PRESTON, Andrew

PRESTON

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/7/2021 at 19:49:19

Andrew Preston
Born May 8, 1850, Scotland

Andrew Preston, proprietor of the "Bonnie Brae " stock farm, and a dealer
in shorthorn cattle, is one of the best known men in Ida County, Iowa, and is highly respected and esteemed for his many good qualities. He dates his birth at a place near Dundee in Forfarshire, Scotland, May 8, 1850. His parents, John and Matilda (Hill) Preston, passed their lives and reared their family of nine children in their native land, Scotland, and both died there, the mother at the age of forty-nine years and the father at sixty. Three of their sons and two daughters are residents of Ida County, Iowa. The parents were Presbyterians and in that faith reared their children. Andrew lived on his father's farm until he was nineteen, when he came to America and
located in Chicago. From there he went to Dundee, Kane County, Illinois, and went to school one winter. In 1872 he took up his abode on wild land in Ida County, Iowa, and has since been identified with the farming and stock interests of this county. Now he owns 240 acres, one of the best farms in this part of the State. He has one of the finest groves in the county, it being composed of one acre of walnuts, one acre of maples, one acre of evergreens, hedges, wind-breaks, etc. — eight acres in all. His cottage home is nicely located and has attractive surroundings, lawn, orchard and fruits. He has two barns, one 18 x 26 feet, with an addition 14 x 26 feet, and the other 48 x 50 feet. He also has other farm buildings and improvements, and the general appearance of his premises indicates the owner to be a man of
marked intelligence and good management, as well as industry.
Mr. Preston has been twice married. When he was twenty-four he was married in Ida County, Iowa, to Elvira M. Smith, who was born in New York, daughter of Samuel Smith. She died in 1879, leaving one son, Ellson G. In November, 1882, he married Anna J. Ferguson, his present companion. She was born in Chicago and is a daughter of D. C. Ferguson, who is a Board of Trade man and is prominently known in that city. Her mother's maiden name was Hall. Mr. and
Mrs. Preston have four children : Archibald C., Howard H., Matilda E. and Winifred H. Mr. Preston is one of the Ida County "wheel horses" in the Republican party. He has served as Township Trustee, as Assessor, and is Secretary of the School Hoard. He is a member of the Farmers' Alliance, is
an earnest temperance worker, is an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, and is Superintendent of the Sabbath-school. For four years he has served as secretary of the Ida County Agricultural Society. He is also United
States Crop Reporter for Ida County. Such is a brief sketch of one of the most prominent and popular citizens of Ida County.
Source: Biographical History of Crawford, Ida, and Sac Counties, Iowa, 1893, p.265