USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches > Part 181
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JOSEPH BARNARD PHILLIPS, a brother of the former, was born in Kennet in 1819, and died at his residence, Traer, Tama Co., Iowa, in 1877. He was a profound mathematician. He ranked high as a scholar, though his modest and unassuming manners revealed to comparatively few the great extent of his research or the sufficiency of his scholarship. The greater part of his life was employed in teaching, chiefly in Pennsylvania. He was at one time principal of Pottsville Seminary.
JOSEPH T. PHILLIPS .- William Penn, by deed of April 12, 1682, conveyed a thousand acres of land to Hum- phrey Killingbeck, who, Sept. 11, 1700, sold the same to Thomas Wickersham, to hold in trust for his children. Oct. 24, 1720, he conveyed of it one hundred acres to John Wickersham, from whom by, descent it passed to his son John. He conveyed the same to George Passmore, who conveyed it to his son, George, Jr., who, on 7th mo. 28, 1787, sold fifty-three acres (lacking one perch) to Joshua Pusey, including the mill. Joshua conveyed the same to William Pusey, 9th mo. 28, 1801, who willed it to his son Jonathan, from whom by descent it passed to his daughter, Mary E. Pusey, intermarried with Joseph T. Phillips. The original grist-mill was erected about 1750, and the present one in 1833. The stone part of the present dwelling was built in 1780, and the brick portion in 1810. The mill has been in active operation at least one hundred and thirty years.
Mr. Phillips' original green-house was erected by him about 1859, and since then he has enlarged it to eleven houses, embracing nearly seventeen thousand feet of glass. The business is chiefly by shipping, and not local. He ships on orders to all parts of the United States, Canadas, and the islands, mostly sent by mail. Roses are his leading specialties, but he is largely engaged in general green-house collections. His establishment is called " Sunnyside," and is situated in the western part of Londongrove township, and near West Grove Station on the Philadelphia and Bal- timore Central Railroad, and is most beautifully located in a fine and picturesque region of country.
"Sunnyside"
RESIDENCE OF JOSEPH T. PHILLIPS, ROSE GROWER AND FLORIST, WEST GROVE.
RESIDENCE OF REES PALMER, WEST CHESTER.
RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM W. PARKER, PARKERSVILLE.
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.
PICKERING, BENJAMIN .- The Pickering family, of English extraction on the paternal and of Welsh on the maternal side, is found at a very early period in Bucks County, of this State, where John Pickering, the emigrant,
BENJAMIN PICKERING.
settled. His son Joseph married Ann Watson, and to them were born two children, Benjamin and Watson. The former and eldest was born Jan. 17, 1798, in New Hope, Solebury township, Bucks Co. His grandfather, John, married Rachel Duer, had seven sons and two daughters, and died on the place he bought upon his arrival in America. The family was ever engaged almost exclusively in agricul- tural pursuits.
Benjamin removed to East Nottingham township in 1840, in which year he married Jane, daughter of William and Mary Idal. To them twelve children were born : Charles W .; Sarah Ann, m. George Smith ; Mary Elizabeth, m. William Kennedy ; William J .; Rachel Ann, m. John Reynolds; Martha Jane, m. Archie McFalls; and Joseph Warner, living; and the following five deceased, Mary Ann, Matilda, Stacy (all three in infancy), Emily, aged five, and Charlotte Eliza, aged eleven years. Jane, his wife, was born Dec. 22, 1802, and died in August, 1863. His farm of 140 acres lies about one mile from Oxford. He began life with no means, learned the trade of a cooper, and later that of a carpenter. By industry, economy, and perseverance he has achieved a competence. He is esteemed as a man of sterling integrity and upright character.
PIM .- This family can be traced from Richard Pim, of Leicestershire, England, who in his old age removed to Ire- land, about 1655. His son William, with his family, also removed to Ireland in the same year. John Pim, son of William, born in. Leicestershire, married, in 1663, Mary Pleadwell, and lived at Montrath, Ireland. He had eleven children, of whom the eldest was Moses, born 7, 19, 1664, who married Ann, daughter of Christopher and Philippa Raper.
WILLIAM PIM, in the next generation, born at Lackah, 11, 15, 1692, married, 11, 21, 1715, Dorothy Jackson, daughter of Thomas and Dorothy. The family came to Pennsylvania in 1730, and settled in East Caln township, where Dorothy dicd 1, 15, 1732, and her husband 10, 11, 1751. He was for many years the clerk of Bradford Monthly Meeting, an elder in the church, and an active,. influential citizen.
His children were Moses, b. 10, 27, 1716; Sarah, b. 4, 23, 1719, m. George Mendenhall; Thomas, b. 3, 1, 1721, d. 10, 3, 1786 ; Hannah, b. 4, 18, 1723, m. Thomas Paine ; Richard, b. 10, 10, 1728, d. 4, 12, 1760; Mary, b. 6, 6, 1731, d. 1, 30, 1732.
Thomas Pim married, 10, 24, 1746, Frances Wilkinson, daughter of James, of Wilmington, and continued on the homestead. His wife died 5, 7, 1784, aged sixty-three. Their children were Moses, Ann (m. to John Edge), Wil- liam, Thomas, Hannah, Sarah, John, and Rachel.
Thomas, Jr., married his cousin Mary, daughter of Rich- ard Pim, and was the father of Rachel, who died young ; Hannah, m. to Job Remington ; Sarah, m. to William Abbott; Mary, m. to Abraham Gibbons; Anne, living in West Chester, unmarried, in her 90th year ; and Richard, who died on the homestead in 1857, leaving children.
Richard Pim, son of William, married, 2, 5, 1752, Han- nah, daughter of Phinehas Lewis, and left four children, --- John, died young ; Mary, m. to Thomas Pim, Jr .; Isaac, m. to Hannah Cope, and Moses.
POTTS, DAVID, JR .- The ship "Shield," Capt. Daniel Towes, from Hull, England, arrived in the Delaware River in December, 1678, and anchored at Burlington, West Jer- sey colony. Among its passengers were Thomas Potts and his wife, Ann, and children. He died in Germantown in 1726. On Dec. 30, 1680, he purchased in Burlington, N. J., a dwelling, bark-mill, tanyard, etc. In 1692 he bought lands in Philadelphia. He was a tanner by trade. His wife, Ann, died 7th mo. 9, 1714, and in 1716 he married Alice Pusser. The Potts family were Friends. His will was proven Nov. 10, 1726. His only son and heir, Thomas Potts, appears on record as an iron-master, residing in Cole- brookdale township, then Philadelphia County, and he there bought from Gerhart Henkels 192 acres of land. He mar- ried, 8th mo. 3, 1699, Martha Keurling, who subsequently dying, he again was married to Grace Farmer. She died in the same year, and he the third time was married to Magdalen Robeson. His will was proven Jan. 10, 1752. John, son of Thomas Potts by his first wife, Martha, mar- ried, April 11, 1734, Ruth Savage, of Coventry, a daughter of Samuel Savage, by his wife, Aona, daughter of Thomas Rutter. He was the founder of Pottstown, and the com- mon ancestor of the Potts family, and among his direct lineal descendants was David Potts, Sr. His son, David, Jr., was born in the year 1794, and for near a half-century successfully managed Warwick Furnace, and greatly en- larged and improved the estate therewith connected. He represented, in part, Chester County in the Legislature for several years, having been elected in 1823, '24, and '25, and subsequently was the representative from this district in Congress for eight years, from 1831 to 1839. He was bitterly opposed to slavery, and in the halls of Congress
686
HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Ke
manfully opposed all legislation to perpetuate it. He mar- ried Anna Nutt May, of Coventry township, in 1819. She died March 17, 1823, and he never remarried. The Warwick branch of the Potts family espoused the patriot side in the Revolutionary war, and some of them served in the Continental army. Among these were Jonathan Potts, surgeon-general of the army, and Lieut .- Col. John Potts. The Warwick Furnace cast many hundred cannon for the American army, and its locality is surrounded with rich historic associations of the days of the Revolutionary era. David Potts, Jr., died June 1, 1863, at the age of sixty- nine years. He served in the war of 1812 with his brother, Thomas M., and was with Capt. Kimes' company, of Read- ing, at Marcus Hook. He was active in politics, and in later life was at one time the Free-Soil candidate for Gov- ernor. He was universally csteemed by the community ; was a man of clear brain, noble impulse, and warm heart, of energy and upright character, and the impress of his active life was greatly felt throughout the State.
