Hinckley, Ichabod

Encyclopedia of Connecticut Biography, Genealogical-Memorials,Representative Citizens. New York: The American Historical Society,1917. pp. 57-60.
PRESTON, Edward Verrance,
Civil War Veteran, Insurance Official.
Major Edward Verrance Preston, general manager of agencies of TheTravelers Insurance Company of Hartford, is one of the best knowninsurance men in Connecticut, his native State. He was born June i, 1837,in Willington, son of Joshua and Caroline (Eldredge) Preston. MajorPreston was born under the handicap of having to maintain the prestige ofa
distinguished ancestry, which has been traced back through a number offamilies to early Colonial days. Major Preston has made good, not only asa volunteer when the unity of the nation was threatened, but in the morepeaceful paths of business, and as a worker in the cause of religion, inwhich his family through many generations has been prominent.
The Prestons have been in Connecticut for many generations, and prior tolocating in this State were early settlers of Masaschusetts. He alsotraces to Elder Thomas Dimock, Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1635 ;Lieutenant Abel Wright, to whom a "homlot" was granted in Springfield,Massachusetts, 1-2-1665; Zoeth Eldredge, a soldier in the Revolution fromWillington, Connecticut ; Samuel Hinckley, of Scituate, in 1635, whosedescendants were patriots of the Revolution. The list of Revolutionarysoldiers published by Connecticut shows twenty-five representatives ofthe Preston family of Connecticut in the service. Another ancestor wasDeacon Joseph Huntington, of Norwich. The Preston family is one of theoldest in New England, and the surname Preston is of great antiquity inNorth Britain. It was assumed by the family from territorial possessionsin Mid-Lothian, in the time of Malcolm, King of Scots. Leophus dePreston, of the time of William the Lion, in 1040, was grandfather of SirWilliam de Preston, one of the Scotch noblemen summoned to Berwick byEdward I. in the competition for the crown of Scotland between Bruce andBaliol, the division having been referred to Edward. After the death ofAlexander III., in 1291, this Sir William de Preston was succeeded by hisson, Nicol de Preston, one of the Scottish barons, who swore fealty toEdward I. He died in the beginning of the reign of David II., ofScotland, son of Robert Bruce, and was succeeded by his, son, SirLawrence de Preston, who was seated at Preston in Westmoreland in thetime of Henry II. Sir Richard de Preston, fifth in descent from the aboveRichard de Preston, represented the county of Westmoreland in Parliamentin the seventeenth year of Edward III. His son, Richard de Preston, hadlikewise the honor of being knight of the shire of Westmoreland in thesame reign, 2/th Edward III., and in the same year, 1368, obtainedlicense to embark five hundred acres. His successor was Sir John dePreston, of Preston Richard and Preston Patrick, and was a member ofParliament for Westmoreland in the thirty-sixth, thirtyninth andforty-sixth years of Edward II. His son Richard had no male issue. Hisson John was judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the reigns of HenryIV. and VI., and retired from the bench in consequence of great age, in1427. Children of Judge John : Rev. John ; Richard, his heir, and adaughter. The American families are undoubtedly descended from somebranch of this family. The Connecticut family has been traced to GeorgePreston, of Valley Field, who was created a baron of Nova Scotia in 1537,through his son William, who died April 23, 1585 ; his son John ; his sonWilliam, the Connecticut immigrant, came in 1635, died in 1639, leavingland in Yorkshire, whence he had come to this country.
Roger Preston was born in England in 1614. In 1635, at the age oftwenty-one years, he took the oath of allegiance in London, and sailedfor America in the ship "Elizabeth," April 8, 1635, William Stagg.master. His name first appears as a resident of Ipswich in 1639. Hiswife, Martha, whom he married in 1642, was born in 1622. In 1657 theyremoved to Salem, Massachusetts, where he died January 20, 1666. Martha,his widow, married (second) Nicholas Holt, of Andover, where she residedthereafter, taking her
sons, Samuel, John and Jacob Preston, with her. She died at Andover,March 2i, 1703. Roger Preston was a tanner by trade. His son, SamuelPreston, was born 1651, at Ipswich, and settled in Andover with hismother. He married (first) May 27, 1671, Susanna Gutterson, who diedDecember 29, 1710. Their fourth child, Jacob, was born February 24,1680-81, and in 1723-24 we find him in Windham, Connecticut, at whichtime he united with the church of Canada Parish. He married, June 2,1702, Sarah Wilson. Their son, Benjamin Preston, the ancestor of theWillington Prestons, was born in April or May, 1705. He married, May 5,1727, Deborah Holt, of Canada Parish, Windham county. He and his wifedied within the same hour, November 26, 1784, and were buried in the samegrave. Theif son, Darius Preston, was born at Willington Hollow, in 1731,and died there, May 30, 1821. His powder horn, dated 1771, is now inMajor Preston''s possession. He