William Preston Land Grant

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
Newman Library
Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001
560 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.

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Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], William Preston Land Grant, 1773, Ms1994-027, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
0.2 Cubic Feet 1 oversize folder
Creator:
Dunmore, John Murray, Earl of, 1732-1809
Abstract:
This collection contains a land grant for 2,175 acres in Botetourt County, Virginia, that belonged to Colonel William Preston and the Preston family, which includes the land for Greenfield.
Language:
The materials in the collection are in English.
Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], William Preston Land Grant, 1773, Ms1994-027, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains a land grant for 2,175 acres in Botetourt County, Virginia, that belonged to Colonel William Preston and the Preston family, which includes the land for Greenfield. The document is signed by John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, who was the Governor of Virginia from 1771 to 1775.

Biographical / historical:

William Preston (1729-1783) emigrated from northern Ireland with his family in 1737. He married Susanna Smith in 1761 and settled at Greenfield in Botetourt County in 1769. Preston established himself as a leader in the Virginia frontier by serving in the militia in the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars, in the House of Burgesses representing Augusta County from 1766 to 1768 and Botetourt County in 1769, and as County Lieutenant of Fincastle and Montgomery. Preston was appointed as a commissioner to negotiate a treaty with the Shawnee and Delaware tribes in 1757. He was appointed surveyor of Fincastle County in 1772 and moved his family to that area. Preston was also a milita colonel during the American Revolution.

The Greenfield Plantation was located in Botetourt County, Virginia, and was originally owned by Colonel William Preston. Greenfield was purchased as a 191 acre tract by Preston in 1759, and by the time this land grant was drafted the property consisted of more than 2100 acres. Preston and his family lived at Greenfield until they moved to the Smithfield Plantation in Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia, in 1773. The house located on the property was destroyed by a fire in 1959.

External Source:

"Greenfield's Early Days", Botetourt County, Virginia website, https://www.botetourtva.gov/799/Greenfields-Early-Days

Acquisition information:
The William Preston Land Grant was donated to Special Collections and University Archives in memory of Frank Brockenbrough Preston, Jr., in August 1994.
Processing information:

The processing, arrangement, and description of the William Preston Land Grant completed in October 2023.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard