My Genealogy Hound

HON. WALLACE A. PRESTON, Mayor of St. Joseph, is one of the influential and successful business men of the city. The Champion Planing Mill, of which he is the owner, is located near the iron bridge spanning the St. Joseph River, and thus, by its splendid situation, has the best of shipping facilities. In connection with the mill is a large lumber-yard, and Mr. Preston conducts an extensive business as a dealer in lumber and manufacturer of builders’ materials. He gives steady work to about thirty employes, and through his excellent judgment and energy has built up an extensive trade. Mr. Preston is a native of the city where he now holds the highest office in the gift of the people. He was born October 22, 1842, and is the son of Fowler J. and Annjenette (Loomis) Preston, both of whom were natives of Massachusetts. The paternal grandfather, Joel Preston, was also a native of the Old Bay State and was a descendant of good and substantial Puritan stock. He was loyal to his country and served with bravery in the War of the Revolution. Fowler J. Preston was a builder and contractor by occupation, and as early as 1829 removed to Michigan, settling in St. Joseph. He soon became closely identified with the progress of this section of the State and served as the first Sheriff of Berrien County. A man of great energy, force of character and determination, he was prominent among the early settlers of the county and was well and favorably known. His death occurred in 1843, and he was widely mourned as a public loss.

In this connection, it will be appropriate to make some mention of the mother of our subject. This worthy woman occupied a prominent place among the pioneers of Berrien County. Industrious and economical, she aided her husband in establishing a home, and knew no higher ambition than to labor for the welfare of her husband and children. She passed away at St. Joseph in 1891, upon the eightieth anniversary of her birth. She is still held in loving remembrance in the hearts of her children, who owe much to her example and precept.

The eldest of three sons, Wallace A. Preston passed his early school days in St. Joseph. At the age of sixteen he left school and became a clerk in a grocery store, where he was employed for four years. From childhood he had the sailor’s love for the sea, and as soon as he attained manhood he indulged his long-cherished hope of becoming a sailor. For six years he was employed on a boat that plied the waters of Lake Michigan. During the Civil War he entered the naval service, and for eighteen months was on the sea in the defense of the Union, being located during most of that time at Key West and Pensacola, Fla., and New Orleans. At the close of the war he was mustered out of the service, and returned to St. Joseph in May, 1865.

Upon returning to this city Mr. Preston embarked in the lumber business, and soon afterward built a planing mill, which he still conducts in connection with his lumber yard. He was married in January, 1873, to Miss Mary E., daughter of William P. Kinney, of Benton Harbor. Mrs. Preston was born in Berrien County, Mich., and is the mother of six children, namely: William W., Loomis K., Maud E., Arthur G., Nathan E. and John D. Mrs. Preston is a member of the First Congregational Church.

With the public affairs of St. Joseph Mr. Preston has always been quite closely identified, and is an earnest advocate of Republican principles. For two terms he served as Treasurer of St. Joseph and filled the office of President of the village in 1880. In 1893 he was elected Mayor of the city, and is discharging the responsible duties of that place with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. In his social connections he is identified with Pomona Lodge No. 281, F. & A. M., and is also a member of Burnett Lodge No. 119, I. O. O. F.