Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Preston, William G. November 23, 1832 - February 20, 1915 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com and June 30, 2006, 1:23 am Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Volume II, Pages 203-204 WILLIAM G. PRESTON. The real pioneers of the Pacific northwest were a body of remarkable men, endowed with great courage, clear vision, keen intelligence and that indomitable spirit which never yields to defeat. Of this type was William G. Preston, who marched in the front rank of the columns that blazed the trail and made possible the marvelous development of this great empire. It was his rare ability to relate not only cause and effect, but the separate elements essential to important achievement. Thus he assembled the machinery of his dreams and made it serve the largest practical purpose. Mr. Preston was born November 23, 1832, in Galway, Saratoga county, New York, and attended the public schools of that locality. At the age of eighteen he went to Tompkins county, New York, and resided for two years with an uncle, Rev. A. W. Platt. In 1852 Mr. Preston became a sailor and had the opportunity of visiting many large cities in America and Europe. The year 1854 witnessed the opening of the territory of Nebraska for settlement and in the fall he started for that region, going by way of Chicago and Rock Island, thence down the Mississippi to St. Louis and up the Missouri river. Locating at Belleview, he was placed in command of Colonel Sarpee’s ferryboat in 1855 and when the territorial capital was moved to Omaha he went to that city. Following the sale of the boat of which he was captain he went to Steubenville, Ohio, and built the Omaha City, a side-wheeler, equipped with a double engine and designed to carry freight on the river. In 1858 he turned the boat and ferry business between Council Bluffs and Omaha over to his brother and journeyed to Pikes Peak, Colorado. Not only was he among the earliest arrivals on the site of Denver but also built one of the first houses there. For two years he followed the occupation of mining with indifferent success and his adventurous spirit then took him to the territory of Washington. He went via the Snake river and crossed the stream in a wagon bed at old Fort Lemhi at the head of the Salmon river. For a time he operated a pack train from old Fort Walla Walla and Fort Spokane, Washington, to Lewiston, Idaho, and during that period ex-United States Senator Levi Ankeny was running a pack train from Lewiston to St. Mary’s mines. It was in 1866 that Mr. Preston located in Waitsburg, Washington, and soon afterward purchased a half interest in the Washington Flouring Mills. Thus he became one of the first millers in the northwest and later added a stock of general merchandise. Subsequently Mr. Preston and his brother, Platt A., acquired control of the industry, which had been founded by Mr. Wait, for whom the town of Waitsburg was named. For a number of years the mills were operated by Preston Brothers and the business next passed into the hands of the Preston- Parton Company. It is now conducted under the style of the Preston-Schaffer Milling Company, which is operating on an extensive scale, maintaining flour mills in Waitsburg, Pendleton, Athena and Freewater, Oregon. In 1869 William G. Preston was married in Waitsburg to Miss Matilda Cox, who was a member of the pioneer families of the Oregon country, and they became the parents of three sons. Herbert Platt, the eldest, makes his home in Seattle, Washington. Dale, the second in order of birth, passed away in May, 1910. Charles Bliss, the youngest son, married Miss E. Margaret Lynch and resides in Portland. He is the heaviest stockholder in the Preston- Schaffer Milling company and successfully controls the operations of the corporation. When seventy-two years of age William G. Preston became a member of the Walla Walla Lodge of Elks, which his son, Charles B., joined at the same time, and this was the father’s only fraternal affiliation. He was a great admirer of Harvey Scott, editor of the Oregonian, and that paper was “his Bible.” In 1913 Mr. Preston came to Portland to make his home with his son Charles and here passed away February 20, 1915. A business man of exceptional ability and enterprise, he erected the guide-posts of progress and success, and his generous nature, breadth of mind and strong sense of honor won for him the high and enduring regard of all with whom he was associated in the varied relations of life. Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Volume II, Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1928 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/preston54gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 5.2 Kb