THOMAS M. POTTS .- " Warwick Furnace," so long the home of this branch of the family, was founded in 1736 by Rebecca Grace, and has been almost all that time in blast until quite recently. Mrs. Grace, wife of Robert Grace, an extensive iron-master, did not reside here, but at her Coventry estate, in what is now known as South Cov- entry township. She was twice married, her first husband being Samuel Nutt, by whom she had one daughter, Anna, who married Thomas Potts. Her second husband was Robert Grace, the lifelong friend and intimate companion of Benjamin Franklin. Two of Thomas Potts' daughters were in succession married to Robert May. Mrs. Grace, after the decease of her husband, resided in Robert May's
family until her death, and was buried in the family bury- ing-ground at Coventry. Thomas M. Potts, son of David Potts, Sr., and Martha, his wife, was a brother of David, Jr., and was born at Warwick Furnace, Aug. 9, 1797. As there were no suitable schools in the neighborhood, Thomas M. was placed under the tuition of a noted teacher named Glass, at Pottstown. After having received his education he returned home and assisted in the management of the furnace. He married Hannah, daughter of John Tem- plin,-a gentleman residing near Warwick, well and favor- ably known for his general intelligence, business ability, and strict integrity,-on July 6, 1826. Shortly after, he moved to the State of Tennessee, where he conducted the iron-works of Anthony Van Leer, near Nashville, a relative of his wife. He remained there about two years, then re- turned to Chester County, and erected a foundry about a mile below Warwick Furnace, on the South Branch of French Creek, where he engaged in producing castings of various kinds and patterns; but as they could be more cheaply made in Philadelphia, which was his principal market, he abandoned the foundry after two years of labor. He then went to Virginia and engaged in the manufacture of iron with David Jenkins, of Lancaster County.
While he was in Virginia his brother, David, Jr., pur- chased Jefferson Furnace, in South Manheim township, Schuylkill Co. At David's instance Thomas took charge of these works, and conducted them for some time; but unfortunately the mines which had been relied on to sup- ply these works failed, on the discovery of which David, Jr., sold them, and Thomas M. once more returned to his native county, in which he continued to reside till he died. The house in which he resided for many years had been
687
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.
built for him by David, Jr., on part of the Warwick estate. Here he passed the remnant of his days in agricultural pursuits, exercising a generous hospitality and living in the affectionate respect of his relatives, friends, and neighbors. He died Oct. 29, 1876. His widow survives, and resides with her son, Capt. John T. Potts.
JOHN T. POTTS .- Thomas M. and Hannaette (Templin) Potts had nine children, viz. : David, sergt .- maj. 175th Pennsylvania Infantry, d. after the close of the war ; Hol- man Vincent, private in Co. A, 53d Pennsylvania Infantry, promoted to lieutenant, and d. after the war of the Rebellion closed ; John T .; Nathaniel, d. quite young; Thomas M. ; Anna T., m. William L. Whitney, cashier of Miners' Na- tional Bank of Pottsville, and d. ; Gertrude, d .; Martha El- len, m. Francis M. Nichols, of Philadelphia ; and Mary K.
tenant, and again, on the following June 2d, to be first lieu- tenant of Company A of said regiment; was wounded at Antietam and Fredericksburg. Afterwards, by the direction of the President, he was detailed for special duty at Wash- ington City, and commissioned by President Lincoln, Aug. 1, 1864, captain in the Veteran Reserve Corps, and was mustered out July 13, 1865.
On July 22, 1865, Brig .- Gen. Joseph H. Taylor, chief of Gen. Augur's staff, wrote the following letter :
"Capt. John T. Potts has long been employed at these headquarters on duties exceedingly delicate and responsible, which he has per- formed always with fidelity, firmness, and good judgment, to the per- fect satisfaction of Maj .- Gen. Augur, Comdg. Dpt. Originally an officer of the 53d Pennsylvania Volunteers, he served faithfully in the field until wounded in action. His resignation deprives the ser- vice of a most worthy and excellent gentleman and soldier."
The wife of Thomas M. Potts was a Templin, and her grandmother was a sister of Gen. Anthony Wayne, and her mother was a Van Leer, of an old and well-known family, noted in the anti-slavery cause. Of the children of Thomas M. Potts, John T. was born Feb. 28, 1841, in Rocking- ham Co., Va., where his father was then temporarily residing in the iron business. When two years old he re- moved with his parents to Schuylkill County, where he lived until he was about thirteen, and then came to Chester County. He was educated in the academies of Pottstown and Pottsville. He married, May 24, 1865, Martha E. Jones, of Doe Run, who died in Philadelphia in 1873. He enlisted April 19, 1861, as a private in 4th Pennsylvania Infantry, under Col. (late Governor) Har- tranft, three months' men ; re-enlisted in August as a pri- vate in three years' service at Harrisburg in 53d Pennsyl- vania Infantry ; was promoted in August to be second lieu-
On the above is the following indarsement :
"I fully and entirely and heartily concur in the foregoing. "C. C. AUGUR, " Major-Genl. Comdg. Dpt."
