Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Unknown
Arranged chronologically and alphabetically.
Robert Wickliffe (1775-1859) was a successful attorney and early settler of Kentucky. He served in the state legislature as a representative from Fayette County in 1819, 1823, and 1825 and as state senator from 1825 to 1833. Wickliffe's daughter, Margaret, married General William Preston (1816-1887) in 1840.
Preston, a native Kentuckian, fought as a lieutenant colonel of the Fourth Kentucky Infantry in the Mexican War, served in several state offices, and sat in Congress. In 1858, he was appointed envoy to Spain but returned to this country in 1861 to join the Confederate Army. During the Civil War, he served as the CSA's Minister to Mexico, a mission which ultimately failed. In 1866, he and his family returned to Fayette County from their government imposed exile in Canada. In 1875, Preston was elected President of the Texas Association, an organization which sought to reclaim Texas lands once held by the Association. Under Preston's leadership, litigation regarding the Association's claims on Texas land eventually reached the Supreme Court, where the decision went against them.
63M349: [identification of item], Wickliffe-Preston family papers, 1753-1897, bulk 1770-1887, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
The Wickliffe-Preston family papers (dated 1753-1897, bulk 1770-1887; 80 cubic feet; 167 boxes, 6 items, 1 folder) consist of the papers of Robert Wickliffe and General William Preston along with their families. The first section of the papers relate to Wickliffe and his family. Among them are letters and documents from noted politicians, lawyers, and businessmen, such as John C. Breckinridge, Henry Clay, artist Joel Tanner Hart, and frontiersman George Rogers Clark. Zachary Taylor wrote to Wickliffe from Monterrey, Mexico, of his reluctance to become a presidential candidate (1847). There are also letters, indentures, bills of sale, etc., relating to Wickliffe's slaves.
The second section of these papers relates to Preston and his family. Organized into chronological files and classified files, the Preston papers include a manuscript journal in which Preston describes his tour of duty during the Mexican War. Preston diaries and family correspondence dating from the Civil War and Reconstruction period illustrate his personal view of war and include many references to Confederate politics and relations with Mexico. There are papers from Preston's career in Congress and from his tenure as Envoy to Spain. Correspondents include Thomas Hart Benton, Mary Todd Lincoln and Cassius M. Clay. There are several documents signed by CSA President Jefferson Davis. Andrew Johnson's pardon and amnesty to Preston (1868) is included as are Texas Association papers which include letters, contracts, stock certificate books, surveys and maps important to the history of Texas.
Additionally, the collection includes William Preston's letterbook, kept from 1864 to 1865. The book comprises letters written by William Preston to various Confederate officials in an attempt to establish diplomatic relations between the C. S. A. and Mexico. Also included is a typescript of the original. Correspondents include Jefferson Davis, Judah P. Benjamin, John Slidell, James A. Seddon and others written from Havana and Nassau. Preston discusses in detail his efforts to reach Maximilian and Maximilian's intentions.
Included with the Wickliffe-Preston papers are the Christy-Hepburn papers, George Hancock papers, Jason Rogers papers, Wickliffe executor's papers and the Woolley family papers.
Contents of the General William Preston letterbook may not be published without written permission of the donor. The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections.