The Price Family of Clayton County, Iowa

Eliphalet Price was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on January 31st, 1811, and died at Colorado Springs, Colorado, on December loth, 1880. A sketch of his life work and writings are fully set forth in this book by his talented and affectionate friend, Judge Samuel Murdock. Mary Lowe Cottle, the wife of Eliphalet Price, was born at St. Charles, Missouri, on April 30th, 1814, and died at her home in Jefferson township, Clayton county, Iowa, November 19th, 1865. She was the mother of two girls and six boys, all living at the time of her death, except her son Valmah.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

Eliphalet Inthe Price was born on the "Glen Fruin" farm December 16th, 1851. It was several months after his birth before it was decided what his name should be. The mother of Judge Price resided in New York City and had for many years insisted that one of the boys should be named after her husband, whose name was Eliphalet Price, a life long minister, promulgating the Presbyterian doctrine and abolition, and who had baptized many hundreds of his followers in the Hudson river and along the ocean beach of New Jersey regardless of color, complexion or nationality. It was on a Sunday morning, when Judge Price took down from the shelf over the old fire place the Bible, and after dusting away the smoke dust with a turkey wing, he turned to the first chapter of Genesis, and read aloud to the family these words: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." The Judge stopped and said: "My mother insists that the boy must be named Eliphalet after Father. I now yield to her wish, but all our children must have a middle name. I will put together the first two words of this Bible, which I regard as the greatest historical work that has ever been compiled by man and read by the people of all the civilized nations of the world. His name shall be Eliphalet Inthe Price," He was postmaster of Colorado Springs for eight years. At the expiration of his term he removed to San Jose, in Santa Clara county, California, where he was married to Miss Ida Caufman, late of Henry county, Iowa, a lady of culture, and a kind and instructive mother of three boys born to them, to-wit: Eliphalet C. Price, born January 13, 1897. Oliver S. Price, born July 26, 1899. David W. Price born April 28, 1902. He has a fine home with a thirty-acre prune and apricot orchard.

Realto Exzeque Price was born in a log cabin on the "Black Spring" farm in Section 11 in Jefferson township, Clayton county, Iowa, on August ist, 1840. He passed his early life in the common school and at the Upper Iowa University at Fayette during the college year of 1857 and 1858, and on the farm. In May, 1860, he entered the law office of Murdock & Hunt, at Elkader, where he remained two years. The next nine months he worked in the law office of Odell & Updegraff, at McGregor, on a salary of eight dollars a month and board. In January, 1863, he was admitted to the bar, and at the same time entered into a partnership with B. F. Hunt in the practice of law at Elkader, which partnership continued for six years and was dissolved, Mr. Hunt having been elected Circuit Judge, retiring from the firm. Marvin Cook, who had practiced law for about one year in Elkader, then became a partner under the firm name of Price & Cook, which continued from November ist, 1869, to January ist, 1873, when Mr. Cook was elected County Clerk. Since then Mr. Price practiced law alone until his son, Valmah Tupelo Price, had finished a four year course in the collegiate department and a two year course in the law department of the University of the State of Iowa, receiving a diploma in each department. He then went into partnership with his father August ist, 1891, under the firm name of R. E. & V. T. Price, which partnership still continues. In politics R. E. Price was a Republican, but did not have any desire for office but preferred to follow his vocation and help other deserving candidates to office. However, at the time of incorporating the town of Elkader, he did accept the office of councilman and served twenty-two years and three months faithfully working with other councilmen in getting the town incorporated, and devoted much time personally in overseeing the work of putting in the construction of the waterworks and in compelling the C. M. & St. Paul Railroad Co. to extend their railroad four and one-half miles from Stulta in Pony Hollow to Elkader, by legal proceeding before the railroad commissioners of Iowa and many other services rendered the town and county, and all that he received was twenty-two and 50/100 dollars ($22.50). He is a stockholder in the First National Bank, has been director for thirty-two years, vice-president for eighteen years, and has been president since January 12th, 1904, twelve years. Realto Exzeque Price was married to Miss Sarah Filetta Stewart, in Elkader, Iowa, on October 16th, 1866. To them were born three sons, Valmah Tupelo Price, born at Elkader, Clayton county, Iowa, October 11th, 1867; James R. Price, born at Elkader, Clayton county, Iowa, February 17th, 1872, and died at the same place on May 22nd, 1877; Stewart Realto Price, born at Elkader, Clayton county, Iowa, October 22nd, 1879. Valmah Tupelo Price, son of Realto Exzeque and Sarah Filetta Stewart, was married to Miss Nelly Peery, a daughter of Judge Stephen and Mrs. Emma Peery, May 31st, 1894, at San Diego, Cal. To them were born three children, Filetta Winifred Price, born at San Diego, Cal., June 11, 1895, and died at Elkader, Iowa, March 21, 1890; Herbert Peery Price was born at Elkader, Iowa, July 17th, 1901; Valmah Tupelo Price, Jr., was born at Elkader, Iowa, July 2nd, 1910. All the rest of the Price family were born in the old log cabin on the farm named "Glen Fruin," being the east half of Section 14 in Jeflferson township, Clayton county, Iowa, except Alpine.

