| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.4

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Kentucky's Last Cavalier: General William Pres-ton, 1816–1887. By Peter J. Sehlinger. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2004. xx, 309 pp. $33.95, ISBN 0-916968-33-2.)
William Preston was born near Louisville, Kentucky, on October 16, 1816. His parents had close ties with prominent Kentucky and Virginia families, and the youth received an unusual education at two state colleges and Yale and Harvard universities. He began practicing law in 1839, but his fondness for travel, good food and drink, and gambling resulted in financial problems. His 1840 marriage to Margaret Preston Wickliffe brought ties to another prominent Kentucky family. Four daughters had successful marriages; son Wick always needed money.	1
A Henry Clay Whig, Preston believed in states' rights and slavery. He volunteered for Mexican War service but did not see combat. Bored with law, Preston turned to politics. In Kentucky's 1849–1850 constitutional convention he defended slavery but insisted on fair treatment for Catholics and immigrants. An effective speaker, he served terms in both houses of the General Assembly without particular distinction. During three years in the U.S. House of Representatives he was a popular member who supported the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and the Gadsden Purchase.	. . .

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