Preston Pond, Jr., was born on September 9, 1823, in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, to Preston and Adeline Pond. His father was a doctor. The family moved to Biloxi, Mississippi, before settling in Jackson, Louisiana, in January 1836. Pond grew up and attended school there, and he married Emilie Couper on November 25, 1847. They lived in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, and Pond worked as a lawyer. By 1850, he owned $5,500 of real estate and at least one enslaved laborer.

 

He was elected to the Louisiana legislature in 1851, and he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in Congress four years later. Emilie died around 1851, and he married Adelaide Woodward on December 2, 1853. Their daughter Adelaide was born around 1857.

 

By 1860, they owned $10,000 of real estate and $30,000 of personal property, including at least 36 enslaved laborers. He sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War, and he mustered into the Confederate army as a colonel in the 16^th Louisiana Infantry in September 1861. He took part in the Battle of Shiloh, and he resigned his commission on May 8, 1862. He returned to Clinton, Louisiana, and resumed his work as a lawyer. Voters elected him to the state senate soon afterward. He died in Louisiana on June 15, 1864.

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