. His wife, Martha, whom he married in 1642, was born in 1622. In 1657 they removed to Salem, Massachusetts, where he died January 20, 1666. Martha. his widow, married (second) Nicholas Holt. of Andover, where she resided thereafter, taking her sons, Samuel, John and Jacob Preston. with her. She died at Andover, March 21, 1703. Roger Preston was a tanner by trade. His son, Samuel Preston, was born 1651, at Ipswich, and settled in Andover with his mother. He married (first) May 27, 1671, Susanna Gutterson, who died December 29, 1710. Their fourth child, Jacob, was born February 24, 1680/81, and in 1723-24 we find him in Windham, Connecticut, at which time he united with the church of Canada Parish. He married, June 2, 1702, Sarah Wilson. Their son, Benjamin Preston, the ancestor of the Willington Prestons, was born in April or May. 1705. He married, May 5, 1727, Deborah Holt, of Canada Parish, Windham county. He and his wife died within the same hour, November 26, 1784, and were buried in the same grave. Their son, Darius Preston, was born at Willington Hollow, in 1731, and died there, May 30, 1821. His powder horn, dated 1771, is now in Major Preston's possession. He married, November 15, 1759, Hannah Fisk, who died January 12,. 1813. Their son, Amos Preston, born February 8, 1782, was the youngest of eleven children, and died October 6, 1864. He married, September 4, 1803, Martha ("Patty") Taylor. who was born February 8, 1782, and died December 7, 1860 Her father, Thomas Taylor, died April 5, 1815, aged sixty-three years. Joshua Preston, son of Amos and Martha (Taylor) Preston, was born July 15, 1813, the youngest of six children. He learned the trade of tanner, and was for many years foreman at the tannery owned by his eldest brother, the late Hon. S. T. Preston. For a time he was the proprietor of a hotel in the village of Westford. Connecticut, and also owned the Lincoln tannery. He was a stanch Democrat, but was indifferent to the lure of political office. He was decided in his opinions and outspoken, especially on the temperance question, and was one of the first to identify himself with the temperance movement, which he believed went well with the Christian principles he professed. He was a member of the Baptist church at Willington, and was quite an accomplished player on the double-bass viol, with which he furnished music at the meetings of the church. In 1857 he became foreman for P. Jewell & Sons, tanners, of Hartford, and remained with them until 1879, when he removed to Chicago, where he held a similar position in the plant of his son, Captain E. B. Preston. In 1895 he returned to Hartford, and made his home with his daughter, Mrs. W. Chapin Hunt, until his death, March 18, 1900. He married, March 3, 1835, Caroline, daughter of Ariel and Betsey (Dimock) Eldredge, born February 6, 1816, in Willington, died April 27, 1882, in Chicago, and was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery at Hartford. Ariel Eldredge was born April 28, 1791, and died September 15, 1849. He was the son of Zoeth Eldredge, born, it is supposed, in Willington, Connecticut, about 1751, died there, March 18, 1828. He was a farmer. He marched on the Lexington Alarm in Major Elijah Fenton's company from Willington. Upon his dismissal from this brief service he enlisted in the Second Connecticut Regiment, Colonel Joseph Spencer, serving in the Fifth Company under Captain Solomon Willes, from about May 1 until the latter part of December. 1775, when the regiment was dismissed. He was at Roxbury during the siege of Boston, and also saw three months' service under Washington in New York City in Captain Joseph Parsons' company. Colonel Samuel Chapman's regiment. He married in Willington, Connecticut, October 16, 1779, as his second wife. Bethia, born December 10, 1759, in Tolland, Connecticut, daughter of Captain Ichabod Hinckley, of Tolland, who was born October 13, 1735. in Willington, and died February 23, 1807. He was captain in the Continental army, and was very active in the Revolutionary War; served two terms in the General Assembly, and was selectman for fourteen years. He was a man of great natural dignity, of unusual ability, and of highest integrity. He served as first lieutenant, Sixth Company, Third Battalion, Wadsworth's Brigade. This battalion was raised in June, 1776, to reinforce Washington in New York City; served there and on Long Island; was caught in the retreat from the city, September 15, and suffered some loss; also engaged in the battle of White Plains, October 28. His time expired December 25, 1776. His first wife, Mary, died in Willington, January 8, 1769, aged thirty-seven years. Benjamin Hinckley, father of Captain Ichabod Hinckley, was born June 19, 1707, in Barnstable, and died in Willington, Connecticut, October 11, 1749. He was a farmer and was admitted freeman in Willington, December 17, 1735. He married in Tolland, November 6, 1733, Deborah Palmer, of Windham. His father was Ichabod Hinckley, born August 28, 1680, in Barnstable, died in Tolland, Connecticut, May 10, 1768. He married, January 5, 1702, Mary, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Davis) Goodspeed, of Barnstable. She was born January 10, 1678, and died October 1, 1719. Having purchased three hundred acres of land, partly in Tolland and partly in Willington, he removed in 1732 with his family to Tolland, and served several terms there as selectman. His father, John Hinckley, brother of Thomas Hinckley, sixth Governor of New Plymouth Colony, was born May 24, 1644, and died December 7, 1709. In July, 1668, he married Bethiah, daughter of Thomas Lothrop. and granddaughter of Rev. John Lothrop. She was born July 23, 1649, and died July 10, 1697. John Lothrop was born about 1621, probably at Egerton, Kent, England, and was about thirteen years of age when he came with his father to Scituate, Massachusetts. He married Sarah, daughter of William Learned. "Ensign" John Hinckley was a prominent citizen of Barnstable, where he owned much land. His father was Samuel Hinckley, of Tenterden, Kent, England, who came to New England with his wife, Sarah, and four children in the ship "Hercules," of Sandwich, which sailed about March, 1634. He settled in Scituate, where his wife joined the church August 16, 1635. They removed to Barnstable in 1639, where his wife died August 18, 1656. He died there, October 31, 1662. He was prominent and owned much land.
