Manuscript Group 624, Matthias Price (1814-1902), Executor of the Estate of Daniel Price (1799-1892) Papers, 1826-1938 (Bulk dates: 1892-1898)

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Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs

Manuscript Group 624, Matthias Price (1814-1902), Executor of the)state of Daniel Pricef  E(1799-1892

Papers, 1826-1938 (Bulk dates: 1892-1898), 1 linear foot / 2 manuscript boxes

Call Number: MG 624

Summary

• Biographical Note

• Provenance Note

• Scope and Content Note

• Box/Folder List

• Price Family Tree

Summary:

Legal and financial records of a prominent Essex County family.  Most concern the estate of Daniel Price (1799- 1892),a member of the New Jersey legislature and a partner in a Newark firm which manufactured copal varnishes.  The collection includes a ledger and journal of the Lee and Foster Land and Cattle Company, covering the years 1896-1898.  This company operated in southern Colorado and northeastern New Mexico.  There is also an account book inscribed “Daniel Price in Account with Pascal B. Smith, as Agent in The Sale of Varnish and Jappans, Newark, Oct. 7th, 1833.”

Donated, in part, by Mrs. F. M. McPhedran, 1965.

Biographical Note:

Daniel Price was the third son of Phebe Thompson and Daniel Price (1767-1824).  He was born in Schenectady, New
York on August 23, 1799, but soon moved to Newark, New Jersey where he grew up.  As a young man, Daniel entered the employ of John Gardner, the owner of a coach factory.  He became the head painter and eventually set up his
own shop in Newark.  In 1836, Price entered into a partnership with S. P. Smith to become the first varnish manufacturer in the country. Smith left after a couple of years and Price took David M. Fitz-Gerald as a partner. Their company, D. Price & Fitz-Gerald, was located on Mulberry Street in Newark and lasted until 1867 when Daniel Price retired.  In 1854, David M. Fitz-Gerald died and his brother, John D. Fitz-Gerald took his place in the company.

After his retirement, Daniel Price remained active.  He was involved either as a director, trustee, founder, or backer of the following organizations: Newark Savings Institution, Essex County Bank, Newark Plank-Road and Ferry Company, American Bible Society, New Jersey Colonization Society, Society for the Relief of Respectable Aged Women,
German Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Central Presbyterian Church of Newark.  He also served on the Newark Common Council and the New Jersey General Assembly.

Daniel Price never married and died without direct heir on April 23, 1892.  His brother Matthias Price (1814-1902) was the executor of his estate.  Matthias Price lived and worked on the family farm in Newark, New Jersey.  He married Emily Catherine Judd in 1838 and their daughter Emily Caroline Price married Lewis V. Fitz Randolph in 1867.

See Price Family Tree.

Sources:

Shaw, William H. History of Essex and Hudson Counties, New Jersey, Volume I. (Everts & Peck: Philadelphia,
1884), pages 615-616.

Honeyman, A. Van Doren. History of Union County, New Jersey 1664-1923, Volume II. (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc.: New York and Chicago, 1923), pages 14-16.

Provenance Note:

The indenture for Daniel Price’s pew in  the First Presbyterian Church of Lyon Farms, New Jersey was donated in 1965 by
Mrs. F.M. McPhedran.  The source of the remainder of collection is unknown.

Scope and Content Note:

This collection is largely made up of the estate papers of Daniel Price as executed by Matthias Price.  It also contains a smaller amount of Daniel Price’s papers and papers of the allied Randolph family.  The collection dates from 1826-1938.

Daniel Price’s estate was settled between 1892-1898, which are the bulk dates for the collection.  The estate papers largely consist of the releases signed by each organization and person that received money as stated in Price’s will.  There is also a copy of the will and court records documenting the contesting of the will led by Henry and Thompson Price, Daniel’s brothers.  Lastly, there are bills and cancelled checks of the estate.

