Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/431

 PRESCOTT

PRESTON

vincial army, the larger part of his regiment vol- unteering to serve with him. On June 16, 1775, in command of three regiments lie was ordered to construct entrenchments on Bunker Hill, but instead selected Breed's Hill, in the immediate vicinity. In the attack by Gen. William Howe, June 17, according to Bancroft, Colonel Prescott appeared to have the entire command, displaying great skill and bravery, and was among the last to submit to the enforced retreat. In 1777 he re- signed his commisson in the army, returning to Pepperrell, but later in the same year enlisted as a volunteer in the northern army under Gen- eral Gates, in the campaign against Burgoyne. He was a representative in the Massachusetts leg- islature for several years. He is the author of: A Letter from a Veteran to the Officers of the Army Encamped at Boston (1774). A statue was erected to his memory on Bunker Hill in 1881. He died in Pepperrell, Mass., Oct. 13, 1795.

PRESCOTT, William Hickling, liistorian, was born in Salem, Mass., May 4, 1796; son of Wil- liam and Catharine G. (Hickling) Prescott; grandson of Col. William and Abigail (Hale) Prescott, and of Thomas Hickling of Boston, Mass., and a descend- ant of John and Mary (Platts) Prescott. He was graduated at Harvard A.B. 1814, A.M. 1817, and en- tered his father's office to study law, but owing to the ac- cidental loss of one ej'e, which seriously impaired the sight of the other, was obliged to seek medical advice in Europe. He visited England, France and Italy, and on his return to Boston, Mass., deter- mined to devote himself to historical writing, and to accomplish this employed an assistant who served as a secretary, amanuensis and reader, and in writing used an ingenious instru- ment for the blind, called the poctograph. He was married. May 4, 1820, to Susan, daughter of Thomas C. and Hannah (Linzee) Aniory. He made a study of Italian and Spanish literature to prepare himself for his first special work, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, which cost him ten years of difficult labor. The leading learned societies of the United States and Europe honored him by making lum a member or fellow. He received the degree LL.D. from Columbia, 1840; William and Mary, 1841; South Carolina college, 1841; and Harvard, 1843; and that of

FBESCott's home 60STT>J

D.C.L. from Oxford university, England, in 1850, while on a visit to that country. He is tbe author of: Life of Charles Brockden Brown (1834); History of Ferdinand and Isabella (4 vols. 1838), translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian ^^ and Russian; -g^T^ The Conquest of Mexico (3 vols. 1843); Tlie Conquest of Peru (2 vols. 1847), translated into several languages; Biographi- cal and Critical Miscel- lanies {1845); The Reign of Philip II., King of Spain (2 vols. 1855: vol. 1858; vol. 4, left in- complete, 1859); a sup- plement entitled The Life of Charles V., After his Abdication, to a new edition of Robertson's " History of the Reign of Charles V." (1858); contributions to the North American Revieio; memoirs of Jolin Pickering and Abbott Lawrence, and several essays. See " Life of Prescott, the Historian," by George Ticknor (1864). His name in the "Class A, Authors and Editors " received thirty-two votes for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Am.eri- cans. New York university, October, 1900, only nine names in the class receiving more votes. He died in Boston, Mass., Jan. 28, 1859.

PRESTON, Ann, educator, was born in West Grove. Pa., Dec. 1, 1813; daughter of Amos and Margaret (Smith) Preston; grand-daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Bills) Preston, and of Joseph Smith, and a descendant of William Preston, a Quaker, came from Huthersfield, England, to America, in 1718, and settled in Buckingham, Bucks county. Pa. She was educated in the public schools and at a boarding school in West Chester, Pa.; and joined the Clarkson Anti- slavery society previous to 1833. She entered the Woman's Medical college of Philadelphia when it opened in 1850; received her degree of M.D. in 1852; was professor of pliysiology and hygiene there, 1853-72, and studied in the Mater- nite hospital of Paris in 1854. She was one of the founders of the Woman's hospital in Phila- delphia and a member of the board of managers, serving also as corresponding secretary and con- sulting phj^sician. She was dean of the faculty of the Woman's Medical college of Pliiladelphia, 1866-72, and a member of the board of incorpora- tors, 1867-72. She also controlled an extensive practice and was successful in overcoming the