Jesse Eldredge, father of Zoeth Eldredge, was born August 9, 1715, in Eastham, and died in Willington, Connecticut, December 17, 1794. He married, November 7, 1734, Abigail, daughter of Samuel and Abigail (Freeman) Smith. She was born in Eastham, December 17, 1718, and died in Willington, March 16, 1793. She was a descendant of Elder William Brewster, Stephen Hopkins, Governor Thomas Prence, Edmund Freeman, Rev. John Lathrop, Ralph Smyth, Henry Howland and Thomas Clark. Elisha Eldredge, father of Jesse Eldredge, was born about 1690, and died in Mansfield. Connecticut, November 9, 1754. He married Dorcas, daughter of Thomas Mulford, of Truro. She was born March 6, 1693, in Eastham and died in Mansfield about 1755. Her mother was Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Basset, and granddaughter of William Basset, who came in the ship "Fortune" in 1621. His father was Elisha Eldredge, born in 1653, died in Eastham, October 14, 1739. In 1693 he was in Harwich and bought land in the Doane neighborhood. He afterwards sold this and removed to what later became Wellfleet. His father, William Eldredge, was a resident of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, from 3-3-1645, to 1667. He was a man of standing and substance; was constable in 1657, 1662, 1674, 1675 and 1677; was also surveyor of highways. He married Anne, daughter of William and Tamesin Lumpkin, of Yarmouth. Lumpkin came over in 1637. He was deputy to the Colony Court and held many local offices.
Major Preston's maternal grandmother, Betsey (Dimock) Eldredge, was born January 29, 1795, in Mansfield, and died in March, 1873. Her father, Shubael Dimock, was born October 4, 1757; married, January 22, 1789; died March 8, 1828. Her mother, Elizabeth (Wright) Dimock. born July 31, 1769 died August 10, 1837. The Dimock ancestry has been traced back to Elder Thomas Dimock, who was a selectman of Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1635; freeman, May 25, 1636; Hingham, 1638; Scituate, 1639; one of the grantees of Barnstable, to which town he removed in 1639. Amos Otis says he was the leading man of the town. He was deputy to the Plymouth Colony court in 1640-41-42-48-49-50, and held other important offices. On October 14, 1642, he was elected lieutenant of malitia, and reelected in 1646; was ordained elder, August 7, 1659, and died in 1659. His widow, Ann (Hammond) Dimock, was living in October, 1683. Their only son, Ensign Shubael Dimock, who lived to mature age, was baptized September 15, 1644. He was prominent in town affairs; selectman and deputy to the General Court in 1685 and 1686 and deputy again in 1689; was ensign of the militia. About 1693 he removed to Mansfield, where he died October 29, 1732, in his ninety-first year. In April, 1663, he married Joanna, daughter of John Bursley. She died May 8, 1727, aged eighty-three years. They were apparently the grandparents of Betsey Dimock's father, Shubael Dimock. Elizabeth Wright was the daughter of Eleazer and Anna (Marsh) Wright. He was born April 12, 1741, at Mansfield, Connecticut (his name is given in Mansfield vital records as Ebenezer), and died January 21, 1825. His wife died April 10, 1825. Eleazer Wright was the son of Ebenezer Wright, of Lebanon, Connecticut, who was born February 22, 1701; married, in 1728, as his second wife, Sarah Huntington. He died April 22, 1786, and she October 19, 1775. Ebenezer Wright was the son of Ensign Abel Wright, of Lebanon, Connecticut, where he died June 2, 1745. He married, September 6, 1691, Rebecca, daughter of Samuel Terry, of Springfield. Abel Wright was the son of Lieutenant Abel Wright, of Springfield, who married Martha, daughter of Samuel Kritchwell, of Hartford, December I, 1659. She was scalped July 26, 1708, and died October 19, 1708. He died October 29, 1725, in his ninety-fourth year. He was selectman of Springfield in 1689 and 1698, also deputy to the General Court. Sarah (Huntington) Wright, wife of Ebenezer Wright, was the daughter of Deacon Joseph and Rebecca (Adgate) Huntington. Deacon Joseph Huntington was born September, 1661, in Norwich, and died December 29, 1747. He married, November 28, 1687, Rebecca, daughter of Deacon Thomas Adgate and Mrs. (Bushnell) Adgate, died November 28, 1748.