The papers of Daniel Price in the collection are mostly made up of land indentures.  These indentures are dated between 1826-1870 and are for land in Newark, New Jersey, mostly on Mulberry Street.  There are also a few legal documents including the articles of agreement ending Daniel Price’s partnership in the varnish business with John D. Fitz-Gerald. Additionally, there are personal and business account books used by Daniel Price.  The personal account books date from 1867 and 1873-1879 and divide expenses into such categories as household, rent, insurance, taxes, children, and sundries.  The business ledger in the collection records transactions by Daniel Price’s varnish business with Pascal B. Smith.  The entries are chronological and record the name of the purchaser, the item bought, and the price.  The ledger runs from October 1833 to May 1836.

The collection also contains two ledgers from the Lee-Foster Land and Cattle Company in southern Colorado and
northeastern New Mexico, of which Lewis V. Fitz Randolph was the treasurer.  These ledgers run from 1896-1898 and track the business transactions of the company.  The journal runs chronologically, traces payments and moneys received, and starts with an accounting of the company’s properties, both land and cattle.  The second volume is called a ledger and
records money transactions by categories, such as wages, profit/loss, and taxes; by people, such as Henry R. Halloway and John J. Cahill; and by banks, such as the Trinidad National Bank.  The ledger is indexed.  The Randolph series also contains a folder of documents dealing with the estate of Marion F. Randolph.  These items, for example a receipt for her gravestone, are secondary to the settlement of Randolph’s estate.

Lastly, there are also a number of miscellaneous documents in the collection.  These are largely made up of land deeds for people whose relation to the Price family is unknown.  Legal documents in this series include the will of Elizabeth Ogden, estate executor appointments for the estates of Mary Mead and George F. Price, and a fire insurance policy of Frederick Snedeker.

Box/Folder List:

Price Family Tree:

Daniel Price (1767-1824) = Phebe Thompson (d.1857)

1)
William Price (1791-1796)

1)
Jonathan Price (b.1794)

1)Phebe
Price (b.1796) = ( ) Burnham

2)
Mary Ann Burnham (Sowers)

3)
Harriet B. Sowers (Marot)

3)
Emma B. Sowers (Moore)

2)
Eliza Burnham

2)
Jane Burnham (Richardson)

3)
Nettie Richardson (Tuchfarber)

3)
Scott Richardson

3)
Hattie Richardson (Hare)

2)
John Burnham

2)
Daniel P. Burnham

2)
Phebe Burnham (Taylor)

1)
Daniel Price (1799-1892) = Charity ( ) (d.1885)

1)
William W. Price (1802-1890) = ( )

2)
Elizabeth M. Price

2)
Sarah W. Price (Porter)

2)
Mary L. Price (Fowler)

2)
J. Wilbur Price

1)
David Price (1805-1885) = Adeline ( )

2)
Charles C. Price

2)
Mary A. Price (Hopkins)

2)
Emma A. Price (Bond)

2)
Jane C. Price (Bruen)

2)
Thomas E. Price

2)
Anna G. Price (Gould)

2)
D. Frank Price

2)
Adela S. Price (Langstroth)

1)
Thompson Price (b.1808) = Frances ( )

2)
James B. Price

2)
George F. Price (c.1836-1893)

2)
William Henry Price

1)
Henry Price (b.1810) = Marion ( )

2)
William P. Price

1)
Matthias Price (1814-1902) = Emily Catherine Judd (1817-1907)

2)
Laura F. Price (Ford)

2)
Cordelia A. Price (Halloway)

2)
Clinton P. Price

2)
Evelyn S. Price (Wilcox)

2)
Emily Caroline Price = Lewis V. Fitz Randolph (1838-1921)

3)
Virginia Fitz Randolph

3)
Marion Fitz Randolph

3)
Caroline Fitz Randolph

3)
Josephine Fitz Randolph

3)
Elizabeth Blossom Fitz Randolph

Processed by Kim Charlton, December 1999 as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

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