William Campbell Preston. cases, of his own household, he had the good fortune, deservedly, to re-conquer the confidence and esteem even of those who were most bitterly opposed in political con duct and preferences. The call of William C. Preston to the presidency of the South Carolina College was as honorable to the State as to himself. It elicited a signal tribute and compliment from John C. Cal houn, who, for the first time, sent a son to the South Carolina College, in consequence of Mr. Preston's accession to the presidency. Mr. Preston retained this place until 1851, when he resigned it on account of failing health. His resignation was received by the board of trustees with great regret. He was for many years a trustee of the college. His interest in the college did not cease with the dissolution of his official connec tion with it. "The college is as much as ever the object of his affections. He loves to linger amid its delightful groves; to look upon the temples dedicated to knowledge, and to call up the memories of those days when he personally mingled in the stirring incidents of college life. The cordial greet ing which he always receives from the stu dents upon his occasional visits to the halls at times of public exercises, but attest the impression which he has left behind him, and the admiration of his genius and services." In the tribute of respect paid to him after his death by the faculty of the South Caro lina College, we find the following: " Nearly fifty years ago, he entered the college as a student, and throughout this long period preserved an almost unbroken connection with it as trustee and president. Few have exhibited as large an interest in its welfare, and none have contributed more to its honor and reputation. The last active por tion of his life was spent in its service, and the last occasion on which he attended a public assembly, was in the college chapel." Among other public positions, which Mr. Preston filled, was the office of mayor of Columbia.
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Mr. Preston was married twice. In O'Neall's " Bench and Bar " we find the fol lowing: "In 1830 or 183 1, he fortunately replaced the wife of his youth by the amiable, beautiful, well-informed and accomplished lady, Miss Penelope Davis, the second daughter of Dr. James Davis, of Columbia." She died some five years before Mr. Preston. "The sere and yellow leaf" found Mr. Preston's condition peculiarly tender, touch ing, and pathetic. He was then an old man, crippled and paralyzed. The wife of his bosom, who had been his -stay and his companion and who had loved him tenderly and devotedly, was gone. Sally Campbell Preston, his only child, " a beautiful and ac complished girl," had died some years be fore, just as she was budding into woman hood. He had laid aside his political armor, had doffed his professorial robes, and was calmly waiting for the summons to come up higher. Solitary and feeble is he, " and yet a mellowness of glory seems to be floating round these gray hairs as a nimbus; and we almost seem to hear from his lips the words : ' Earth no more, but heaven! '" Mr. Preston's death occurred in Columbia on Tuesday, May 22, 1860, and the open ing words of the editorial of the " South Caro linian " edited by Franklin Gilliard, announced that sad event on the next day in the fol lowing words : " It is our mournful duty to announce the death, yesterday, of the Hon. William Campbell Preston, at the residence of his brother, John S. Preston, Esq., in this city. In his sixty-sixth year, a severe and suffering illness from disease of the heart has taken him from amongst us, but he bore his trials with a cheerful submission to the will of the Almighty, and full of the rich hope of the eternal inheritance which is promised to the faithful Christian." The funeral obsequies were imposing and were described by the " South Carolinian " as follows: "The body was borne from the house of Col. John S. Preston, accompanied by the following pall-bearers; Major Theo.
