Hiram Dustin Preston
Politician. Born: November 13, 1829, Auburn, New Hampshire. Married: Emily Frances Greeley, April 3, 1861. Died: August 28, 1873, Pueblo Colorado.
A 28-year-old, unmarried farmer from Burlingame, Hiram Preston had been born in Auburn, New Hampshire, on November 13, 1829, and moved to Kansas from Illinois in 1856. Preston was elected one of Shawnee County's three convention delegates and served there as chair of the apportionment committee. He also took a lead role in the effort to deal constitutionally with the liquor questions, offering a section that would have specifically authorized the legislature "to regulate or prohibit the sale of alcoholic liquors, except for mechanical and medicinal purposes," because he thought the indiscriminate sale of intoxicating liquors was "against humanity" and "the worst thing that can happen." According to Leavenworth's Daily Times correspondent, Preston "steadily placed himself on record against the inhuman proposition of the Africans, and supported all Humanitarian movements. He speaks seldom, but always to the point." Preston went back to New Hampshire in 1861 and on April 3 married Emily Frances Greeley at Nashua. They lived at Burlingame until 1868 when they moved in Council Grove. Perry's poor health took the family, which now included two children, to Colorado in July 1873, but he died at Pueblo on August 28 of that year.
Entry: Preston, Hiram Dustin
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: June 2011
Date Modified: January 2013
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
