Virginia Ann Emily PRESTON^[1]

1834 - 1898  (64 years)

• Name	Virginia Ann Emily PRESTON
  Birth	1834	Virginia   [2, 3]
  Gender	Female
  Occupation	1880	Albemarle Co, VA   [4, 5]
  	Following the 1874 death of her husband, Virginia apparently found it necessary to augment the family income by finding work outside her home. The 1880 census enumerated her as a "Matron" at the Miller Manual Labor School in Albemarle County, Virginia. Her son, Robert was residing at the time with his grandparents, Robert and Mary Preston, in Blacksburg, Virginia. Son, John, was a student at Miller. Miller Manual Labor School, a private boarding school, was founded in 1878 with a bequest of $1.1 million from Samuel Miller.
  resided	1887 &1888	Birmingham, Jefferson Co, AL   [6]
  	Virginia had moved to Birmingham, Alabama by 1897 when she was listed in the City Directory for that year as residing "bet 3rd and 4th N B'ham". Her son John was listed at the same address.
  Death	30 May 1898	Birmingham, Jeffverson Co, AL   [1]
  	Virginia died in Birmingham, Alabama on 30 May 1898. She was approximately 64 years of age at the time of her death.
  Burial	Montgomery Co, VA   [3]
  	Her remains were returned to Virginia and interred at the Preston Cemetery at Smithfield Plantation in Montgomery County, Virginia.
  Person ID	I62912	mason
  Last Modified	22 Jul 2026

  
  

  Father	Robert Taylor PRESTON,   b. 26 May1809, Montgomery Co, Virginia d. 1880
  Mother	Mary HART,   b. c. 1809, South Carolina d. 1881 (Age 72 years)
  Marriage	21 Jan 1833  [7, 8]
  	The couple married on 21 January 1833.
  Photos		Solitude
  Family ID	F7168	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Dr. Robert Stark MEANS,   b. 10 Dec 1833, Columbia, Richland Co, SC d. 1874 (Age 40 years)
  Marriage	26 Aug 1856  [8]
  Children	1. Robert Preston MEANS,   b. Jul 1857, Virginia d. 17 May 1917, Birmingham, Jefferson Co, AL (Age 59 years)   2. Sallie Stark MEANS,   b. 6 Jan 1860, South Carolina d. 30 Dec 1861 (Age 1 year)   3. Mary Hart MEANS,   b. 20 Feb 1861, South Carolina d. 17 Aug 1861 (Age 0 years)   4. John Hugh MEANS,   b. Oct. 1863, South Carolina d. 17 Feb 1936, Mayville, Dodge Co, WI (Age 72 years)   5. Emma Stark MEANS,   b. 27 Nov 1865   d. 27 Nov 1865 (Age 0 years)   6. Ballard Preston MEANS,   b. 1867   d. 1867 (Age 0 years)   7. Courtney Hanson MEANS,   b. 1868   d. 1877 (Age 9 years)
  Family ID	F7169	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	22 Jul 2026

  
  

• Notes

  JPP/Smithfield Prestons says: b. 11 Jan 1834; married 26 Aug 1856.

  
  

• Sources

  [S2846] Virginia Preston Means obituary, The Richmond-Dispatch, (Virginia) 1 June 1898. [S2841] 1850 US Census / Preston, Robert T. [S2844] Historic Smithfield Plantation, online (http://www.smithfieldplantation.org/). Preston Cemetery. [S2845] 1880 US Census / Preston, R.T. [S2867] 1880 US Census / Miller Manual Labor School. [S2871] City Directory of Birmingham, Alabama 1897. Ancestry.com., ((n.p.: Maloney Directory Co, n.d)). p. 499: Virginia Means entry. [S2868] Robert Taylor Preston Papers. Ms1992-003, Special Collections, Virginia Tech. Biographical Information. [S2938] George A. Hanson, Hanson, Old Kent: The Eastern Shore of Maryland, ((1876, Rpt. Baltimore: GPC, 2002)), p. 170., ISBN 0-8063-4632-9.