He was treasurer of Chester County from 1865 to 1867, and was afterwards largely engaged in the manufacture of brick in Philadelphia, but since his father's death in 1876 he resides at the homestead. In 1880 he was elected a member of the Legislature.
MAJOR JAMES POTTS was born at Germantown, June 17, 1752 (O.S.). He was the son of Samuel and Ann (Rush) (Ashmead) Potts, grandson of Daniel and Sarah (Shoemaker) Potts, and great-grandson of David and Alice (Croasdale) Potts. The ancestors of Maj. Potts were mem- bers of the Society of Friends, and settled in the province of Pennsylvania about the time of the formation of the colony.
688
HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
He always took a great interest in political and military affairs, and during the Revolutionary war took an active part in the cause of the colonies. He was an officer in the service, and was in the battles of Brandywine and German- town, and was engaged in a number of skirmishes.
Until the year 1808 he resided a short distance north of Philadelphia. In that year he removed to Chester County, and settled in West Fallowfield (now Highland) township, and soon thereafter purchased the farm since owned by J. Wilson Hershberger and others, near the Limestone road, where he resided until his death, which occurred on the 28th of July, 1822.
Although Maj. Potts never had the advantage of a liberal education, yet he was a man of no mean attainments, and possessed a good sound judgment. He early took strong grounds in favor of the temperance movement, and some- times offended his neighbors because the customary decan- ter was not always brought from the sideboard. He gave considerable attention to the culture of peaches, having a large and productive orchard:
His wife was Sarah Wessell, daughter of John and Han- nah (Wells) Wessell, of Philadelphia County. They had twelve children, eight of whom grew up, viz .: Rachel, m. Eneas Hughes ; James Wessell, m. Margaret Stroud ; Ann, m. Thomas McIntire ; Eliza ; Samuel, m. Margaret Shaef- fer ; Hannah, m. Isaac D. Tarrance; Sarah, m. Joseph Tarrance; and Thomas Jefferson, m. Margaret Carter. The latter resided on the Limestone road, one mile north of Cochranville, and died Oct. 26, 1877. Two of his sons publish a newspaper at Parkesburg, and another, Thomas
Maxwell Potts, is much interested in antiquarian and genealogical studies, and is the author of a biographical sketch of Maj. Potts, to which the writers are indebted for the facts contained in this paper. He now resides in Canonsburg, Pa.
POWER, D.D., REV. JAMES, was born in Notting- ham, Chester Co., Pa., in the year 1746, the child of parents who had emigrated from the north of Ireland. He received his preparatory education at the school of the eminent Dr. Samuel Finley, and graduated at Princeton in 1766. Among his classmates in college were Hezekiah J. Balch, Oliver Ellsworth, Luther Martin, and Nathaniel Niles. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Castle, June 24, 1772, and ordained at Octorara on the 23d of May, 1776.
In the fall of that year he removed to Western Penn- sylvania, and took up his residence in Fayette County. He supplied the destitute congregations over an extensive dis- trict for a time, and in 1779 became pastor of the Sewickly and Mount Pleasant congregations. He was the first set- tled Presbyterian minister in Western Pennsylvania. He lived to the age of eighty-five years, greatly venerated and beloved for his piety, fidelity, and usefulness. He was a graceful speaker and of polished manners, and his enun- ciation was so perfect that when he spoke in the open air, as he frequently did, he could be heard at a great dis- tance.
The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on Mr. Power by Jefferson College in 1808. He died . Aug. 5, 1830.
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL.
PRATT .- Abraham Pratt, the first of the name in this province, lived in Dublin township, where he died in 1709, his will being proven Dec. 21st of that year, and in which document (of which his wife Jane was executrix) are men- tioned his sons Joseph, John, and Jeremiah, and daughter Elizabeth.
