William Campbell Preston (December 27, 1794May 22, 1860) was a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and a member of the

Nullifier The Nullifier Party was an American political party based in South Carolina in the 1830s. Considered an early American third party, it was started by John C. Calhoun in 1828. The Nullifier Party was a states' rights, pro-slavery party that s ...

, and later Whig Parties. He was also the cousin of

William Ballard Preston William Ballard Preston (November 25, 1805 – November 16, 1862) was an American politician who served as a Confederate States Senator from Virginia from February 18, 1862, until his death in November. He previously served as the 19th United S ...

, William Preston and

Angelica Singleton Van Buren Sarah Angelica Van Buren (Married and maiden names, ''née'' Singleton; February 13, 1818 – December 29, 1877) was an American heiress and the daughter-in-law of the eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren. She was married to the ...

. He first married Maria Eliza Coalter in 1819, then Louisa Penelope Davis after Maria's death. Preston was a slaveowner and vocal opponent of abolitionism.

Early life

Born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, he was the son of

Francis Preston Francis Preston (August 2, 1765 – May 26, 1835) was an American lawyer and politician from Abingdon, Virginia. He was the son of Col. William Preston of Virginia, served in both houses of the state legislature, and represented Virginia in th ...

, a well-to-do businessman, and Sarah Buchanan Campbell, daughter of

Gen. William Campbell William Campbell (born 1745 and died on August 22, 1781) was a Virginia farmer, pioneer, and soldier. One of the thirteen signers of the earliest statement of armed resistance to the British Crown in the Thirteen Colonies, the Fincastle Resolution ...

. During his childhood he was educated by private

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...

s, then enrolled in Washington University (later known as

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...

) in

Lexington, Virginia Lexington is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines ...

. He then transferred to and graduated from South Carolina College (later known as the University of South Carolina) in Columbia in 1812, where he was a member of the

Euphradian Society The Euphradian Society, also known as (Phi Alpha Epsilon), a local societyThus not to be confused with Phi Alpha Epsilon, the national architectural engineering society of the same name. is a literary society A literary society is a group of pe ...

Career

After traveling and studying around

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, Preston studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He sailed back to the States in 1819 and was admitted to the bar of Virginia in 1820. He practiced law there for two years. He then moved to

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

in 1822 and ran unsuccessfully for election to the Twenty-Second Congress. He was, however, elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives and served from 1828 to 1834. He was then elected in 1833 as a Nullifier to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

to fill the vacancy after the resignation of

Stephen D. Miller Stephen Decatur Miller (May 8, 1787March 8, 1838) was an American politician, who served as the List of Governors of South Carolina, 52nd Governor of South Carolina from 1828 to 1830. He represented South Carolina as a United States House of Repre ...

. Preston was then reelected as a Whig in 1837 and served until his resignation on November 29, 1842. During that time he served as the chairman for the Committee on the Library and the Committee on Military Affairs. After his resignation, Preston returned to practicing law and served as president of South Carolina College from 1845 until 1851, when he resigned due to poor health. He died in Columbia, South Carolina. He was buried in the Trinity Episcopal Churchyard. He is the namesake of Lake Preston, in South Dakota. Preston College at the University of South Carolina is named in his honor; in July 2021, the university's Presidential Commission on University History recommended renaming the college.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, William C. 1794 births 1860 deaths United States senators from South Carolina Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives South Carolina lawyers University of South Carolina alumni Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Presidents of the University of South Carolina Nullifier Party United States senators Nullifier Party politicians 19th-century American politicians South Carolina Whigs Whig Party United States senators Politicians from Philadelphia 19th-century American lawyers Preston family of Virginia