JOSEPH ADELBERT PRICE &
DORA BELLE RENCHER
Adelbert Price -
(This history gives some of Adlebert's ancestors histories to begin with)
PRICE HISTORY
By Isadora C. Price & Ken StaheliMathew Price, son of John Price and Sarah was born 13 July 1764, possibly in Virginia. He married Elizabeth Eskridge 22 Feb. 1786 in North Carolina. At this time they gave their place of residence as Caswell County, North Carolina. Their first child, George Price was born in North Carolina.
Mathew and Elizabeth moved into Tennessee before 1790. They were some of the early settlers there, and they settled on Mulberry Creek (near what is now known as Lynchburg). The first winter they just about starved, their only food was Irish potatoes and game they could find. Matt’s oldest son George married Phetney Ann Hodge and moved a short distance down the creek. They raised a big family, eleven children. The oldest son John Buren Price was born 20 Nov. 1815, Lincoln County, Tennessee.
John married Eliza Jane Adair, a widow with four living children, and she had lost one child. Her two previous husbands had died, the last one, Mr. Pierson was accidentally killed. These children were John Carson born 22 Mar. 1830 and died 23 Mar. 1830; Valentine Carson born 8 Nov. 1831; Elizabeth Carson born 10 Aug. 1833; William Carson born 23 July 1835; and Jane Pearson born 18 July 1840.
John and Eliza met the Mormon missionaries and joined the Church. John was baptized on 10 Nov, 1844 by Dan Thomas, according to Rebecca Ann Price’s record. That same year they started to Utah. They traveled as far as Pickens Co., Mississippi and stayed a year with Uncle Billy Mathews. Here they worked and raised a crop and got enough to go on. The first child of John Price was born here on the 22 July 1845, Rebecca Ann Price. George Thomas Price was born in Van Buren Co., Iowa on 8 July l847; John Wesley Price was born 27 Apr. 1849 and died 5 months later on 31 Dec. 1849; Hyrum Wiley Price was born in Pottawattamie Co., Iowa 5 April 1851.
When Hyrum Wiley Price was just two weeks old, on the 21st day of May 1851 they crossed the Missouri River. They were traveling in Mr. Mace’s Company with John Smith as Captain. At this time they had four cows and two yoke of oxen. They started across the plains in May and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 11 September 1851.
They camped at Sugar House, stayed there a short time and then moved to Provo. The next summer they moved to Davis County, Cherry Settlement. Again they moved back to Salt Lake and worked in a sugar factory until they were called to settle Dixie by President Brigham Young. This was in 1857.
According to information received from Mrs. Rebecca Miller, a great granddaughter of Rebecca Brown, John price was baptized 10 Nov. 1844 by James Marsh and confirmed by Dan Thomas. He was re-baptized in Mar. 1852 by William Fawcett. She stated she supposed he had lost his records as they carried them with them when they moved in those days. John was ordained a High Priest 27 Feb. 1875. John Price died at Washington, Washington, Utah 11 Jan. 1893.
Eliza Jane Adair and all her children were sealed to John Price. The record also shows that Laura Adeline Beal was also sealed to him as a second wife although she never lived with him. She was blind for 43 years.
George Thomas Price, second child of John Price married his cousin Rebecca Jane Searle. She was born 11 Nov. 1857 at Payson, Utah Co., Utah. There is no marriage date available but they were sealed in the St. George Temple 18 June 1884 (Book A of Living sealings page 110).
Their first child Sarah Jane Price was born 114 July 1874, Clover Valley, Lincoln Co, Nevada. She died when she was four years old and was buried there. Their son George Tomas Price was born 3 September 1876 and died the same day. Don Carlos was born 9 Feb. 1878. He was just four days old when his sister died, two years later Charles Courtland Price was born 12 Mar. 1880, but this little one only lived until November when he also died, 22 Nov. 1580. (I believe these children are buried at Clover Valley, Nevada).
