"A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of the City of Seattle and County of King, Washington." New York and Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1903. p. 163. HAROLD PRESTON Harold Preston was born at Rockford, Illinois, on the 29th of September, 1858, and comes of a family which for several generations had been established in the east. His father, Simon M. Preston, was born in Vermont and married Martha H. Sargent. Prior to the Civil war he removed to Illinois, and when the slavery question brought on the great Rebellion he offered his services to the government to aid in the preservation of the Union. He held the rank of captain and served on the staff of General Hallock, later becoming colonel of the Fifty-second Mississippi Colored Regiment, and for gallant and meritorious services was brevetted by President Lincoln a, brigadier-general. After the war was over he remained in the south, as president of the first freedmen's bureau and was also internal revenue collector for the first district of Mississippi, which appointment he received from President Grant. During his residence in the south he was also chief engineer of the Natchez, Jackson & Columbus Railroad. In 1874 he removed to Iowa, was engaged in railroad building and became chief engineer of the Chicago, Burlington & Pacific Railroad Company. In 1891 he came to Seattle and at the age of seventy-nine years is now living retired from active business. He has been a stalwart Republican from the organization of the party and enjoys the high respect which is ever given to an honorable and worthy life. Unto him and his wife were born three sons and a daughter, all of whom are now residents of Seattle. In the public schools of Natchez, Mississippi, Harold Preston obtained his elementary education, which was supplemented by study in Iowa College, and by a course in Cornell University. He read law in Iowa, was admitted to the bar there in 1883 and immediately afterward came to Seattle, where he engaged in the practice of his profession. In 1885 he formed a partnership with E. M. Carr, which has since been continued, in 1897 Mr. Gilman became a member of the firm under the style of Preston, Carr & Gilman, and they are engaged in the general practice of law. Since acquiring the right of franchise Mr. Preston has been an earnest Republican, and his efforts in behalf of the party have not been without result. In 1898 he was elected to the state senate, in which body he was made chairman of the railroad committee and member of the judiciary committee. He is the author of the railroad commission bill; which unfortunately was defeated. In 1887 Mr. Preston was married to Miss Augusta Morgenstern, a native of San Francisco, and they have two children, Theresa and Frank. Mr. Preston belongs to the Rainier and the Athletic Clubs. ******************* Submitted to the Washington Biographies Project in January 2010 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.