At the age of thirteen years, Major Preston went to Hartford to begin his career in the business world. Such was his application, intelligence and thrift that we find him eleven years later, at the outbreak of the Civil War, a member of the firm of Griswold, Griffin & Company, manufacturers of shirts. On April 22, 1861, he offered to give temporary assistance as a clerk in the office of Adjutant-General J. D. Williams. On July 17, 1861, in response to the request of Colonel Orris S. Ferry, Mr. Preston was appointed quartermaster of the Fifth Connecticut Regiment, with the rank of first lieutenant. On July 23 he was mustered into the United States Volunteer service. In September, 1861, he was detailed by Colonel Dudley Donnelly, and afterward by Generals G. H. Gordon and A. S. Williams to be acting assistant quartermaster of the First Brigade, General Banks' Division, and remained in that position until January 1, 1862, when he was returned to his old place in the Fifth Connecticut. In March, 1862, Lieutenant Preston was detailed as aide-de-camp on the staff of General Ferry, who had received a brigadier's commission. During a part of the time until February 19, 1863, he served as acting assistant quartermaster of the division. On that date President Lincoln commissioned him as "additional paymaster, United States Volunteers, with the rank of Major," and this position Major Preston held until July 31, 1865, when he was honorably discharged by the secretary of war. Millions of dollars passed through his hands during the war, and in the final settlement with the government his accounts balanced to a penny. At the close of the war he became a special agent for The Travelers Insurance Company. After two years in this position he was appointed superintendent of agencies, in 1898 he was promoted to be general manager of agencies, and has held that office continuously since that time. This position calls for executive ability of the highest order, with a gift for diplomacy equal to that of a foreign ambassador.
Major Preston is a man of poise, and while he possesses a determination that enables him to surmount every obstacle to the accomplishment of his purpose, he accomplishes results through the exercise of tact that makes every one his friend. In the course of his work Major Preston has traveled all over the United States, Canada and Mexico. He is a member of Hartford Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, being one of its eight oldest members; Massachusetts Commandery, Military Order of the Loyal Legion; The Fifth Connecticut Infantry Reunion Association; Society of the Army of the Potomac, representing the State of Connecticut on its board; Robert O. Tyler Post, Grand Army of the Republic, being one of the trustees of the ten-thousand-dollar fund owned by the post; Army and Navy Club of Connecticut, of which he is president; Hartford Club; Red Cross Association; Connecticut Humane Society; Charity Organization; Visiting Nurse Association; Willington Cemetery Association; Lincoln Farm Association; Connecticut Peace Society; Connecticut Forestry Association, of which he was elected president in 1898; American Forestry Association; Connecticut Civil Service Reform Association, and Municipal Art Society. For several years he was a member of the board of trustees of the Connecticut Literary Institute of Suffield, and was president of the board for two or three years.
Major Preston is a strong and active Republican, and has served in the Common Council and as a member of the board of aldermen.
Major Preston married, September 9, 1863, Clara M., daughter of John G. Litchfield, of Hartford. Children:
Harry Edward, born September 27, 1864, died at San Antonio, Texas, April 7, 1893;
Evelyn Wallace, born April 9, 1867.
In 1868 Major Preston began to arouse interest in a project to form a Baptist church on Asylum Hill, and on January 1, 1869, he circulated an invitation signed by himself and a number of other leading Baptists to attend a meeting to discuss the matter. In 1871 the committee of which he was a member purchased the lot. In that year a Sunday school was organized, and the following year the church edifice was completed. Major Preston was treasurer from 1872 to 1901, and deacon from 1875 to the present time.
He is a member of the Baptist Social Union of Connecticut, which he has served as secretary, treasurer and president at different times. He has also served as a member of the board of the Baptist State Convention.