Greenbrier County, West Virginia Biography: Governor Samuel PRICE ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Transcribed and submitted by Valerie Crook, , 1999. ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 626 GOVERNOR SAMUEL PRICE, of Lewisburg, one of the distinguished men of his generation in the two Virginias, was lieutenant governor of Virginia during the war between the states. He was born July 28, 1805, in Fauquier County, Virginia, on the maternal side being a descendant of a prominent Revolutionary officer, Major Morris of New Jersey. His mother was Mary Clymann. His father, Samuel Price, moved from New Jersey to Fauquier County with his parents, and in 1815 he established a home in Preston County, in what is now West Virginia. Governor Samuel Price was reared in Preston County, acquired his primary education in old Virginia, and studied law with Judge Hason at Paris, Kentucky. He returned to Virginia and took the census of Nicholas County in 1830, in 1831 was elected clerk of court for that county in 1832 was admitted to the bar at Summersville. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1833, was chosen for the Legislature in 1834 and re-elected for two succeeding years. While in the Legislature he introduced an important bill providing for the building of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. In 1836 he moved to Wheeling, but subsequently established his home in Greenbrier County. At that time the sessions of the Federal District Court, the Supreme Court of appeals, the Circuit and County Courts were held at Lewisburg, one of the most important judicial centers of the Virginias. In the intensely competitive field of this court town, where some of the greatest lawyers of the time gathered, he held his own and was regarded as the peer of any who practiced there. Vice President Henry Wilson estimated Samuel Price as "the best land lawyer in the two Virginias." In 1847 he was elected representative from Greenbrier County, and was in the Legislature four years. He was a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850-51 and again in 1860-61. He opposed secession, but sided with his state when it went into the Confederacy. He was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia, and held that office until the close of the war. In 1865 he was elected circuit judge, but declined to qualify. Governor Price was a member of the Constitutional Convention of West Virginia in 1872, and was chosen president of the convention. His last important public service was his appointment to the United States Senate, following the death of Allen T. Caperton. He served in that body from December 4, 1876, to January 31, 1877. On February 8, 1837, Governor Samuel Price married Jane Stuart, daughter of Lewis Stuart and granddaughter of Col. John Stuart of Greenbrier County. A brief account of the distinguished Stuart family of old Greenbrier is contained in another article. Governor and Mrs. Stuart had nine children, three of whom died young. Mary married J. C. Alderson. Margaret Lynn is deceased. John S. married Susan McElhenney, and died about twenty-five years ago, his surviving daughter being the wife of John C. Dice. Sallie Lewis became the wife of John A. Preston, and is survived by two sons, who are individually mentioned elsewhere in this publication. The fifth of the children is Samuel Lewis Price. Jennie Stuart Price lives at Lewisburg. Samuel Lewis Price was born July 10, 1850, was reared at Lewisburg, attended private schools, and in 1860 went to Kansas. He taught school in Doniphan County and for a time farmed there, but sold his interests and after a year returned to Lewisburg. His life for a half a century has been largely devoted to farming and stock raising, and he is also interested in coal properties in the state. His home is the oldest house in Greenbrier County, the large stone house erected by his great-grandfather Col. John Stuart, in 1789. On the same property is another stone building, now used as an office and which, as stated elsewhere, was the first office of the clerk of Greenbrier County. October 23, 1878, Samuel Lewis Price married Mary A. McCue, of Augusta County, Virginia. Seven children were born to their marriage: Elizabeth W.; Samuel, a lawyer at Lewisburg; Jane Stuart; Sallie Lewis, wife of Prof. W. W. Wood, of Davidson, North Carolina; Edward Clayton, who died while nearly qualified to graduate at the University of Virginia; Mary McCue, a graduate of Columbia University, who served as a nurse during the World war; and Thomas Lewis, of Lewisburg. Samuel L. Price is an elder in the Presbyterian Church and an active member of the Masonic fraternity.