PRESTON, THOMAS SCOTT

Prothonotary apostolic, administrator; b. Hartford, Connecticut, July 23, 1824; d. New York City, Nov. 4,1891. His parents, Zephaniah, an insurance agent, and Ann Canfield Preston, were of English ancestry. When Thomas graduated from Washington College (later Trinity), Hartford, in 1843, he gave the valedictory in Greek. He studied at the General Theological Seminary, New York City, but was refused ordination by the bishop of New York because of his pronounced Episcopal High Church views. He was ordained (Sept. 14, 1848) at Holy Innocents Church, West Point, by Bishop De Lancey of Western New York, and became a curate (November 1848) at St. Luke's Church, New York City, under Dr. John Murray Forbes. Preston, his brother William, and Forbes were received into the Catholic Church (Nov. 18, 1849) by Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley.

Preston studied at St. Joseph's Seminary, Fordham, New York, and was ordained on Nov. 16, 1850, by Bp. John McCloskey. After a brief curacy at Old St. Patrick's Cathedral, he became pastor of St. Mary's in Yonkers, New York, in July 1851. Successively secretary (1853), chancellor, and vicar-general (1853–91), he was named pastor of St. Ann's Church upon Forbes's return to the Anglican Church. Preston, a domestic prelate (1881) and a prothonotary apostolic (1888), was a notable administrator but was less successful in personal relations owing to the inflexible rectitude with which he applied the letter of the law to himself and to everyone else. He was deeply devoted to Abp. Michael Corrigan and regarded him as "the finest ecclesiastic I have ever known." With Mother Mary Veronica Starr, Preston founded the Sisters of the Divine Compassion. His published works include more than 12 volumes of sermons and conferences.

Bibliography: h. a. brann, The Rt. Rev. Thomas Preston, Vicar General, 1824–91 (New York n.d.). m. teresa, The Fruits of His Compassion: The Life of Mother Mary Veronica (New York 1962).

[f. d. cohalan]