John Thomas Lewis Preston | |
|---|---|
.jpg) J. T. L. Preston. 1907 portrait based on 1855 photo. | |
| Born | (1811-04-25)April 25, 1811 Lexington, Virginia |
| Died | July 15, 1890(1890-07-15) (aged 79) Lexington, Virginia |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Virginia Confederate States |
| Service | Virginia Militia Confederate States Army |
| Rank |  Colonel (Virginia Militia) Lieutenant Colonel (CSA) |
| Unit | Virginia Military Institute 9th Virginia Infantry |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Lyle Caruthers Margaret Junkin |
| Other work | Founder and faculty member,Virginia Military Institute |
John Thomas Lewis Preston (April 25, 1811 – July 15, 1890) was an American educator and military officer fromVirginia. He was a primary founder and organizer of the Virginia Military Institute, and was one of its first two faculty members. He also served in theConfederate military during theAmerican Civil War.
J. T. L. Preston was born inLexington, Virginia on April 25, 1811.[1][2] He was raised in Lexington andRichmond, and received hisBachelor of Arts degree from Washington College (nowWashington and Lee University) in 1828.[3]
Preston subsequently attended graduate courses at theUniversity of Virginia[4] andYale University.[5] He thenstudied law, attainedadmission to the bar, and started a practice in Lexington.[6]
In 1881 he received thehonorary degree ofLL.D. from Washington and Lee.[7]
In the years after theWar of 1812, the state of Virginia built and maintained severalarsenals to store weapons intended for use by thestate militia in the event of invasion or insurrection.[8] In the 1830s Preston belonged to a Lexington debate club known as the Franklin Society. In 1836 Preston made the case to the society that the arsenal in Lexington could be put to better use as anormal school for providing education on practical subjects, as well as military training to individuals who could be expected to serve as officers in the militia if needed.[9]
After debate and revision of the original proposal, the Franklin Society voted in favor of Preston's concept. After a public relations campaign that included Preston meeting in person with influential business, military and political figures, letters to the editor from Preston writing under a pen name, and letters to the editor and open letters from supporters includingNorwich University founderAlden Partridge, in 1836 theVirginia legislature passed a bill authorizing creation of a normal school at the Lexington arsenal, and theGovernor signed the measure into law.[10][11][12]
The organizers of the planned school formed a board of visitors, which included Preston, and the board selectedClaudius Crozet to serve as their president.[13] The board delegated to Preston the task of deciding what to call the new school, and he created the name Virginia Military Institute.[14]
Preston was also tasked with hiring VMI's first superintendent. He was persuaded thatWest Point graduate and army officerFrancis Henney Smith, then on the faculty atHampden-Sydney College, was the most suitable candidate. Preston successfully recruited Smith, convincing him to become the first superintendent of VMI and professor of tactics.
After Smith agreed to accept the superintendent's position, Preston applied to join the faculty, and was hired as Professor of Languages.[15] Classes began in 1839, and Preston specialized inLatin, and also taughtEnglish and other modern languages.[16]
Smith held the militia rank ofcolonel as commander of VMIs Corps of Cadets. Preston was appointed acaptain, and soon advanced tomajor. In addition to serving as the Corps'quartermaster, he often acted as superintendent in Smith's absence.[17]
AfterJohn Brown's 1859 trial and sentence, Smith was appointed to oversee the execution, and along with almost all of the Virginia Militia, the Corps of Cadets was assigned to provide security inCharles Town, where Brown was to be hanged.[18] Preston participated in his role as quartermaster, and observed the execution. He wrote a letter to his wife in which he described in detail the events surrounding the execution. This letter was published in several newspapers, and provided an important firsthand account of the event.[19] According to contemporary accounts, it was Preston who broke the silence that followed Brown's death, declaring to the crowd "So perish all such enemies of Virginia! All such enemies of the Union! All such enemies of the human race!"[20][21]
During the American Civil War Preston sided with theConfederacy and was commissioned as alieutenant colonel in the9th Virginia Infantry, of which Smith was colonel and commander. Preston served with the 9th Virginia during various actions in the Shenandoah Valley, including time on the staff of and asaide-de-camp forStonewall Jackson.[22]
After the war Preston continued as a member of the VMI faculty until retiring in 1882.[23] He was promoted to colonel in the militia, but declined a promotion tobrigadier general.
Preston was active in thePresbyterian Church. He was theruling elder of Lexington's church for nearly 50 years, and was a delegate to numerous state and national church leadership meetings.[24][25]
For over 20 years before and after the Civil War Preston, Stonewall Jackson and others led aSunday school for Lexington'sAfrican-Americans, bothslaves and those who were free.[26]
In retirement Preston continued to reside at his home in Lexington. He died there on July 15, 1890, and was buried atOak Grove Cemetery in Lexington.[27]
Preston married twice. In 1832 he married Sarah Lyle Caruthers.[28] After her death, he married Margaret Junkin in 1857.[29] He had seven children with his first wife and two with his second.
Margaret Junkin Preston was the daughter of a former president of Washington College, and became a major nineteenth century literary figure, known nationally as the "Poetess of the South" and "The Poetess of the Confederacy". Margaret Junkin's sisterElinor was the first wife of Stonewall Jackson.[30]
The Preston Library at Virginia Military Institute is named for him.[31] His former home,Blandome has been listed on theNational Register of Historic Places since 2002.[32]
Preston is the subject of a biography, 2014'sThe Father of Virginia Military Institute: A Biography of Colonel J.T.L. Preston, CSA, by Randolph P. Shaffner.[33]
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