married, November 15, 1759, Hannah Fisk,who died January 12, 1813. Their son, Amos Preston, born February 8,1782, was the youngest of eleven children, and died October 6, 1864. Hemarried, September 4, 1803, Martha ("Patty") Taylor, who was bornFebruary 8, 1782, and died December 7, 1860 Her father. Thomas Taylor,died April 5, 1815, aged sixty-three years. Joshua Preston, son of Amosand Martha (Taylor) Preston, was born July 15, 1813, the youngest of sixchildren. He learned the trade of tanner, and was for many years foremanat the tannery owned by his eldest brother, the late Hon. S. T. Preston.For a time he was the proprietor of a hotel in the village of Westford,Connecticut, and also owned the Lincoln tannery. He was a stanchDemocrat, but was indifferent to the lure of political office. He wasdecided in his opinions and outspoken, especially on the temperancequestion, and
was one of the first to identify himself with the temperance movement,which he believed went well with the Christian principles he professed.He was a member of the Baptist church at Willington, and was quite anaccomplished player on the double-bass viol, with which he fur''nishedmusic at the meetings of the church. In 1857 he became foreman for P.Jewell & Sons, tanners, of Hartford, and remained with them until 1879,when he removed to Chicago, where he held a similar position in the plantof his son, Captain E. B. Preston. In 1895 he returned to Hartford, andmade his home with his daughter, Mrs. W. Chapín Hunt, until his death,March 18, 1900. He married. March 3, 1835, Caroline, daughter of Arieland Betsey (Dimock) Eldredge, born February 6, 1816, in Willington, diedApril 27, 1882, in Chicago, and was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery atHartford. Ariel Eldredge was born April 28, 1791, and died September 15,1849. Hc w^s the son of Zoeth Eldredge, born, it is supposed, inWillington, Connecticut, about 1751, died there, March 18, 1828. He was afarmer. He marched on the Lexington Alarm in Major Elijah Fenton''scompany from Willington. Upon his dismissal from this brief service heenlisted in the Second Connecticut Regiment, Colonel Joseph Spencer,serving in the Fifth Company under Captain Solomon Willes, from about Mayi until the latter part of December, 1775, when the regiment wasdismissed. He was at Roxbury during the siege of Boston, and also sawthree months'' service under Washington in New York City in Captain JosephParsons'' company. Colonel Samuel Chapman''s regiment. He married inWillington. Connecticut, October 16, 1779, as his second wife, Bethia,born December 10, 1759, in Tolland, Connecticut, daughter of CaptainIchabod Hinckley, of Tolland, who was born October 13, 1735, inWillington, and died February 23, 1807. He was captain in the Continentalarmy, and was very active in the Revolutionary War; served two terms inthe General Assembly, and was selectman for fourteen years. He was a manof great natural dignity, of unusual ability, and of highest integrity.He served as first lieutenant, Sixth Company, Third Battalion,Wadsworth''s Brigade. This battalion was raised in June, 1776, toreinforce Washington in New York City; served there and on Long Island ;was caught in the retreat from the city, September 15, and suffered someloss ; also engaged in the battle of White Plains, October 28. His timeexpired December 25, 1776. His first wife, Mary, died in Willington,January 8, 1769. aged thirty-seven years. Benjamin Hinckley, father ofCaptain Ichabod Hinckley, was born June 19, 1707. in Barnstable, and diedin Willington, Connecticut, October n, 1749. He was a farmer and wasadmitted freeman in Willington, December 17, 1735. He married in Tolland,November 6, 1733, Deborah Palmer, of Windham. His father was IchabodHinckley, born August 28, 1680, in Barnstable, died in Tolland.Connecticut, May 10, 1768. He married, January 5, 1702, Mary, daughter ofBenjamin and Mary (Davis) Goodspeed, of Barnstable. She was born JanuaryId, 1678, and died October I, 1719. Having purchased three hundred acresof land, partly in Tolland and partly in Willington, he removed in 1732with his family to Tolland, and served several terms there as selectman.His father, John Hinckley, brother of Thomas Hinckley. sixth Governor ofNew Plymouth Colony, was born May 24, 1644, and died December 7. 1709. InJuly, 1668, he married Bethiah. daughter of Thomas Lothrop, andgranddaughter of Rev. John Lothrop. She was born July 23, 1649, and diedJuly IO, 1697. John Lothrop was born about 1621, probably at Egerton,Kent, England, and was about thirteen years of age when he came with hisfather to Scituate, Massachusetts. He married Sarah, daughter of WilliamLearned. "Ensign" John Hinckley was a prominent citizen of Barnstable,where he owned much land. His father was Samuel Hinckley, of Tenterden,Kent, England, who came to New England with his wife, Sarah, and fourchildren in the ship "Hercules," of Sandwich, which sailed about March,1634. He settled in Scituate, where his wife joined the church August 16,1635. They removed to Barnstable in 1639, where his wife died August 18,1656. He died there, October 31, 1662. He was prominent and owned muchland.