Jessamine County KyArchives Biographies.....Price, William 1755 - 1808 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ky/kyfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com August 4, 2007, 11:09 pm Author: Bennett H. Young William Price. Col. William Price, who was not related to Col. John Price, was born in Fredericksburg, Va., in 1755, and came with his family to Jessamine county in 1787. Capt. James C. Price, who commanded the Jessamine Blues, at the battle of Raisin, on the 23d of February, 1813, was his oldest son, and was born while his father was absent in the American army. Col. William Price was descended from Baptist ancestry, who emigrated from Wales to Virginia, in 1720. When a mere lad, only fourteen years of age, he had seen Revds. John Waller and Louis Craig lodged in the Fredericksburg jail for preaching the Baptist doctrine. This was before the passage of the Statute of Virginia, granting religious liberty, in the passage of which, Thos. Jefferson considered that he had achieved one of the greatest triumphs of his long career. This produced a profound impression upon his mind, and he was never able to eradicate his prejudice against the Church of England, which had been instrumental in the arrest of these preachers, and he became an inveterate enemy of that church, and never brought himself to look with complacency upon those who were connected with it. He came to Kentucky with Louis Craig and his traveling church, in 1781, and remained for three years. He then returned to Virginia, and in 1787 came back to Kentucky, settled in Jessamine county and made it his permanent home. Colonel Price was in the Revolutionary war, from its very commencement until the end. He was a first Lieutenant in the battle of Stony Point, July 16, 1799, and at the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and Princeton, he was acting as Captain. He rose to the rank of Major, and was at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered October 19, 1781, He married Mary Cunningham, in 1777, and three months after left his home and young wife to fight the battles of freedom. His first engagement was in the battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777, and he did not return to his family until the close of the war. The part which most of the Episcopal clergy in Virginia took against the revolution, still further embittered Colonel Price against that denomination. The following letter of his to Capt. Edward Payne, dated December 20th, shows both his feelings to the church, as well as to the character of the entertainments which were given in those days. A similar invitation was written to Col. Luke Allen, in which a like prejudice crops out: Price's Hall, Stafford county, Va. December 20, 1787. Capt. Edward Payne, Overseer at Gunston Hall: My Dear Sir—This note is to apprize you that I invite you and all your Baptist friends to my house on Christmas day to partake of a big dinner of turkey and oysters, and to conclude with a dance at grandmothers in the evening. No Episcopalian has been invited. Such people are too aristocratic and overbearing. The people who are communicants of that church try to imitate their aristocratic brethren of England in almost every act that they perform. I have no patience with such harpies as the clergy of this establishment. Their titles, dignities and livings are too much like our late oppressors in the great war just closed. They must now consider that the people of the country now look chiefly to the practical and useful and not to mere empty titles which serve no good purpose in a free country. What we want in the church as well as in the state is plain, practical men, devoted men, who know and mingle with the people as one of themselves. We want no more English airs, no arrogance of demeanor among neighbors. Tell Robert Craig to bring his fiddle, as we expect a good time generally. Tell Black Tom to come by all means. WILLIAM PRICE. Colonel Price must have borne a distinguished part in the battle of Stony Point. The following letter, which he wrote to Maj. James Cluke, the day after this battle, will show that in that battle he acted with great courage and his conduct was commended by General Wayne himself: Fort Stony Point, July 17, 1779. To. Maj. James Cluke: Dear Major—I wish that God would heal your wound and I could once more see you among your brave comrades. On yesterday evening, July 16th, after marching over the roughest country I ever saw, through deep swamps and narrow roads, we got within a mile of this fort, which is on the west bank of the Hudson river. It was of vast importance to our enemies and had been strengthened by every means of art that lay in their power. At night our heroic commander, Brigadier Wayne, came among us and told us that everything depended on secrecy, and, says he, UI want you men who belong to the regiments of Colonel Butler and Colonel Fleury to march with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets; I