DOB/DOD: August 6, 1878 (Berkeley, NJ) – December 8, 1928 (Norwalk, CT); 50 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married to Edith L. Pennoyer Preston (1885-1958) on April 29, 1906, in Westport, Connecticut
CHILDREN: Two sons, Harry F. (1909-1994) and Irving W. (1912-1965).
ENLISTMENT: June 29, 1899, and assigned to League Island, Pennsylvania.
FAMILY: Born to Joseph H. (1838-1918) and Ester “Ettie” A. Hitchcock Preston (1844-1890) of Vermont. Brothers Henry M. (1862-1914), Adam (1864-1930), Hiram (1865-1893), Wilbur F.H. (1867-1943), and Franklin C. (1873-1937). Sister Ester C. Preston Davis (1869-1930).
OTHER: Worked as a ship carpenter for Lake Torpedo Company on Seaview Avenue, Bridgeport, CT.
NOTE: There is evidence that Herbert Preston deserted while assigned to the USS Oregon on November 7, 1901, in Bremerton, Washington. There is no mention of the Medal of Honor in newspaper accounts of his death and obituary.
MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING: China Relief
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Marine Corps
ASSIGNED TO: U.S.S. Oregon
GENERAL ORDERS: War Department, General Orders No. 55 (July 19, 1901)
AGE ON THE DAYS OF THE EVENT: 21
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private Herbert Irving Preston, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism in action in the presence of the enemy during the action at Peking, China, 21 July to 17 August 1900. Throughout this period, Private Preston distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.
During the Boxer Rebellion in China (November 2, 1899 – September 7, 1901), 59 American servicemen received the Medal of Honor for their actions. Four of these were for Army personnel, twenty-two went to Navy sailors, and the remaining thirty-three went to Marines. Private Preston was assigned to the U.S.S. Oregon at the time of the actions, resulting in him receiving the Medal Of Honor.
From The Norwalk Hour, December 10, 1928
ALTON W. “BINK” REYNOLDS DIES A HERO IN HARBOR
AS HERBERT I. PRESTON ALSO LOSES LIFE IN STORM
The body of Alton W. “Bink” Reynolds, 35, of Gregory Boulevard, one of Norwalk’s most popular residents, had been recovered today from the waters of the Norwalk harbor, where he bravely met death Saturday evening battling his way ashore in an effort to get help for his companions, Herbert I. Preston, 50, of 47 Second Street, who also lost his life, and Reynolds’ own son, Alton W. Reynolds Jr., 14 years of age, who was saved hours later from the waters off Peach Island. The body of Preston, whose numbing form was washed by a wave off of an overturned ten-foot rowboat to which he and the boy were clinging, was sought by grapplers this afternoon. The boy, saved in a miraculous manner, rallied in a surprising way at the Norwalk Hospital and was to be taken home today to the grieving mother, the former Miss Hazel Blascer, who herself has been confined to the home for several weeks by illness. She collapsed upon being informed of the tragedy but rallied, and it is felt that the knowledge of the son’s escape saved her from death upon receiving word of her husband’s loss.
From The Norwalk Hour December 11, 1928
The body of Herbert Preston was recovered shortly after 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon on the low tide. It was within a few hundred feet of the overturned skiff which figured in the double tragedy and which had been left anchored where it was at a market. The body was found by a searching party consisting of Alfred J. Boerum, Wallace Radfan, Captain Frederick F. Lovejoy, and Crawford Jessup. Shortly after the quartet arrived at the scene of the double fatality, Boerum, who is the proprietor of the Boerum garage, saw the body with one hand at the surface. The body was lifted into the boat and taken to the public dock at the Washington Street drawbridge, where it was removed to the funeral parlors of LeGrand Raymond.
Marker for Wife Edith Preston and “In Memory Of” footstone for Herbert I. Preston, Riverside Cemetery, 81 Riverside Ave, Norwalk, Connecticut; Section 12, Grave 700. Photos by Jeff DeWitt. Herbert Preston isn’t buried here. He is buried in an unmarked grave in Norwalk Union Cemetery, 90 Ward Street, Norwalk, Connecticut.
END