Joseph, presumably the son of the above, married Sarah, daughter of William and Jane Edwards, May 9, 1717, and settled on a farm in Edgmont, on the east side of Ridley Creek, about five miles northwest of where his wife was born, and where her descendants continued to reside until 1830. His second marriage, with Mary Jones, took place at Christ Church, Philadelphia, Nov. 25, 1728. The children of Joseph were Thomas, Alice, Ann, Sarah, Rose, and Joseph. Thomas married Hannah Evans in 1742, and died 8, 3, 1743. Alice married Randal Malin, of Whiteland, and had seven children. Ann married Amos Davies, of Goshen, and had nine children. Sarah married Thomas Moore, and later David Yarnall, of Willistown, and settled in Coventry. Joseph, born in 1727, married Jane Davis in 1752, and settled on his father's farm. Of the children of Joseph and Jane the following record is given :
1. Abraham, b. 12, 19, 1746; m. Sarah Williamson, 4, 28, 1773, and settled in Goshen ; d. 3, 26, 1813; had one daughter, Elizabeth (b. 1774), who m. Robert Roberts, 1799. Abraham's widow died in 1824.
2. Sarah, b. 5, 13, 1748 ; died young.
3. Jane, b. 5, 30, 1751 ; m. John Hoopes, 1772.
4. Joseph, b. 9, 12, 1753 ; m. Sarah Davis, his cousin, in 1780, and settled on his grandfather's farm. He left two sons,-Joseph, b. 1, 9, 1781, who married Sarah Hoopes, and died 10, 25, 1861, and Lewis, a drover, who died in 1848.
5. David, b. 6, 12, 1756 ; m. Lydia Hoopes, 1777, and settled in Marple. He died in 1844; had eleven children, -John, David, Joseph, Abram, Jeremiah, Henry, Randal, Jane, Lydia, Christiana, Orpah. Of their sons, John mar- ried and settled near Newtown meeting-house, and died in 1837; Joseph settled at the White Horse, in Willistown, as a merchant, and died, leaving a large family ; Abram re- sided on the paternal homestead; Jeremiah removed to Ohio; Henry married Susan Garrett and settled in New- town; and Randal resides on the farm late his father's, in Marple.
6. Mary, b. 5, 8, 1759; m. Francis Hoopes, of New Garden, 1777.
7. Priscilla, b. 9, 3, 1761 ; m. Thomas Bishop, Jr., 1780; she died in 1847, aged eighty-five years. They had eleven children.
8. Thomas, b. 1, 13, 1764; m. Hannah Massey, 1786, and Hannah Heacock, 1813. He lived in Marple, and died in 1820. By first marriage had children,-Ann, Susan, Jane, Massey, Priscilla, and Phineas; by his second marriage one son, Thomas.
9. Sarah, m. to Joseph Bishop, d. 7, 17, 1809.
PRESTON, WILLIAM, and wife, Jane, " of Bradley, in the parish of Huthersfield, Old England," arrived in Penn- sylvania in the year 1718, bringing a certificate from Brig- house Monthly Meeting of Friends, held 11, 17, 1717, at Harwood-well, near Halifax, in the county of York. Their
children were John, b. 2, 12, 1699; Martha, b. 7, 30, 1700, m. Benjamin Canby ; Joseph, b. 12, 28, 1702, d. 5, 30, 1716; Sarah, b. 4, 6, 1706; William, b. 6, 7, 1708, d. 3, 9, 1766 ; Jonas, b. 11, 19, 1710, d. 2, 1, 1772 ; Mary, b. 7, 13, 1713, d. 7, 2, 1731.
They settled in Buckingham, Bucks Co., where, in 1722, Jane Preston, the widow of William, became the third wife of Thomas Canby.
John Preston, son of John, and grandson of William and Jane, settled in Lynchburg, Va., and had children, -. John, Amos, Moses, Sarah, Peter, and William, who were living in Ohio in 1830, and two others, Anne and David, then deceased.
William Preston, Jr., married, in 1735, Deborah Ches- man, who died 11, 29, 1749-50. They had five children, -Martha, b. 5, 27, 1737, m. Stephen Wilson ; Mary, b. 2, 17, 1740; Ruth, b. 9, 15, 1742; Sarah, b. 6, 3, 1745 ; Joseph, b. 1, 11, 1748, d. 6, 1, 1810.