will lead you myself," said he. The river had flooded the swamps waist deep, but when we saw our beloved General go forward, we sprang forward, and our advance of twenty men at once attacked the double palisade. When one of the red-coated sons of bitches shouted in great alarm, "Here comes the damned rebels, shoot them." He was soon knocked on the head, but a terrible fire was opened on us as we advanced through the swamps. The guns from the fort spattered mud on us as well as dirty water. Their grape and canister did not damage more than to spatter mud and water on our clothes. About this time our brave General was knocked on the head in the right temple by a spent ball. I instantly raised him up. "March on, Lieutenant Price; carry me to the fort; I will die at the head of my men." We bore him forward until we got near the center of the fort and both commands met, when the shout of victory rent the air. Our victory was complete; we carried everything so rapidly that our enemies were surprised. We lost about sixty men. Joseph Campbell, of Fredericksburg, was killed; also Private Clow and Richard Climer was killed. He was from Philadelphia, was a brave Dutchman, deeply religious, I hope he is safe in heaven. Hoping that you will soon recover from your wound, I am, your friend, WILLIAM PRICE. He died at his residence, where he had settled when coming to Jessamine county, on the 10th of October, 1808, at the age of 53 years. He failed to reach that longevity which marked the lives of most of the Revolutionary soldiers who were transplanted to Kentucky, and especially Jessamine county. He was a patriot of the greatest intensity and earnestness. He early introduced in Jessamine county, celebrations of the Fourth of July. He had such a celebration at his house on the Fourth of July, 1794. He invited a large number of his friends. On the fifth of July, 1794, he wrote a letter to Governor Shelby, and Revolutionary soldiers must have been abundant in those days, for he said that he had forty at his table on that occasion. The following is the communication which he made to Governor Shelby: Fayette county, Ky., July 5, 1794. To His Excellency/Isaac Shelby, Governor of Kentucky: My Esteemed Friend—I was greatly disappointed by your not coming to my house on yesterday (July 4). We had a glorious time and a big dinner. Forty men sat down at my tables, who had served in the late struggle for our freedom and independence. It was a glorious sight to behold, and I wish King George III and Lord North could have witnessed the scene in the wilds of America. On the return of this glorious birthday of our freedom from British despotism, the heart of every patriot in the late struggle may rightfully pour its highest tribute to God and the great sages and soldiers who resolved to stake their lives and sacred honor in maintaining the Declaration of Independence Throughout the limits of our country, from Massachusetts to Georgia, the hearts of a free and happy people have been dedicated on yesterday to the contemplation of the great blessings achieved and bequeathed to us by such heroic leaders as George Washington, Israel Putnam and Nathaniel Greene. Such brave leaders took their lives in their hands, and liberty or death was inscribed on their hearts. God, in the plenitude of His beneficence, has generally chosen men qualified to resist kings and tyrants in their attacks on the rights of the people. The history of our mother country furnished full proof of this fact and our own glorious country in the late war for independence is a more brilliant illustration of the great truth that God hates all tyrants and despotic rulers, and sooner or later overthrows all such rascals in causing the people to rise up and cut their heads off. Truly thy old friend, WILLIAM PRICE. P. S.—I will be at Frankfort next Monday. The house in which he lived has been changed so as to bear no similarity to what it was when he resided in it, but the graveyard on the place is still maintained in fairly good order, and a substantial stone wall surrounds the spot where he and his loved ones rest. He had quite a number of children and some of his descendants reside in Jessamine and Fayette counties now. Additional Comments: Extracted from: A HISTORY OF JESSAMINE COUNTY, KENTUCKY, FROM ITS EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO 1898. By BENNETT H. YOUNG, PRESIDENT POLYTECHNIC SOCIETY; MEMBER FILSON CLUB; MEMBER CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1890; AUTHOR HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF KENTUCKY, OF "BATTLE OF BLUE LICKS, ETC, ETC. S. M. DUNCAN, ASSOCIATE AUTHOR. Every brave and good life out of the past is a treasure which cannot be measured in money, and should be preserved with faithfullest care. LOUISVILLE, KY.: COURIER-JOURNAL JOB PRINTING CO., 1898. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/jessamine/bios/price381gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/kyfiles/