Sir Thomas Hesketh got married at Ralston Hall where my great grandfather got married to Augustus Janke.. I was part of the planning of the revival of the family reunion at the Palace Hotel.

John Presco

Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh – Wikipedia

Baron Hesketh – Wikipedia

Saving Dottie Witherspoon | Rosamond Press

Above is a photo of Dottie Witherspoon and I. The Witherspoons are in the Peerage, and thanks to my discovery, are kin to the Royal Stewarts, thus, William and Harry Windsor. Dottie is also kin to the Bentons.

Below is a list of Dottie’s kin who entered American politics and won important seats in the U.S. Government. The Witherspoons are the First Family of American Politics. I traveled with Dottie to South Carolina to meet her relatives. No sooner was Dottie in my mother’s home, then she has locked herself in the bathroom after Rosemary pointed out her many freckles as being unsightly. Red hair and freckles is a trait of the Scots Ulsterman who fought the British for our Freedom. Take not of how much Dottie resembles the Signer, John Witherspoon, who descends from John Knox, a Calvinist who married a Stewart. Dottie has a double dose of Stewart blood. She is American Royalty. We talked about getting married.

Above is a painting of Louis Tevis Breckenridge Sharon, who married a Witherspoon, and then a Sharon, the weathiest family in California. Her father founded Wells Fargo bank.
I have been exchanging e-mails with a member of the Sharon family about revising the Sharon Family reunion at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. I was invited to go to Europe with a member of the Hesketh-Fermor family, who are kin to my niece, Drew Benton, and thus the Prescos. We are all kin to Lloyd Tevis the President of Welles Fargo Bank.

“I have put on pause my homework of family relations. I do know some of the California Sharons and I am familiar with the reunion that use to take place in San Francisco, but I have been swamped. I would love to refresh the reunion for our family. I am not familiar with the names on your email yet. I don’t know if you sent email to Philip or had misplaced my name. I will start more family connections with the Sharon clan soon.

Patrick Sharon

Hi Jon- Get ready- much info coming now- please go ASAP to tatler.com- June issue page 102- big article on the new owner of Easton Neston- Leon Max- I’m headed there with James Baring and Bob and Joanne Fermor tomorrow.
Anne

Witherspoon Owen Breckenridge married Louise Tevis Breckenridge Sharon, the daughter of Lloyd Tevis, president of Wells Fargo and one of the richest men in California. When he became president of Wells Fargo, it was an express coach company. When he retired, it was a bank as we know it today. Tevis was assessed by the state of California as having a fortune worth $1,590,000.00 in 1880
John Witherspoon Breckenridge, son of Congressman, Senator, Vice President, Presidential Candidate and Confederate General John C. Breckenridge, c. 1878 and lived in San Rafael, CA. Their marriage ended in divorce and she married secondly Frederick W. Sharon.
Frederick Sharon was the son of Senator William Sharon (right), one of California’s very richest men. Sharon arrived in San Francisco in 1849, first investing in real estate, then also in mining and banking. By 1880, the state of California assessed his personal fortune at $4,470,000.002 and he was the largest single taxpayer in the state. Louise and Frederick were married at Sharon’s 55,360 square foot palatial estate ‘Belmont’ in 1884 (below).
The information found here comes from The Prestons of Smithfield and Greenfield in Virginia by John Frederick Dorman who is one of the preeminent authorities of Virginia genealogy. The descendants of John Preston and Elizabeth Patton are remarkable for the number of outstanding individuals spread over several generations. There are literally dozens of politicians, military men (including generals on both sides of the Civil War), preachers, doctors and authors. This is only a sampling of people who caught my attention. I strongly recommend anyone interested in this family to find The Prestons of Smithfield and Greenfield in Virginia.
http://thepeerage.com/p15314.htm

Windsors and Hesketh Sisters | Rosamond Press

I have talked to Anne Farmer-Fermor, and Patrick Sharon the second, about the renewal of the Sharon Family reunions at the Palace Hotel, that William Ralston built, that his partner, William Sharon, came to own. Anne was communicated in person with members of the Hesketh family in Britain, and is friendly with Baron Revelstoke whom she was hoping to get an invite through to William Windsor’s wedding. The Baron is kin to the founder of Baring & Brothers Co. a British banking company.

William Ralston appears to be the Grand Master of the Oddfellows, and may have invited the Oddfellows of Lodge 17 in San Francisco to come celebrate with the new Oddfellows of Belmont, in Belmont. Did he build the Palace Hotel in order to accommodate Oddfellows from all over America – and the world?

Jon Presco Copyright 2011

From: Anne Farmer y@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: SHARON To: “John Ambrose” Date: Thursday, December 23, 2010, 3:34 AM Hi John- I will call Patrick Sharon after Christmas when I return to Seattle. Today I take mother to Portland on Amtrak for Chrustmas to see some friends.  Please send me your mailing address as I am sending out my New Year’s cards- thank you. Have a great Holiday and a very Happy New Year. Kindest Regards- Anne —

On Sun, 12/5/10, John Ambrose wrote: From: John Ambrose Subject: SHARON To: @yahoo.com Date: Sunday, December 5, 2010, 5:03 PM Anne;   Here is the number   John, Thanks for all of your information. I am still trying to find the list of the California Sharon Family Reuniun. This will help me establish family connections for all of us. As I mentioned my Great grandparents were the last of our family who received the invite.Their names are Samuel and Stella Sharon of Kansas City. Lets stay in contact. Patrick Sharon II

From: Anne Farmer y@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Withersppon To: “John Ambrose” Date: Saturday, March 6, 2010, 1:41 PM Hi Jon- These I know- the Heskeths married into my side- the Fermors so they are distant cousins of mine. The Quakers, Methodists were the Fermor side- they never owned slaves like Witherspoon  did.I had heard about the Presbyterian strong influence- and how the Calvinists were more fighters. On my side we have the lovers, not fighters. Anne PS- I was just connected via a mutual friend to look up Theresa-Mary Morton while in London, who is  Queen’s librarian.

James Cecil Baring, 6th Baron Revelstoke (born 16 August 1938) is a British peer. A son of Rupert Baring, the 4th Baron, and Flora Fermor-Hesketh, daughter of the 1st Baron Hesketh, he was educated at Eton College. He married Aneta Laline Dennis Fisher in 1968. They had two sons, Alexander Rupert Baring, born 9 April 1970, and Thomas James Baring, born 4 December 1971. He married Sarah Stubbs in 1983. They had two daughters, Flora Aksinia Baring, born 17 July 1983, and Miranda Louise Baring, born 1 May 1987. He succeeded his brother, John Baring, 5th Baron Revelstoke, born 2 December 1934, in 2003. His half-sisters, by a later marriage of his mother to Lt.-Cdr. Derek Lawson, are Arabella Ann Spurrier (née Lawson), born 14 August 1946, and Caroline Flora Turner (née Lawson), born 23 September 1953.

http://revelstoke.org.uk/fam/1stLordR.html Barings Bank was founded in 1762 as the John and Francis Baring Company by Francis Baring, with his older brother John as a mostly silent partner.[2] They were sons of John (né Johan) Baring, wool trader of Exeter, born in Bremen, Germany. The company began in offices off Cheapside and within a few years moved to larger quarters in Mincing Lane.[3] Barings gradually diversified from wool into many other commodities, providing financial services necessary for the rapid growth of international trade. By 1790, Barings had greatly expanded its resources, both through Francis’ efforts in London and by association with leading Amsterdam bankers Hope & Co. In 1793, the increased business necessitated a move to larger quarters in Devonshire Square. Francis and his family lived upstairs, above the offices.
pened on October 2, 1875, the original Palace Hotelwas the glorious final “gift” of the colorful — but ill-fated —

William Chapman Ralston to his adopted home city of San Francisco. Born in Ohio on January 12, 1826, Ralston, an agent — and sometimes even last minute captain — of Gold Rush steamersthat ferried thousands of gold-seekers to California from Panama, was 28 when he finally settled himself in the still wild young city by the Bay in 1854. By the time he co-founded the Bank of Californiathere a decade later in 1864, the energetic and innovative Ralston was already on his way to becoming one of the city’s — and the West’s — wealthiest and most important men. The same year that he opened the bank, Ralston also began building a magnificent summer home called “Ralston Hall” on his recently purchased 14-acre estate named “Belmont” located twenty-five miles south of the city. (The magnificent four-story, eighty-room, 55,360 square foot mansionthat resulted still stands there today as a glorious example of this golden era.) Many of Ralston Hall’s magnificent architectural features such as its stately dining room, a 28′ x 61′ mirrored “Versailles” ballroom, an “opera box” galleryencircling the grand staircase leading to the second floor modeled after the Paris Opera House, and the classic columns and crystal chandeliers in its foyer all presaged the design of similar features incorporated into the design of the Palace Hotel a decade later. http://thepalacehotel.org/ There were two main Sharon families in California after 1850. The first and most prominent was that of William Sharon, son of William Sharon and Susannah Kirk. He left Illinois and made a fortune in the gold, silver, banking and hotel business in California and in Nevada. He became the fourth United States Senator from Nevada. The other family was that of William Evans Sharon, son of Smiley Sharon and Sarah Ann Hurford. Smiley Sharon was a brother of William mentioned above. William Evans Sharon went west to work with his Uncle and his family line is in the San Francisco area today. This section covers these two families. SENATOR WILLLIAM SHARON William Sharon was the second son born to William Sharon and Susanna Kirk Sharon