Among the prominent physicians of Colton, and of San Bernardino County, mention should be made of the subject of this sketch. Dr. Price was born in Portage County, Ohio, in 1834. His father, Dr. George Price, was a native of Pennsylvania, but was reared and educated in Ohio. Dr. Price remained in his native State until fourteen years old; his parents then moved to Illinois and settled in Knox County. He was given a good education, and in his young manhood he entered upon the study of medicine.
In 1861, when the war of the Rebellion broke out, he was pursuing his medical studies in Philadelphia, and early in 1862 he passed an examination before the Pennsylvania State Medical Board, and was commissioned an Assistant Surgeon, and assigned to the First Regiment Pennsylvania Light Artillery for duty. His regiment was assigned with the historic Army of the Potomac. In April 1863, he was promoted to a full Surgeon’s position with the rank of Major, and served with the First Army Corps until September of that year, when he found himself so broken in health as to be unfit for field service. He accordingly re-signed his commission, and went north seeking a restoration of health. As soon as he had so far recovered as to be able to enter upon hospital service, he again tendered himself to the Government, and was appointed Acting Assistant Surgeon, and placed on duty in the military hospitals in the department of Washington. There he served his nation until long after the close of the war, not receiving his discharge until November 1865. The Doctor’s military record is highly creditable, and one of which his friends are justly proud.
At his country’s call he abandoned the students’ chair, and passed the Military Medical Board, showing his ability as a physician and surgeon, and promptly entered upon his duties in the field. His strict attention to duty, and recognized skill as a surgeon, coupled with his gallant bearing and soldierly qualities as displayed upon a dozen battle-fields, gained him promotion, and he rose to a more responsible position in the medical department of the First Corps. He participated in the severest campaigns and hardest-fought battles of the war, among which was the memorable peninsular campaign with its bloody fields of Williamsburg, Mechanicsville, Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, and the terrible “Seven days'” battle terminating with Malvern Hill. Then came the second Bull Run and the Maryland campaign, with the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, the terrible slaughter at Fredericksburg, the battle of Chancellorsville and the thrice-bloody field but glorious victory at Gettysburg. All these, with their terrible sickening slaughter, all the months of lingering camp life in pestilential swamps and morasses, the days and nights of weary march amid the heat, cold, chilling sleet, and drenching rain, all these did the Doctor, with thousands of others, encounter. The Doctor was a victim to the poisonous malaria of the Chickahominy swamps; his disease became chronic and made life a burden; still he never gave up until it was utterly impossible for him to do further duty. When he left the field, he devoted years to the sick and suffering that filled our military hospitals. To this day, and for the past quarter of a century, he has carried the seeds of disease, and undergone the consequent sufferings attendant upon that peninsular campaign in the Chickahominy Swamps of Virginia. At the close of the war the Doctor returned to civil life and engaged in the practice of medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, and thence a few months later went to Topeka, Kansas. He remained there until 1873, when he entered the Northwestern University in Chicago and graduated from the medical department of that institution.
In 1878 Dr. Price again entered the United States military service as Acting Assistant Surgeon, and was assigned to duty at various posts in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, and participated in the Indian warfare under General Grierson. In 1882 he resigned his position and established himself in Yuma. He held the position of Territorial Prison Surgeon from 1882 to 1884, and was the quarantine officer at that point for both the State of California and the United States, and surgeon for the Southern Pacific Railroad. April 1, 1885, the Doctor located in Colton, and commenced his medical practice in that city.
He is a gentleman of culture and refinement, genial and courteous in manner. He is engaged in a successful and lucrative practice, and enjoys the confidence and esteem of the community. He has not confined himself to his profession, but has taken a deep interest in the building up and prosperity of Colton. He assisted in the organization of the Colton Building and Loan Association and has been its president since its inception. He still retains his position as surgeon for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. He is a member of the San Bernardino County, Southern California and State Medical societies, and was president of the Southern California Society in 1888, and in 1887-’88 was president of the county society.
He has also been city health officer ever since that office was created by law in 1889. Dr. Price is a charter member, and was the first commander, of Colton Post, No. 130, and is at present the medical director of the department, Grand Army of the Republic, also a charter member and Past Chancellor of Colton Lodge, No. 137, Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the California Commandery of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and president of the Southern California Association of that order.
Dr. Price was married in 1865, wedding Miss Olivia Tingle, of Washington, District of Columbia. She died in 1871, leaving no children. His second marriage was in union with Mrs. Martha Moad, nee Martin, in 1887. She is a native of Illinois, and the widow of Dr. John N. Moad, a dentist by profession and former resident of Oakland. There are two children living from Mrs. Price’s former marriage,-Pauline L. and Marshall F.; both have been adopted by the Doctor and bear his name.
