Biography for Christopher Columbus Price, Castleton Twp, Barry County, Michigan

Copyright © 1998 by Vicki Scott. This copy contributed for use in 
the USGenWeb Archives.  

 

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This is from the Barry and Eaton Co. Portrait and Biographical Album. Pages
477-478.


Christopher Columbus Price

This young gentleman is numbered among the rising young farmers of Barry
County, the center of his work being a farm one mile north of Nashville on
section 24, Castleton Township. He was born in this neighborhood April 13,
1849, and is the third of the living children of Alexander and Clarissa
(Brown) Price. His sisters and brothers are: Mrs. Alcestra S. Mallet,
Claudius, Mrs. Louella Boutman, and Mrs. Belle C. Marble. Mr. Price gained his
fundamental instruction in a log school-house, and the district schools
supplied him with the most of his book knowledge. He spent one winter in the
public school in Nashvile and one in Grand Rapids. He remembers seeing some of
the main roads chopped out from the forest, and deer crossing the fields,
although the township was being rapidly developed when he was a boy.
  Until he was twenty-seven years old Mr. Price remained on his fathers farm,
and he then bought sixty acres of land that makes his present home. Two thirds
of the tract had been prepared for cultivation and an old log house stood upon
it. Considerable work needed to bring the place into good condition and it is
now thoroughly cultivated and supplied with first-class buildings, among them
an attractive residence which was begun in 1877 and added to in 1888, and a
large barn built in 1885. Mr. Price raises grain and stock of all kinds suited
to this section.
  Grandfather Price is believed to have been a native of the old Bay State, as
he moved from it to New York. He was a shoemaker by trade. His son Alexander
was born in the Empire State in 1819 and determined to become a farmer. He
began life without means and making his way to this State during the early
'30s settled on Grand River near Ada. He lived there a while, then returned to
New York, but came to Michigan again in 1846. This time he made the journey
with ox-teams, and traded his oxen for eighty acres of land where not a tree
had been cut down. He boarded his family with a neighbor, W. P. Wilkinson,
until he could build a log house for their occupancy. The property was on
section 23, Castleton Township, and by dint of hard work it was cleared and
placed under cultivation, and added to until the estate included two hundred
acres. When Mr. Price settled here wild animals roved about and Indians still
hunted here, often coming to his house and spending the night. He hunted with
them and killed many deer and even one bear. He died May 26, 1885, after
having lived to see the country well developed. He was a Republican in
politics. His widow, who was born in Massachusetts in 1818, still lives on the
homestead, having a daughter with her.
  The gentleman whose name introduces these paragraphs was married to Ella E.
Noyes May 15, 1878. Mrs. Price was born in Manchester, Washtenaw County,
January 30, 1854, her parents being Asa B. and Marinda (Taylor) Noyes, natives
of  New York and Ohio resectively. Mr. and Mrs. Noyes settled in Washtenaw
County during its pioneer days. Mrs. Price is an estimable woman, belonging to
the Methodist Church. She has had one child, Myrtle, but it was cut down by
death. Mr. Price is a Republican and quite radical in his views. He is
intelligent and progressive, a worthy son of an honored father, and his good
qualities and those of his genial companions draw around them a pleasant
circle. 


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