Louisiana AHGP

Part of the American History and Genealogy Project

Hon. Thomas Price

Hon. Thomas Price is a native of the State in which he is now residing, his birth occurring in what is now Bienville Parish, October 2, 1829, a son of John Price, a native of Georgia, who came to Louisiana when a young man, and was married to Miss Catherine Andrews, a native of Arkansas. Mr. Price opened a farm here, and resided in this parish until 1851, at which date he removed to Texas, and there passed from life in 1856, his widow surviving him several years. Thomas remained with his father in this parish until he attained manhood, but in 1849 made the overland trip with him to California in search of gold.

They were eight months in reaching their destination, and after spending about the same length of time in the gold mines of the west, they came to the conclusion that the wealth, if there, was not for them, and returned home by the Pacific and Central America route to the Gulf of Mexico, which they crossed to New Orleans, thence up the river to their home.

Mr. Price was married in 1852 to Miss Martha J. Kirkpatrick, a native of Tennessee, and a daughter of Thomas J. and Ann Kirkpatrick, and soon after engaged in farming, a calling he followed for several years, but which he put aside in 1862 to swell the ranks of the Confederate Army, becoming a member of Company G, Twelfth Louisiana Infantry as orderly sergeant in June, 1863. He was promoted to captain of his company, and served in that capacity until the war was over. He participated in a number of important engagements, among which may be mentioned: Baker's Creek, Peach Tree Creek, second battle of Corinth, and Franklin, Tennessee, but was also in a number of engagements of lesser importance, and numerous skirmishes. During one engagement he was wounded in the thigh by the explosion of a shell, was taken prisoner, and was kept at Johnson's Island, Ohio, until the final surrender, then returning to Louisiana, settled down once more to farm work.

He was soon elected assessor of Claiborne Parish, and at the expiration of one term of two years he was re-elected. In 1872 his many estimable qualities were recognized, and he was elected by his numerous friends to the State Legislature, and served with honorable distinction in that body during 1873-74. After remaining out of office until 1884, he was once more elected to the General Assembly of the State, and made a pure and intelligent legislator. He has been identified with the Farmers' Alliance, and has taken an active part in the deliberations of that body during the past year. He located on his present farm in 1809 near Haynesville, which consists of about 400 acres, of which about 150 acres are open and under cultivation, well improved with good buildings and a cotton-gin.

Mr. and Mrs. Price have a family of five children: Phineas B., William S., Walter Lee, Martha J. and Mollie Jackson. Mr. Price and his wife are Cumberland Presbyterians, and he belongs to the A. P. & A. M.

Biographical Sketches| Claiborne Parish

Source: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana, Southern Publishing Company, 1890