Even though
his fame stems from building the original Livingston County courthouse which
opened in 1845, Preston Grace was not a native of that county. He was born in
1799 in South Carolina and moved to Caldwell County, Kentucky with his family. There he
married Jane Kilgore 27 Mar 1819.
It is possible he may have fathered at least one
child before his marriage. On the 29th
of July 1819, Mary Freeman charged Grace with being the father of her male
child, who was born "24th of April last at the house of Daniel Warmsdorf" in
Livingston County.[1]
Grace was ordered to appear in court; his attorney appeared for him and Grace was acquitted. Nevertheless, Milton Bluford Grace and James Madison Grace were both born ca 1818/1819 and at least one of them had a close family connection to Preston Grace. Milton B. Grace was listed as an heir of
Preston Grace when Preston's Smithland town lots were being distributed in
1858.[2]
Milton B. Grace married Orilla/Ursilla Cook, daughter of John Cook of
Livingston County.
Preston
Grace appeared in Smithland on the 1849 tax list and then appeared on the
1850 Livingston County census. By 1853,
he was a trustee of the First Baptist Church of Smithland when he and other
trustees purchased lot #24 upon which the church was subsequently built.
Preston
Grace died 27 April 1855 and is buried, along with at least two of his
children, in Smithland Cemetery. It is unknown, however, if Grace was still living
in Smithland or if he, like Milton B. Grace, had moved to Paducah. The
169-year-old Grace tombstone is impressive and sits beside the road, about half way up the
hill.
Grace Family Tombstone
. 
Mary Sophronia
Daughter of
P. & Jane Grace
Died
Sept. 30, 1825
Aged 2 yrs 3 mo.
and 3 days
Buried next to the Grace tombstone is the monument for Edward D. Grace, who was born Sept. 19, 1823 and died Jan. 21, 1845.
[1] Deposition
of Mary Freeman, Bastardy Bonds, Caldwell County, Kentucky Clerk's Office,
accessed August 2011.
[2] Commissioner
to M.B. Grace, heir of Preston Grace, McCracken County, Kentucky Deed Book
K:559-560, 5 April 1858.
Published 30 October 2014, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/
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