Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities

Montgomery County Branch Papers, 1754-1996, Ms62-001, 6.0 cu. ft.

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Smithfield Plantation House
This image can be found at URN lh17
on the VT Image Base

Introduction:

Founded in 1889, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA) has twenty branches which own and maintain historic properties. In November 1958 the APVA authorized the organization of the Montgomery County branch for the specific purpose of acquiring and restoring Smithfield Plantation, the historic home near Blacksburg in Montgomery County, Virginia, built by William Preston in 1773. In 1959 Mrs. Janie Preston Brockenbrough Lamb, a descendant of Preston, donated Smithfield and 4.5 acres of land to the APVA. Restoration of the building was begun in 1962 when the APVA's Montgomery County Branch raised the funds for renovation and contracted with architects and contractors.

Smithfield Plantation is the historic home of the Preston family, one of the founding families of Blacksburg and Montgomery County, Virginia. It was built by William Preston (1729-83), who emigrated from northern Ireland with his family in 1737. He married Susanna Smith in 1761 and settled at Greenfield in Botetourt County in 1769. Preston established himself as a leader in the Virginia frontier by serving in the militia in the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars, in the House of Burgesses representing Augusta County from 1766 to 1768 and Botetourt County in 1769, and as County Lieutenant of Fincastle and Montgomery. He was appointed surveyor of Fincastle County in 1772 and moved his family to that area. He built Smithfield, named in honor of his wife, in 1773. Smithfield was the birthplace and home of three Virginia governors, including James Patton Preston (son of William), and John Buchanan Floyd and John Floyd, Jr. (grandsons of William).

George Green Shackelford, a professor of history from 1954 to 1986 (now Emeritus) at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, or Virginia Tech, which is adjacent to the Smithfield property, spearheaded the restoration by forming the Montgomery County branch and adopting the project of preserving and restoring the Smithfield residence.

Scope and Content:

The records largely document the recent history of Smithfield Plantation, ancestral home of the Preston family, focusing particularly on its restoration beginning in 1962. While much of the renovation occurred in the 1960s, many of the records detail other renovation projects done in the 1970s and 1980s. The collection is organized by subject areas, consisting of correspondence (largely from and to George Shackelford); publications, including APVA and Montgomery County branch newsletters and APVA Discovery magazines; material relating to the Smithfield Plantation renovation, including appraisals, reports, and receipts; information about the renovations of other structures on the Smithfield property, including the cook's cabin, the miller's log house, and the smokehouse; APVA general files, including meeting minutes, financial reports, and building committee reports; blueprints and architectural drawings; and other miscellaneous documents.

The collection also includes historical and other related documents dating from before the original Preston family's residence at Smithfield. These materials include manuscript account books (1754-63) of William Preston while residing at Greenfield, manuscript pages detailing work done by a wheelright (1845-50); and genealogical information about the Preston family.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the Special Collections Department of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech by the APVA Montgomery County branch in regular donations from 1962 to 1996. Although originally processed in the 1980s, the collection was reprocessed in August and September 1996 by Laura Katz Smith, Manuscripts Curator, and Helen Harrison, student assistant, Special Collections Department.

Contents List:

• Correspondence
• Publications
• Smithfield Plantation Renovation
• Renovation of other structures on Smithfield property
• APVA General Files
• Historical And Other Related Documents
• Miscellaneous Documents

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Send questions and comments (about the collections in the University Libraries of Virginia Tech only, please) to:
specref@vt.edu

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