Preston County was formed from Monongalia in 1818 and named for James Preston, thirteenth governor of Virginia. It is the site of a model federal homestead project sponsored by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, thirty-second President. Maryland was named for Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I, who gave a royal charter to Cecil Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, in 1632. It was first settled at St. Mary's City in 1634 and was one of the thirteen original colonies.