Pocahontas County, West Virginia Biography of JAMES W. PRICE, M. D. This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/pocahont.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 514-515 Pocahontas JAMES W. PRICE, M. D. One of the old and distinguished families of West Virginia bears the name of Price. The etymology of the name goes back to Wales, the family's native country, where "ap" designates a son, and "reese" means strong or stout, the combination indicating a sturdy stock. The earliest known Price ancestor in the United States was one Ap Price, who is recorded as having served the American colonies in the Revolutionary war, and his an- cestor served in the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, and is referred to in Shakespeare's drama King Richard III. One of the earliest bearers of the name in Virginia was one Samuel Price, a native of Wales, who settled near New Hope in Augusta County, and was the father of a family of sons. One of these, Samuel, settled in Greenbrier County; another, Jacob, lived on the Big Levels, and he had a son, also Jacob, who was a veteran of the War of 1812. The Pocahontas County Prices are directly descended from Thomas Price, who came from North Carolina to what is now West Virginia, settling in Greenbrier County, where he was a farmer and also kept a hotel at Fincastle. His ashes rest at the base of the Seven Mile Mountain. Although not a graduate of medical school, he appears to have pos- sessed extended knowledge of medical science and surgery for his time, and became widely known through voluminous writings. One of his books that was published in 1790, now a rare volume, is owned by his great-grandson, Dr. James W. Price, a prominent physician and surgeon of Marlinton, West Virginia. Thomas Price was twice married. One son, John William Price, was born to his first marriage, and he served as a ship's surgeon during the second war with Great Britain. Thomas Price's second wife was Margaret, the eldest daugh- ter of John Beard, and they had four children, the eldest of these being James Atlee Price. He was a farmer and stock- raiser, was an uncompromising whig and persistent voter for Henry Clay, was bitterly opposed to the Mexican war and was a man of wide importance. He married Margaret Davies Poage, one branch of whose family originated in Londonderry, in the North of Ireland. James Atlee Price and his wife both died in 1874. The late William T. Price, D. D., was the eldest born of their thirteen children, of which family but one, the youngest, survives in the person of Mrs. Mary McLaughlin, who lives in the old family home, "Maxwelton." A collateral member of the family is found in Dr. H. L. Beard, of Lewisburg. The late William T. Price was one of the notable men of his time, distinguishing himself in more than one field of effort. He was born at Marlinton, then in Virginia, July 19, 1830, and his death occurred in the town of his birth on January 19, 1921, at the age of ninety years. The eldest of a large family, he had a favorable environment in his youth, a happy, healthful boyhood on the home farm and afterward educational advantages that well prepared him for the duties and compensations that pertained to the noble activities that engaged him through a long and busy life. He was early graduated from Washington College, Lexing- ton, Virginia, where the degrees of A. M. and A. B. were conferred on him, and later, when this hoary institution be- came Washington and Lee University, he received the degree of D. D. For three years he was a student in the Union Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1851. Practically his entire life was passed in the Presbyterian ministry, his work being mainly in Virginia and West Virginia, with a short interval in Arkansas, and on numerous occasions he was called upon to serve as moderator of important synods. For over a score of years Doctor Price rode back and forth over the country on horse- back, and he and his steed, '' Prince,'' were familiar figures over a wide range. He developed the church field as the pioneer and practically alone that at the time of his death required the services of fifteen Presbyterian ministers to cover. Following his services in the war between the states lie devoted himself as long as physical strength permitted to ministerial work, and his missionary efforts among the mountaineers of West Virginia brought forth influences that will ever bear fruit. He served as chaplain in Pickett's Division of the Confederate army and was a close friend of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson. As a member of the Thirty- first Virginia Regiment he was engaged in the first cam- paign of the war in the advance on Grafton, and he buried the first Confederate soldier killed in that conflict. When the war closed, although still chaplain but with the rank of captain, having twice declined staff positions under two Confederate generals, he had been commissioned to raise a regiment, but the coming of peace made this organization unnecessary. In 1865 Reverend Price married Miss Anna L. Randolph, who survives. She is a descendant of the famous Virginia Randolphs and a lineal descendant of Pocahontas. Aside from every other distinction Mrs. Price is a poetess, and her volume of verse, published in 1921, entitled "The Old Church and Other Poems," has attracted wide and favorable comment. Seven children were born to Dr. William T. Price and his wife: William R., who died at the age of four years; James W.; Andrew G., who is a prominent member of the Marlinton bar; Susan A., who is a practicing physi- cian of Williamsburg, Virginia; Norman R. and Calvin W., both of whom are prominent in Pocahontas County; and Anna V., who ia the wife of Prank Hunter, of Marlinton, Norman R. Price, who is a leading medical practitioner at Marlinton, was born December 5, 1874. He graduated in 1903 from Maryland Medical College, Baltimore, and has been engaged in medical practice in his native city ever since. During the World war he was a surgeon, with the rank of captain, in the Tenth United States Infantry. He married in 1906 Miss Jean Kinsey, of Mingo County, West Virginia, and they have two children: Norman and [D]ean. Calvin W. Price, who is the owner and publisher of the Pocahontas Times, was born November 22, 1880. At the age of fifteen years he started to learn the printing business and is still in the same line. Originally his two brothers were associated with him in the publication of the Times, hut he is now sole proprietor. In politics he is a democrat, and is a deacon in the Presbyterian Church. During the World war he was one of the "Four-Minute" speakers, and was otherwise active in furthering the aims of the Govern- ment. In 1906 he married Miss Mabel Milligan, of Marlin- ton, and they have had five children: Elizabeth, Florence Randolph, Calvin Thomas, Ann Loekridge and Jane Stobo, all surviving except Calvin Thomas, who died at the age of eight years. James W. Price was born at Monterey, Virginia, No- vember 21, 1868, but was reared at Marlinton, West Vir- ginia, and was primarily educated by his parents. When he had determined on his future career he entered Baltimore Medical College, now the medical department of the Uni- versity of Maryland, from which he was graduated in 1891, after which for a time he was resident physician of the Maryland General Hospital and attended some post-gradu- ate lectures at Johns Hopkins. Doctor Price has always maintained his home at Marlinton. He has been quite active in the political field as a republican, the only member of his family of this political faith, and in 1904 was elected a member of the State Legislature. He was the author of several important bills, and one of these, a state dispensary bill for the control of liquor, created wide discussion. In 1894 Doctor Price married Miss Lura A. Sharp, of Edray, West Virginia, and they have two children: William L. and Julia L. Doctor Price and his family are Presby- terians, and he belongs to the Masonic fraternity. During the World war his attitude was that of a loyal and patriotic citizen. He wag a member of the Volunteer Medical Corps, and was chairman of the County Board of National De- fense. During the latter years of his life the father of Doctor Price took great pride in preparing a history of Pocahontas County, which was published by his sons, and which will, as years go by, prove incalculable worth to historians. Another of his published works, entitled "On to Grafton," a reproduction of his diary, is a valuable contribution to historical data.