Miscellaneous papers, compiled from various donors and sources, compose this collection. The collection includes various photographic images, genealogical materials, music, correspondence, notes, and a scrapbook about Preston and Woodworth family members.
Biography:
The Preston and Woodworth families lived in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, and intermarried.
The Mount Pleasant connection began with William and Mary Fiske Preston. William Preston was born on June 28, 1803 and died on November 10, 1881. On September 7, 1824 in Vermont William married Mary Fiske, who was born on January 31, 1806 and died on February 10, 1888. They moved to Java, New York, before settling in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, in February 1864. There, they lived in a house located on the northeast corner of Main Street and Chippewa Avenue. Together they had nine children: 1) Sarah A. Fuller (January 16, 1826-February 16, 1854); 2) Albert Alonzo (August 16, 1827-July 22, 1885); 3) Mary Angeline Fuller, who married her sister Sarah’s husband after Sarah died, (December 15, 1829-March 13, 1862 ); 4) Ellen Levinda Woodworth (July 7, 1833-September 11, 1914); 5) Wallace Worth Preston (October 9, 1837-1916); 6) Althea Marilla Fancher (December 15, 1840-September 12, 1900); 7) Walter Scott Preston (born July 4, 1844, died in infancy); 8) Celia Eliza Bradley (June 26, 1846-March 25, 1867); and 9) Emma Amelia Fox (July 18, 1848-June 8, 1878).
One of their descendants who is well documented by his 1930s music, correspondence, and poetry, is Worth W. Preston. Worth was born on September 19, 1864 in Mount Pleasant, and died on May 18, 1945 in Los Angeles, California. He married Elizabeth B. Smith, born June 25, 1863, on May 15, 1889. Together they had one daughter. His materials are in the Preston and Woodworth Families Papers folder.
The scrapbook documents the history and events of Mount Pleasant and the life of Wilber E. Preston. Wilber was one of five children born to Albert Alonzo Preston. Wilber was born on October 21, 1854 in Java, New York, and died on May 23, 1917 in Alma, Michigan. He married Marilla J. Abbott, born on October 25, 1856 and died on June 18, 1936, on February 22, 1877. Together they had six children. He was a teacher, township officer and superintendent of schools, a member of the Mount Pleasant Board of Education, a justice of the peace, township treasurer and supervisor, and editor and part owner of the North-western Tribune, a Mount Pleasant newspaper. Later in his life, Wilber dealt in real estate and insurance.
Another Preston noted in the collection is Louis Delevan Preston, for whom Saint Louis, Michigan, is supposedly named. Photographs and clippings about Louis D. Preston are also in the collection.
