William Pitt Preble (1811-1905) descended from one of seven Preble brothers who emigrated from England to Portland in the 17th century. He was the son of the Mount Desert Rock lighthouse keeper.

In 1830, Preble moved to Great Cranberry Island as a school teacher, after marrying Abigail Cobb Hadlock Preble in 1839 and starting his family, he became a church elder, selectman, justice of the peace, Notary Public, gentleman farmer, tax appraiser, postmaster, storekeeper, shipbuilder, ship owner, and shipwreck appraiser.

Preble was the second owner of the Preble House, having married Abigail Hadlock Spurling, the widowed sister of the first owner in 1839, and then marrying the first owner's widowed daughter, Jane Matilda Hadlock Sanford, in 1875.