Trevereous Glorian Price was born on the "Glen Fruin" farm on June 27th, 1846. In 1863 he enlisted as a private in Company A, 4th Regiment Iowa Infantry Volunteers, and served until the close of the war. After being mustered out he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1868. He received an appointment as Railroad Postal Clerk on the road between Dubuque, Iowa, and St. Paul, Minn., which he held for about four years, when he was elected and appointed postmaster at Elkader, which position he held four years, and then moved to Burlington, Kit Carson county, Colo., where he was elected Clerk of Kit Carson county, and held the office four years. He was elected a member of the legislature of Colorado from Kit Carson county, and served one term, and is now serving his second term as Mayor of the town of Burlington, Colorado. He has been a resident of Burlington for twenty-nine years. He was married to Mary Hawn who died in Elkader, Clayton county, Iowa, on August 18th, 1879, leaving one son, named Avalo Price, who resides in Denver, Colo. Miss Illyria Ann Price was born on the “Glen Fruin” farm July 7th, 1848, and kept house for her father in Colorado Springs until her death on June 3rd, 1873. Miss Mary Ellen Price was born on the "Glen Fruin" farm on March 16th, 1850. Ellen was an invalid all her life and died on March lath, 1914.

Valmah Valentine Price was born on the "Glen Fruin" farm September 15th, 1842. He enlisted as a private in Company H, of the Twelfth Regiment Iowa Infantry Volunteers, and under the command of Captain Henry J. Playtor was ordered to Kentucky, and on arrival there went into battle and captured Fort Henry and a number of prisoners, and then into battle at Fort Donelson, which was captured and many confederates taken. He was in the battle of Shiloh in company with the Twelfth, Eighth and Fourteenth regiments, who fought gallantly all day and at sunset surrendered, and were taken to that loathsome death hole at Andersonville, an everlasting disgrace to the chivalry and autocrats of the confederacy. They were exchanged in about eight months. Valmah again enlisted in Company H of the Twelfth Iowa Regiment Infantry Volunteers, and while acting orderly sergeant of the company at the battle of Tupelo in Mississippi on the 15th day of July, 1864, he was badly wounded and thrown into a freight car and taken to Mobile, where he died on July 28th, 1864. A patriotic Union lady at Mobile took charge of the bodies of the Iowa soldiers and had them buried in a cemetery and a stone placed at the head of their graves. This information was received by R. E. Price from a sealed letter addressed to him and postmarked at Mobile and containing a printed slip cut from a newspaper.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

Alpine Whenin Price was born June loth, 1855, in a frame building on the new farm named "Alpine Grove" in section eleven, Jefferson township, Clayton county, Iowa, his parents having sold the old homestead "Glen Fruin" in 1854. The four youngest children went with their father, Eliphalet Price, to Colorado Springs, Colo., where Alpine went to school in the winter and with his mule team did freighting and other work in the spring. He had a contract with Uncle Sam (U. S. to cut and deliver fifteen cords of wood at the United States Signal Station on the very top of Pikes Peak, then in charge of Sergeant O'Kief, the signal and telegraph operator. He cut the wood on the south side of the mountain about one mile below the top, as no timber grows near the top of Pikes Peak. He said it was the hardest job of work he ever did. He then went to San Jose, Calif., and attended a commercial school and soon got a good position with his uncle who was doing a large commercial and banking business and is now well to do, besides owning a fifty-acre prune and apricot farm.

In selecting a name for this boy, Judge Price said: "For his first name, I will take the name of a beautiful flower which bears the nome Alpme, and grows profusely on the sunny side of the Arctic mountains. Before announcing his middle name I will read a part of the Declaration of Independence, which I regard as the greatest document that was ever written by man in defense of his country, his fellow men and posterity.

" 'When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinion of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

" 'We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'

"I will take the first two words of the Declaration of Independence for his middle name. His name shall be Alpine VVhenin Price."

Avalo Jersey Price was born on the Glen Fruin farm on January 12th, 1844. He enlisted as a private in Company H of the Twelfth Regiment of Iowa Volunteers. Henry J. Playtor was captain of the company, which was composed principally of young men of Dubuque and Delaware counties. He was in the battle at the taking of Fort Henry and assisted as guard in taking some of the confederates to the army prison in Ohio. Among them was the son of George W. Jones, who for many years was United States senator from Iowa, and a son of Mr. Lewis of the United States Land office at Dubuque, and others who went from Dubuque and joined the confederate army. He was at the battle of Fort Donelson, which was taken, but he was wounded and went home on a furlough, but returned in time to be in the battle of Shiloh, when the Twelfth, Eighth and Fourteenth Iowa regiments fought all day and until sunset, when they surrendered and were taken to Andersonville, where he and his brother Valmah remained about eight months, when paroled. He then came home and assisted in raising the Eighth Iowa Cavalry and received the appointment of major, which position he held until about the close of the war, when, owing to the severe wound received at Shiloh and the hardships of the cavalry service, he resigned and went to the Rocky Mountains and to New Mexico, where he became ill and started for his home in Iowa. On April 8th, 1871, he arrived at St.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.