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William B. Preston papers, 1857-1920

Overview of the Collection

Title
William B. Preston papers
Dates
1857-1920 (inclusive)
Quantity
2 boxes, (3 linear feet)
Collection Number
UUS_COLL MSS 268
Summary
This collection contains the papers of W.B. Preston in the form of correspondence, two missionary diaries, and other papers.
Repository
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division
Special Collections & Archives
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
Logan, UT
84322-3000
Telephone: 4357978248
Fax: 4357972880
scweb@usu.edu
Access Restrictions

No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

William Bowker Preston, a native of Virginia, was born in 1830. In 1852, he went to California and eventually settled in Yolo County as a farmer. His neighbors were the Thatchers, an LDS family. By 1857, Preston had fallen in love with Harriet Thatcher, and in February of that year he was baptized into the LDS Church. Preston was soon called by George Q. Cannon to serve in the Pacific Coast mission. The earliest letters in the collection are to his sweetheart Harriet while on this mission. Preston asked for Harriet's hand in marriage, but her father, Hezekiah Thatcher, refused to allow the union. In the fall of 1857 California LDS were called back to Utah to assist in defending the territory against the U.S. Army. Preston, the Thatchers, and other LDS families arrived in Salt Lake City in January 1858. Preston and Harriet were married in February 1858 and first settled in Payson, Utah where Preston built an adobe house. However, in August 1859, the Prestons and the Thatchers moved to Cache Valley and in November Preston was named bishop of Logan.

In April 1865, Preston was called to serve a mission in Europe. Upon arrival in Liverpool, England, Preston was assigned to Newcastle and Durham. In January 1866, he was called to serve in the Liverpool office, which at that time was the headquarters of the European Mission. Preston's two mission diaries, and the complementary letters to Harriet, give rich, full details of his daily activities in the field of labor and in the mission office, i.e., office traffic (composition of office employees, names and assignments of missionaries, visits of Church authorities from the U.S., etc), full detail on emigration (for which he had specific responsibility), and his many travels to visit branches of the Church in England, Wales, and Scotland. In August 1867, Preston visited the Paris Exposition. He was released from his mission in the summer of 1868 and sailed from Liverpool in charge of 600 emigrating Saints.

Upon his return home, Preston resumed his duties as bishop in Logan and was elected to the territorial legislative assembly (1872-1882) where he had also served in the 1860s. He also took a leading part in the construction of the Utah and Northern Railroad. In 1871, he was appointed presiding bishop of Cache Valley (a regional bishop with jurisdiction over twenty wards). In 1877, he was called to the Cache Valley stake pPresidency, serving as counselor to his brother-in-law, Moses Thatcher. In 1879, Preston was called as Cache Valley stake president, and in 1883 vacated that office to assume the responsibilities of the Presiding bishop of the Church. He was released in December 1907 due to poor health and died in August 1908.

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Content Description

This collection consists mostly of correspondence from William B. Preston to his wife Harriet during the period 1857-1900. There are a few letters from Harriet to William, and a couple from William to their children, Allie and Willie. Two letters from William Preston, Jr. in 1889 to his parents and sister describe his LDS mission in Europe. There is also a letter from R. L. Preston, William's nephew, detailing his research into the Preston family genealogy, and a letter from Joseph F. Smith consoling the Prestons after the death of two of their children. Additionally, several letters from William's daughter, Mary, who served as a nurse in Europe during World War I, are also included. The letters are arranged chronologically and separated into folders. The locations listed on the inventory after the name of the writer indicate where the letters were sent from.

In addition to correspondence, this collection contains several other items: two mission diaries kept by William while he served in Liverpool, England (1867-1868), a certificate proclaiming William Mayor of Logan, a certificate from when William Preston became a member of the Utah House of Representatives, and a Resolution by the Brigham Young College in Logan in memory of William Preston following his death in 1908. The mayoral certificate and Resolution are in containers separate from the boxes.

Seven folders in Box 2 contain miscellaneous papers from the Bullion, Beck, and Champion Mining Company of Salt Lake City, where William Preston served as treasurer. The papers do not directly mention William, however.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the William B. Preston Papers must be obtained from the Special Collections and Archives manuscript curator and/or the Special Collections and Archives department head.

Preferred Citation

Initial Citation: William B. Preston papers USU_COLL MSS 268, Box [ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Utah State University Merrill-Cazier Library. Logan, Utah.

Following Citations: USU_COLL MSS 268, USUSCA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in chronological order.

Processing Note

Processed in July of 2000

Acquisition Information

Special Collections and Archives purchased the William B. Preston papers from Grandin Book (Provo, Utah) in November 1999.

More items were purchased in January 2001, from Ken Sanders Rare Books in Salt Lake City and in January 2002 from Grandin Book.

One item, a letter from William Preston, Jr. to William Preston, Sr., was donated by John Sillito in September 2002.

Another item, a letter from Harriett Preston to Nathan D. Thatcher, was donated by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich in September 2012.

The letter from Oscar Moyle to May Preston Moyle, the daughter of William Preston Sr., was purchased from Benchmark Press in 2011.

Related Materials

Researchers interested in more Moses Thatcher, Sr. and William P. Preston material should see the Moses Thatcher, Sr. papers COLL MSS 22 and the B.G. Olesen Western Manuscript Collection.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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Subject Terms

  • Mormons--Utah--History
  • Politicians--Utah--History--19th century.

Geographical Names

  • Cache Valley (Utah and Idaho)--Politics and government--19th century.
  • Logan (Utah)--History.
  • Utah--Politics and government--19th century.

Finding aid/Register created by Jolyn Hunting
2011

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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