Anna Price

 

The life of Anna Louise Price (née Randolph) is a rich and sweeping story that mirrors the turbulence and growth of the nineteenth-century Virginia and West Virginia frontiers. Remembered as a dedicated educator, a talented writer, and the matriarch of a family that profoundly shaped the civic, medical, and journalistic landscape of Pocahontas County, her legacy spanned nearly nine decades.

Early Years and Frontier Travels

Born on July 15, 1836, in Manchester, Virginia, Anna was the daughter of Henry Seth Ward Randolph and Deborah Perry Randolph. Her childhood was remarkably mobile for the era; when she was a small child, her family moved to the frontier of Texas, where they resided for a few years. They subsequently relocated to Brooklyn, New York, where she spent much of her girlhood.

Anna received an exceptionally strong education for a woman of her time. At age fifteen, she finished her studies in Greensville County, Virginia, under the tutelage of Mrs. Polly Jones, and immediately began her own career as a teacher at the same school. She also went on to graduate from the prestigious Abadie’s Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn.

The Crucible of the Civil War

During the Civil War, Anna moved to Lexington, Virginia, to teach at the Ann Smith Academy. She was present in the historic town when it was "besieged and captured" by Union forces (under General David Hunter).

It was during this tumultuous period in Lexington that she met her future husband, the Rev. Dr. William T. Price, a Presbyterian minister and Confederate chaplain. Following the war's conclusion, she married Dr. Price near Richmond—where her family had relocated—on October 12, 1865.

A Shared Ministry Across the Ridges

The couple embarked on a deep, lifelong partnership of fifty-six years. Their life together was marked by several distinct chapters:

• Monterey (Highland County, Virginia): Their first home after marriage, where their prominent eldest surviving son, James, was born in 1868.
• Mount Clinton (Rockingham County, Virginia): They spent sixteen years residing at the church manse. This period was marked by profound grief when their oldest child, William Randolph, died at just four years of age.
• Marlinton (Pocahontas County, West Virginia): In 1885, the family made their final move to Marlinton, where Anna resided for the rest of her life. Dr. Price preceded her in death in 1921 at the age of ninety-one.

A Remarkable Family Legacy

Anna and Dr. Price raised seven children, establishing a lineage of remarkable local influence:

1. William Randolph Price: Died at age four and was buried in Rockingham County.
2. Andrew Price: A well-known local figure who preceded his brother James in death in 1930.
3. Dr. James Ward Price (M.D.): A dedicated physician who practiced medicine in the Marlinton area for fifty-five years, served in the West Virginia Legislature, and was president of the Bank of Marlinton.
4. Calvin W. Price: The legendary and "doughty" editor of the Pocahontas Times.
5. Dr. Susan A. Price (M.D.): A pioneering female physician who wrote the popular local column "Along the Way" for her brother's newspaper.
6. Dr. Norman R. Price (M.D.): Another prominent physician in the family.
7. Mrs. Anna V. Hunter (née Price): The devoted daughter with whom Anna lived in her quiet, peaceful final years in Marlinton.

Anna’s descendants continued to carry her family names; her granddaughter, Florence Randolph Price (Calvin's daughter), graduated from Flora MacDonald College and taught at Marlinton High School before marrying into the local McNeel family.

Sunset of a "Sunny" Character

Throughout her life, Anna was widely celebrated as a writer and storyteller. She was deeply religious, and her peers remembered her for her "sunny" Christian character and absolute loyalty to her friends. Remarkably, she outlived all of her girlhood companions, yet she kept in close touch with them "as one by one they drifted out upon that unknown sea".

On January 19, 1924, at the age of 87, Anna Price passed away peacefully at her daughter Anna Hunter's home in Marlinton. Her obituary beautifully noted that she approached her grave "as one who wraps the drapery of her couch about her, and lies down to pleasant dreams".

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I have successfully generated and published the price-randolph-family-tree.png diagram, which is now available in your Studio panel.

The family tree maps out four generations of the Price and Randolph lineages, demonstrating how this single pioneering family established a massive dynasty that dominated the medical, journalistic, and civic landscape of the Allegheny frontier.

The Structure of the Price-Randolph Dynasty

The tree illustrates the convergence of two distinct lines:

• The Price Lineage: Originating with Margaret Beard Price on the Greenbrier frontier, her eldest son James A. Price established the family's presence on the massive Marlin's Bottom Plantation (which would later become the city of Marlinton).
• The Randolph Lineage: Centered around Henry Seth Ward Randolph and Deborah Perry Randolph, a family that moved across the Virginia frontier, Texas, and Brooklyn, New York, before settling near Richmond.

These two lines united on October 12, 1865, with the marriage of Rev. Dr. William T. Price, D.D. (a noted Presbyterian minister and the county's primary historian) and Anna Louise Randolph (an educator and writer). Together, they raised a remarkable siblinghood of seven children who shaped Pocahontas County's history:

1. William Randolph Price: Their eldest child, who tragically died in infancy at age four.
2. Dr. James Ward Price, M.D. (1868–1946): A prominent local physician who practiced medicine for fifty-five years, represented Pocahontas County in the West Virginia Legislature, and served as the President of the Bank of Marlinton. He married Lura M. Sharp.
3. Hon. Andrew Price (1871–1930): A highly influential local lawyer, civic leader, and the first Mayor of Marlinton.
4. Dr. Susan A. Price, M.D.: A pioneering female physician who practiced locally and authored the popular columns in the local newspaper.
5. Dr. Norman R. Price, M.D. (1880–1957): Another dedicated family physician who married Jean Kinsey of Fauquier County.
6. Calvin W. Price: The legendary and "doughty" editor of the Pocahontas Times, who became the leading voice of the county's journalism.
7. Anna V. Price: Married F. R. Hunter (a major local benefactor who donated the town's Civil War monuments) and cared for her parents in their final years.

A Legacy of Local Influence

The diagram highlights how the family's legacy branched into crucial civic institutions:

• Medicine: The family produced three medical doctors (Dr. J.W. Price, Dr. Norman Price, and Dr. Susan Price), a tradition that continued as Calvin's daughter Florence Randolph Price married Isaac McNeel, connecting the Prices to another prominent local family with deep medical and historical leadership.
• Journalism: The Pocahontas Times became a family institution run by Calvin W. Price, supported by his sister Susan's written columns and brother Andrew's editorial work.
• Civic Leadership: From mayoral office (Andrew) to legislative seats (Dr. J.W. Price) and historical preservation (Isaac McNeel with the West Virginia Historical Markers Commission), the family's leadership was omnipresent on the frontier.

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