From Clover Valley Tom and Janie Price, as they were known, moved to Hebron, Utah. On the 28 September 1882 Joseph Adelbert Price was born. They were in St. George in July of 1884 because they had their children sealed to them and were themselves sealed to each other, and Tom was sealed to his parents on the 18 June 1884. Soon after they moved to Ashby, Utah a little town near Vernal, Utah. This is where they lived when Rebecca Jane died on the 24 May 1885.
Following is an account written by Kenneth Price Staheli Nov. 13, 1955. Most of it was given him by Joseph Adelbert Price (his grandfather)
Joseph Adelbert Price picks up the narrative:
My father decided to move back to St. George. He put Don and me in a covered wagon it was in January and cold. It took us ten hard days of traveling to get there. After we reached St. George we moved in with Uncle Joe Price and Aunt Ann. (Joe Price was Tom Price’s youngest brother) She was a sister to Uncle Bill Alger. Aunt Addie, my stepmother was also a sister to Bill. After my father married Aunt Addie they had three children, Lawrence, Erma and Andrew who always went by the name of Biz Price.On Oct. 28, 1957 most of the family gathered at Las Vegas to wish him a happy 75th birthday. On Thanksgiving Dad and Mother Price spent the holiday with Beulah’s family. The next day Ken and Shirley Staheli took them back to Las Vegas where they were living with Mona. Dad Price died early in the morning Dec 6, 1957. As we gathered in the early morning hour at his bedside where we had been called by his sudden death, I noticed his tithing envelope ready to go to the Bishop, propped on the top of a chest of drawers. He always said he didn’t want to leave anything for the kids to fight about when he was gone. And while he left very little money, he left much to live up to. He was known far and wide for his extreme honesty — with both man and the Lord.
My Father had a lot of horses and cattle and ran them in the Washington Fields. He was always busy working at something. He was one of the best cowboys in those days and was not afraid of any horse. From what old timers say he could ride any horse, bareback or any way. One time he walked from Hebron over to Holt‘s ranch, about six miles east of where Enterprise now is to get an unbroke horse that they had correlled for him. He started to walk home and lead it, but he decided that was too far to walk across that old long desert. He had a hackamore and a rope, and he took his jumper and tied it on for a blind, then climbed on and pulled the blind up. Later he said the horse took turns bucking and running, but along late in the afternoon he rode into Hebron on him. He spent most of his time alone in the mountains working and breaking horses. We hauled all our wood from the Bunkerville Summit, so called the Indian Farm Summit. Up next to the top of the Summit was where my father was killed.
We left St. George Friday morning and after traveling most of the day we reached the top of the Summit. We made our camp in the bottom of the canyon. Dad left me in camp while he went up the top to see if he could find some wood for the next days load. I can remember just as plain as if it was yesterday seeing my Dad as he walked up that hill from camp.
Early the next morning we hitched up our team to go get our load of wood. We left our camp stuff there as it was only about one mile to the top where we would get our load. I can remember just the way my Dad stood as he cut down those big trees to load the wagon. He was a real ax-man. After a lot of hard work we finally had our load of wood. As we left the top of the hill it was so steep we had to rough lock the left hind wheel. We just got started down when the front wheel lodged against a large rock. As we were unable to get over it, dad got off the wagon to cut a small tree to pry the rock away from the wheel. He had me stand in front and hold the horses. I can remember how nervous they acted as he was trying to get the rock away from the wheel. Dad just got back on the wagon when the horses took off like a flash down the steep grade. Dad had told me to walk because it was so rough and steep. As they ran down the hill Dad was thrown off the wagon. When he was thrown he held on to the lines and as they went through the brush and rocks he was pulled under the wagon. He was dragged and forced to let loose the lines. The rough locked wheel ran over his chest. After a short distance the wagon tipped over and away went the horses with the neck yoke and double trees. I hurried down to see what had happened to Dad. He told me he felt like he was crushed to jelly. I ran to camp to get some quilts to make Dad as comfortable as possible. He told me to go catch the horses and take the harness off. He said to get on old Mack and go to St. George and get Dr. Ashby. This was a distance of about 20 miles and I was a boy 14 years old.