Joseph Preston, of Buckingham, and Rebecca Bills, of Solebury, were married, 1, 17, 1770, at Buckingham, Bucks Co., and some time prior to 1790 removed to Londongrove, Chester Co. She was born 11, 30, 1744, and died 3, 7, 1790. Joseph married (second) Anna Simmons. His children were William, b. 11, 6, 1770, m. Mary Moore; Jonas, b. 10, 22, 1772, m. Elizabeth Brown ; David, b. 9, 20, 1774, m. Judith Hollingsworth ; Rachel, b. 9, 1, 1776, m. Henry Simmons ; Joseph, b. 3, 8, 1779 ; Mahlon, b. 2, 8, 1781, m. Amy Coates; Deborah, b. 8, 4, 1783, m. Sey- mour Coates ; Sarah, b. 8, 4, 1783, d. 1, 22, 1786; Amos, b. 7, 15, 1786, d. 12, 2, 1856; Rebecca, b. 4, 28, 1802 ; Isaae, b. 6, 7, 1805, d. 4, 9, 1806.
William and Jonas settled in Octorara Hundred (now Eighth District), Cecil Co., Md., and were the founders of Octorara Meeting. David removed to Harford Co., Md., near Bel Air. Mahlon and Amos remained on their father's farm, at what is now called Prestonville.
Amos Preston married, 4, 10, 1811, Margaret Smith, daughter of Joseph and Elinor Smith, of Londongrove, born 3, 29, 1791, died 1, 4, 1863. They had children,- Joseph, Ann, Simpson, Smith, Levi, Charles, Rebecca, Howard, and Caroline S. Preston. The following sketeh of the eldest daughter, Ann, born 12, 1, 1813, is taken from a memorial pamphlet :
In the quiet eld homestead where ber grandfather lived, where her father was born, lived, and died, she spent the first thirty-six years of what then promised to be an uneventful life. Confined some- what closely at home, her early education was not what is usually called liberal, and her attendance at school was limited to the excel- lent one near her country home and a short time spent at a boarding- school in West Chester. Later in life she mastered the Latin language, and became early interested in the leading philanthropic questions of that time, and thought and wrote carefully concerning them. Prior te 1833 she had become a member of the Clarkson Anti- Slavery Society, which held its mectings quarterly at different points in Chester and Lancaster Counties. In 1838 she attended the meeting held in Philadelphia for the dedication of Pennsylvania Hall, erected for the purposes of free discussion. Her poem, entitled 'The Burning of Pennsylvania Hall' (hy a mob), was one of two selected from sev- eral hundred for publication in the ' History of Pennsylvania Hall,' the other being written by Rev. Jebn Pierpont. In 1848 she pub- lished a small hook of poems for children, entitled ' Consin Ann's Ste- ries,' which have become classic in child literature. Wbile her course for the future was still undetermined, information reached her of the proposed opening of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania.
87
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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Having decided for berself that the study and practice of medicine were both womanly and adapted to ber moral, mental, and physical constitution, she was one of the first applicants for admission to this college as a student at its opening in 1850. She graduated at the first aonnal commencement, at the close of the session of 1851-52. The following spring she accepted in this institution the professorship of the chair of Physiology and Hygiene. She spent a year in the Mater- nité Hospital of Paris, and on her return home was the instrument mainly of the origin of the Woman's Hospital, in Philadelphia, of which she was appointed co its heard of managers corresponding secretary and consulting physician, offices she held until her death. In 1866 she was elected dean of the faculty of the college, and the next year a member of its board of incorporaters. She died at her post of duty, April 18, 1872. Her introductory lectures and valedic- tory addresses, now a part of the Woman's Medical College history, are especially able. In practice Dr. Preston was successful, and, keenly alive to the wants of the sick and suffering, she was uonsnally loved and trusted. The medical college, noder her charge, was the first ‹ver chartered for its purpose, and the number of its graduates exceed that of any similar institution. Dr. Preston carly hecame identified with it, and for oineteen years was Professor of Physiology and Hygiene, for six years dean of the faculty, and for four years member of the board of corporaters. She was a woman of rare talent, and hy ber death the medical profession and the cause of medical education sus- tained a great loss. When Dr. Prestoo's will was published, the friends of the college and hospital found that beth institutions had heen geacronsly remembered. To the cause of woman her work and example were invaluable. Her personal character was so high, her ability so great, her judgment se accurate, her nature so truly femi- nine, her success as a physician so universally acknowledged, that her life was an unanswerable argument against those who would exclude women from the medical profession.
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