1280. Eliza Sackett, 1794–1864, daughter of (571) John and Lucinda Mosely Sackett, was married at Westfield, Mass., Dec. 15, 1816, to Homer Preston, 1793–1836, son of Capt. John Preston, of Granby, Mass., and his wife Eunice Moody, of South Hadley, Mass. Homer Preston had, besides his father, two other patriotic ancestors named John. One, Lieut. John Preston, 1746-1815, of Granby, was an active participant in the war of the revolution, serving in several different militia regiments and also in the Continental Army. His military record is given in detail in recently published "Massachusetts Records of Soldiers of the War of the Revolution." The other was John Preston, of Hadley, Mass., who served through King Philip's War, and took a prominent part in the "Swamp Fight," and is mentioned eight times in the pages of Bodges' History of King Philip's War, published in 1896. John, son of this last mentioned John Preston, was buried in ancient graveyard at South Hadley, and his headstone bears this inscription: "Ye first here buried."
In tracing the ancestors of Homer Preston, his descendants find, in addition to those already mentioned, the names of Ruling Elder William Goodwin, and William Westwood, of the Thomas Hooker Company, who participated in the early development of Cambridge and the founding of Hartford and Hadley, Lieut.. Samuel Smith, who is numbered among the founders of both Wethersfield and Hadley, and Ruling Elder John Strong, who was prominent among the first settlers of both Dorchester and Northampton, all now places of prominence in New England.
Homer Preston, after securing such an education as the district schools afforded, and serving his time as a carpenter's apprentice in Granby, became a successful architect, contractor and builder. At one time he was interested with his brother, Asaph Preston, in a hotel at Greenfield, Mass.; at another in the "City Coffee House," at Albany. This coffee house was subsequently enlarged into what became the celebrated Delavan House. The brothers Preston, of "Preston Brothers," as they were called, were jointly interested also, for a considerable period, in a mail and passenger stage line, which ran between the cities of Albany and Boston. The last mentioned venture did not prove a financial success. Homer Preston planned and superintended the construction of several churches, two of which were erected in the city of Brooklyn, N. Y. He also superintended the construction of the Rapelye mansion in Brooklyn NY, and of Stanwix Hall, Albany, N. Y.
Children.
3225. Edward Preston, b. Oct. 24, 1817, d. Mar. 14, 1887; m. Mary H. Moore (Stewart).
3226. Caroline E. Preston, b. Aug. 27, 1823, d. June 15, 1888; m. Chauncey C. Parker.
3227. Janette Preston, b. June 15, 1826, d. Mar. 10, 1872; m. Pardon W. Kenyon. 3228. Elvira Preston, b. May 17, 1828, d. Oct. 20, 1866; m. Charles Kelsey.
3229. Henry C. Preston, b. Apr. 15, 1832, d. May 28, 1878; m. Donna M. Weed.
3220 [sic: 3230]. Martha E. Preston, b. Sept. 20, 1835, d. May 25, 1836.
—Weygant, The Sacketts of America