One of the horses had fallen down and couldn’t get up or I probably wouldn’t have been able to have caught them. I jumped on Old Mack and started running as Dad told me he didn’t think he would be alive when I got back. I ran that horse as fast as he could go. As we came up the grade out of Santa Clara my horse was winded. As we reached the top he got his second wind. We barely made it to St. George. The lather was pushed up in front of my legs like a saddle when I got to Dr. Ashby’s he was out of town. So Dr. Higgins and Aunt Addie went back to get Dad in a one horse buggy. Most of the people in town came out too. As I was coming in to St. George, shortly after leaving Dad, I met some other wood haulers. They said they would go see about him. Dr. Higgins and Aunt Addie met them coming in with dad. They met near the Indian reservation. They said he died just as they put him into their wagon. This was Nov. 13, 1896. He was taken to St. George and buried there.
The following year in February 1897, John Alger, his son John Z. Alger and I each having a team and wagon made 9 trips to Milford, Utah. John Z. and I, being 15 years old. It snowed on us all the way up and back. When we got back to the Mountain Meadows the snow was so deep the horses couldn’t pull the load, so we had to unload and haul, our freight down to Cain Springs on a bob sleigh. We were small boys and really suffered with the bitter cold. I remember I had a mashed thumb and how sore and cold it got. We had a hard time to get our empty wagons out. The next year I made two trips to Milford alone to haul freight to Aunt Addie‘s store in St. George. After I made these two trips to Milford, I went to work for Preston Nutter out on the Arizona Strip gathering cattle and afterward trailed them to Milford to the railroad. I worked 93 days and nights for $93.00 This was the first money I had ever earned. It was the first chance I had ever had to earn money. I was sure a proud boy. (He made the statement that after that it was all down hill and shady)
I worked for Mr. Nutter and during this time I met Belle Rencher in Grass Valley, Utah. We were married on the 31st day of July 1901 in St. George by John E. Pace. We were sealed in the St. George Temple 31 Mar 1921 and the children were sealed to us the next day, 1 Apr 1921.
When we was married I quit punching cows and moved to Grass Valley and went to freighting. Aunt Addie had a wild mare running out east of Diamond Valley. She said I could have her if I would go get her. She weighed about 1150 pounds and the horse I was riding weighed about 800 pounds. When I caught her it pulled the horn out of my saddle. I then had to ride up to the side of her, pick up my rope and put it through the fork of my saddle to stop her. If I hadn’t been on one of the best horses in the world I couldn’t have caught her this way. I traded her to a traveling salesman for a good work horse. I then bought one horse, harness and wagon from John M. McQuarrie so that made me a good team and wagon. I started to haul lumber from the Grass Valley mill to Schem for the Utah Copper Co. just above the Indian Reservation. The lumber was used for timber in the mine. They paid $10.00 per 1000 feet for hauling. The best you could make was $2.50 a day for man and team. Beulah and Grant were born during this time. I freighted whenever and wherever I could find a job as money was really scarce. I also worked for my father-in-law. If it, hadn’t have been for him and his good wife we would probably have starved to death.
After this I hauled ore from Bristol to Caliente, Nevada. My brother Don and I also hauled copper ore from Copper Mountain to St. Thomas. It was so hot we had to wear gloves in order to even harness our horses, and before we could get four horses hitched up there would be a puddle of water where they were standing from sweating.
I went to State Line to drag logs for a mining outfit. I worked here for some time and when I got ready to leave, they wanted to buy my outfit as they were so good for that kind of work. So I sold them the whole outfit for $250.00 and walked from State Line to Modena. There I caught a ride back to Grass Valley where my family had been staying. After I got back I bought a new wagon and team. Shortly after this, we moved to Enterprise. We now had 3 children, Addie was the baby. I bought a place from Arthur Jones, where Mrs. Lund's’ house now stands. The brush was as high as your head. I cleared it with a grubbing hoe. After this I got a chance to buy the house which stands across the street from Ivan Holt. Eight more children were born here and in St. George: Rena, Jim, Mason, Jane, Marjorie, Lewis, Ramona and Preston. (Beulah, Grant and Addie having been born previously). We had 11 children now.
