Jacob Tome Preston   Jacob Tome Preston, a member of the Kent county bar, office 58 and 59 Wonderly building, Grand Rapids, is a native of Maryland, born in the town of Port Deposit, on the banks of the Susquehanna river, February 3, 1861. He is a son of Joseph Brown and Melissa (Trump) Preston, both natives of the above state and of English ancestry, respectively. Joseph B. Preston, the father, was a man of reputation in the town where he lived, directly interested in the bank of that place and other business enterprises. During the troublous days of the Rebellion he was a strong Union man and gave expression to his convictions with an openness and courage which made him very unpopular with certain of his fellow citizens, whose sympathies were with the Confederacy. Several years prior to the war he was engaged in the lumber business on the Susquehanna. During the war, he owned and operated flouring-mills. He was a man who combined literary talent with great business sagacity, and at his death left a valuable estate which he accumulated by his well directed industry. He had a family of nine children, two of whom died in infancy, and seven of whom are now living, the subject of this review being the fourth in order of birth. His widow now makes her home in Grand Rapids. Jacob Tome Preston laid the foundation of his literary education in the local school, which he attended at intervals until eighteen years of age, when he became a student in Maplewood institute, near Philadelphia, where he pursued the higher branches of learning for two years, then entered the junior year at Pennsylvania college, at Bellefont, remaining one year, than entered the literary department of the university of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. In 1882 he entered the law department of the university, the full course of which he completed in two years, receiving his degree LL.B. in 1884. After a short visit to the scenes of his boyhood, Mr. Preston, in the fall of 1884, began the practice of his profession in Grand Rapids with Turner & Carroll, in whose office he remained for a period of two years, receiving valuable instruction during that time in the practical work of the law. He then opened an office of his own and practiced by himself until 1889, at which time he became a member of the firm of Turner, Carroll & Preston, a partnership which continued until the beginning of 1891. Severing his connection with the above partnership, he removed to the Wonderly block, and after practicing by himself for one year, became a member of the firm of Dunham & Preston, which partnership lasted until the spring of 1897. Since that date Mr. Preston has been alone in the practice, doing a safe and lucrative business in the courts of Grand Rapids and Kent county, and the state at large, and winning for himself the reputation of a capable and painstaking attorney. His practice has been successful, and he stands high professionally among the lawyers of his city. His habits of industry, with other qualifications which guarantee ultimate promotion, have tended to enlarge the area of professional advancement, and he occupies today a place in the front rank of attorneys noted got high intellectual and legal attainments. In all his professional relations Mr. Preston is recognized as possessing a strong sense of truth and justice, and he has always endeavored to shape his life according to these principles. Mr. Preston was married March 3, 1898, to Miss Minnie Hicks, who was born in Ypsilanti, Mich., in the year 1868; she is a daughter of Stephen and Rhoda Hicks, formerly of that city. Mr. Preston is a member of lodge No, 48, B.P.O.E., and is also an active worker in the order of Woodmen, belonging to Kent camp, Grand Rapids. He and wife are attendants at the Baptist church, and they reside in a beautiful home at No. 39 Eureka avenue.

Transcriber: Barb Jones
Created: 21 January 2009