Today the Heritage Page Celebrates the birth of Charles David Preston, Jr. He was born in Barton, Maryland on this day in 1906, the 5th child of Charles David Preston & Amy Ellen Metz. There, after a childhood of learning the value of hard work from his parents and siblings, he met and married the love of his life, Addie Elizabeth “Lizzie” Duckworth in January 1928. Just two months later he was injured, along with his brother Bill, in the Hampshire Mine in Barton when bone coal & slate fell on him. He was badly bruised throughout his body and sustained a very badly injured foot that left the newlyweds without income for nearly two months. He soon after rented a home in Dogwood Flat and then saw the arrival of his firstborn, Nellie Elizabeth in 1931. In 1934-35, he left Barton, the only home he’d ever known, and moved to Washington, DC to start a new life outside the coal mines. There he rented a row house and set about building a career for himself in the roofing trade with his brother Bill and brother-in-law Raymond Duckworth, eventually buying a home outside the capitol city in Arlington, VA after living for a time there in the home of Lizzie’s Mother. Soon after in 1939 another child, Jimmy Ray, joined their little family. Charlie, as he was known to all, later bought property in Front Royal, VA where he built his family’s permanent home. Happy 108th Birthday Uncle Charlie!
Posted on: Wed, 21 May 2014 13:12:22 +0000