I worked at most anything I could get. I hauled a lot of wire and materials for Anthony W. Ivies when he bought the old flour mill in Enterprise. I hauled the first load of material to Veyo to build the bridge across the black gorge. I then went to Delta, Utah to haul sugar beets. I hauled the biggest load with a four horse Learn that went to the plant that fall. Six ton 450 pounds.
I then worked for John C. Benson punching cows. During this time we put in long days and I worked hard for what I got. One morning I left Enterprise at 4 a.m. and rode to Hamblin’s ranch to help Norvel Bracken and Howard Benson drive a large herd of cattle up to the Rock Hole Correl and from there back to Enterprise that night. Benson paid me $20.00 for that trip.
The next day I went over to Heist east of Modena to work for the Modena Land and Livestock Association. I worked for this outfit for the next 5 years running cattle. At this time Jim was 13 years old and Mason was 10. They both said this was the happiest time of their lives.
When Mason was 8 years old, in order to be baptized, he rode a horse all alone from Grass Valley to Enterprise, Utah. When he was 10 years old he went up to State Line to ride with the Eagle Valley boys (Nevada). He took a pack horse and stayed two weeks. When they got through riding Mase cut out 25 head of cattle and drove them to Modena. When Mase got to Modena and was trying to corral the cattle, someone said, “look at that kid trying to corral those cattle”. Old Pat Donavan said, “Yes, that’s a kid all right, but he has a man’s noodle on him“.
After we moved to Panaca and I would go back to Modena to inspect cattle, Pat Donavan would say, “My it’s good to see you again. I haven’t seen a smiling face since you left here.” I was Brand Inspector for the State of Utah for five years. I had to send 10 cents a head to the state and then they would send my money to me. I have made as high as $100 in a day and that was 1000 head that day. I have worked in those big corrals of cattle until I could spit mud balls. No wonder my lungs are shot after that and all the years I worked in the mines.
When Lewis was 6 years old we went to St. George and got 200 head of steers and started for Heist. I drove the model T Ford and took the camp outfit and bedding and leading my horse. Lewis was riding Old Levi — the best horse in the world for the job. Lewis’ legs were just long enough his spurs would miss the saddle blanket. He drove those steers practically alone. We were on the road five days and he never lost one steer and he never picked up one single stray. He could tell cattle and brands better than any cowboy I ever saw.
Later we moved to Panaca, Nevada where I went to work for Frank Wadsworth Jan 12, 1929. I worked two years for them. In 1931 Mason and I went back to the Arizona Strip to work for Mr. Nutter. I was hired to ride the range and Mase was hired as a horse wrangler. It was said of Mase that he was the best horse wrangler they had ever seen. He had 54 head of horses to hobble each night and to see that they were all in and ready to go at daylight, he was just 16 years old during this time we worked on the Strip. About, all the water we had to drink was the rain water that ponds on the range. During that summer we range branded 1000 head of calves. I was then working for $75.00 a month board and room. I would roil my bed out anywhere, rain or shine, splash the water out of my bed and go to sleep.
During this time we shipped a large herd of cattle up north. I was on the train with the herd. As we were going through Provo, Utah a big steer got out of the train car and ran up through the streets of Provo. I started after him on foot but I couldn’t do any thing with him. He ran the ladies into their houses and was really causing a commotion. I finally found a fellow with a horse. I borrowed the horse and roped the steer and drove him back to the stockyards. I loaded him again and we went on our way.
I went to work for Wadsworth again in September and worked for them another year. Then I worked for Dan J. Ronnow for one summer which seeded like 9 years. Next I went to work in Pioche, Nevada in the mine in 1932. I spent 20 years in the Pioche and Castleton mines. They paid $3.75 for 8 hours work, it was good money at that time. By the time I quit was making $13.00 a day in 1953. I worked one and a half years in the low bed in the mine and when I would go home I would just about have to get under the table to eat.
Dora Belle Rencher - still gathering history
Since 9 Aug 01
Updated 15 Sep 07
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