Samuel Woodson Price (August 5, 1828 – January 22, 1918) was a portrait artist, Union general in the American Civil War, and author.

Early life

Price was born near Nicholasville, Kentucky to Daniel Branch and Elizabeth (Crockett) Price. He began to show great aptitude for art at an early age, having set up a studio in a Nicholasville hotel by the age of fourteen. Price attended Nicholasville Academy and later attended Kentucky Military Institute near Frankfort. While a student, he even taught drawing to other students.

Art education and personal life

For a time, Price studied portrait painting with William Reading, an artist in Louisville, Kentucky, and later with Oliver Frazer in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1849, Price left Kentucky for New York City where he enrolled in the School of Design and studied for five months. The following year, Price had reopened his studio in Lexington, but he was persuaded to move to Louisville by a prominent citizen in 1851. One of his most notable students was Thomas Satterwhite Noble, who studied with him in 1852.

In 1853, Price married Mary Frances Thompson. Together they had a son and two daughters.

Price traveled extensively through Kentucky, Tennessee, and other states throughout the 1850s, painting portraits of prominent citizens. In 1859, he once again relocated to Lexington. While living there, Price became a captain and commander of "The Old Infantry", a state guard unit.

Civil War

Although many other Kentucky state guard units would join the Confederacy, Price and the men of "The Old Infantry" helped form the 21st Kentucky Infantry. Price enlisted as a corporal, but soon rose to the rank of captain. On February 26, 1862, he was made colonel and led the regiment through many of the major campaigns in the western theater. Price was wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 27, 1864, when his regiment captured and held the Moulton and Dallas Road while being greatly outnumbered. He recovered from his wound and was subsequently assigned as post commander of Lexington, a position he held until the war ended. For his service, Price was made brevet brigadier general by act of Congress on March 13, 1865.

Later life and death

Price relocated to Washington, D.C. soon after the Civil War where he received commissions to paint portraits of generals George H. Thomas and William S. Rosecrans. In 1869 he was appointed postmaster of Lexington where he spent a great deal of his time painting on the upper floor of the post office building. President Ulysses S. Grant removed Price from this position in April 1876.

Facing mounting financial debt, Price once again moved to Louisville in 1878 where he established a studio in the Louisville Courier-Journal office building. Two years later, Price became blind in one eye, and by 1881 he was totally blind in both eyes. Undeterred, he dictated a history of the 21st Kentucky Infantry in 1882, which was published as part of The Union Regiments of Kentucky in 1897. He also wrote The Old Masters of the Bluegrass, which was published by the Filson Club in 1902.

His wife died in 1892 and he lived with his son, Robert Coleman Price, in Louisville and St. Louis, Missouri. Price died in St. Louis on January 22, 1918 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

References

§  J. Winston Coleman, "Samuel Woodson Price: Kentucky Portrait Painter", Filson Club Historical Quarterly 23 (January 1949): 5-24.

§  "Samuel Woodson Price", The Kentucky Encyclopedia, John E. Kleber (ed.) (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky), 1992. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0

External links

"Samuel Woodson Price". Find a Grave