William P. Price

William Pierce Price (January 29, 1835 – November 4, 1908) was a politician that served in the U.S. Representative. Price was born in Dahlonega, Georgia.

Early life and education

Price attended the common schools and was apprenticed to the printer's trade. In 1851 he moved to Greenville, South Carolina, around the age of 16. Eventually he attended Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, but left before graduating to take charge of the editorial department of the Southern Enterprise, a Greenville newspaper. While in school he had studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1856 and commenced practice in Greenville, South Carolina around the age of 20.

Political career

During the Civil War Price served in the Confederate States Army as orderly sergeant in Kershaw's Second South Carolina Regiment. He was elected and served as member of the South Carolina House of Representatives 1864-1866. In 1866 he moved back to his birthplace of Dahlonega, Georgia. Two years later in 1868 he served as member of the Georgia House of Representatives until 1870.

His next appointment as a Democrat to the Forty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by failure to elect. He was reelected to the Forty-second Congress and served from December 22, 1870, to March 3, 1873. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1872. He was again a member of the State house of representatives 1877-1879, of the State senate in 1880 and 1881, and of the State house of representatives in 1894 and 1895. He served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1880.

Other work

Built in 1879, Price Memorial Hall is the oldest building on the campus of the University of North Georgia

After serving in politics he resumed the practice of law. He was instrumental in the establishment of what was then North Georgia Agricultural College, now called the University of North Georgia, of which he served as president of the board of trustees from 1870 until his death in 1908. He died on November 4, 1908 in Dahlonega and is interred in Mt. Hope Cemetery. The iconic Price Memorial Hall with its gold tipped spear is named in his honor. charter member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Georgia Delta chapter, North Georgia Agricultural College, Dahlonega, GA Sept. 29th 1879.

In 1879 a fire destroyed the Dahlonega Gold Mint, which was being used by the North Georgia Agricultural College at the time. Shortly thereafter, Price Memorial Hall was built in its place. Today Price Memorial Hall is the oldest surviving structure to be found on the UNG campus.^[1]

References

• William P. Price at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.