Born in Ireland on Christmas Day in 1729, William Preston came to Augusta County, Virginia, in 1738 with his father John Preston and numerous other relatives and indentured servants, a company of men and women who were among the earliest settlers west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Educated by the pioneer Presbyterian minister John Craig, young Preston showed an early aptitude for public affairs, and in 1752 was secretary of the commission that negotiated an Indian treaty at Logstown. As captain of a company of rangers, Preston participated in the Sandy Creek expedition of 1756. His civil offices were numerous in Augusta, Botetourt, and Fincastle counties, as at various times he served as member of the House of Burgesses, county surveyor, coroner, and sheriff. In 1773 he established his residence at “Smithfield” in Fincastle County, and as county lieutenant was a prominent frontier military leader throughout the Revolution. He assisted in organizing the expedition which repulsed the Indians at Point Pleasant (October, 10, 1774), participated in planning the Cherokee expeditions in 1776 and 1780, negotiated with the Cherokee and the Shawnee, foiled Loyalist plots in 1780 and 1781, and commanded his militia regiment in the battles of Whitzell's Mills and Guilford Court House in 1781. As chief surveyor of Fincastle County, which then encompassed much of Kentucky, Preston was closely associated with the early Kentucky land developers and many pioneer settlers. Thus his papers reflect a wide range of interests, and his correspondents included founders of Kentucky and parts of Tennessee as well as government leaders in eastern Virginia. Preston died at a regimental muster near his “Smithfield” estate in June 1783.
Among Preston's relatives who emigrated to Virginia in 1738 was his uncle James Patton, a merchant and landholder in Ireland and England and son-in-law of Benjamin Borden, grantee of a large tract of land in the Shenandoah Valley. Patton too had a distinguished role in Augusta County civic affairs, since he held appointments as lieutenant colonel, collector of duties on furs and skins, sheriff, surveyor, and county lieutenant of militia prior to his death at the hands of hostile Indians in 1755. Another member of the immigrant company of 1738 was Patton's son-in-law, John Buchanan, who became an early explorer of the trans-Allegheny region and was also deputy surveyor and captain of militia for Augusta County. At his death in 1769, William Preston was chosen executor of Buchanan's estate.
Through David Campbell, former Virginia governor, Draper was introduced to members of the Preston family in 1844. Two years later W.R. Preston, grandson of William Preston, gave to Draper the original manuscripts composing this series. Detailed calendar entries for Series QQ were prepared by Mabel C. Weaks, indexed, and published by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in The Preston and Virginia Papers (Madison, 1915).
