Guide to the Price Family Papers MS 59
Finding aid prepared by Sean Flores
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
San Diego History Center Document Collection
June 6, 2011
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA, 92101
619-232-6203
Title: Price Family Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MS 59
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.5 Linear feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1873-1918
Abstract: This collection pertains to the Price family, with particular focus on Jacob Price’s personal and business affairs as well
as his Civil War pension.
creator:
Price family
This collection contains documents that detail the history of the Price family and particularly the activities of Jacob Price.
Contents include genealogical records and a family register of births and deaths as well as government forms and correspondence
regarding Jacob Price’s U.S. military pension. The collection also includes a diary presented to Jacob Price by Anzelmo Moraga
containing text of the 17th degree of the Scottish Rite, Knight of the East and West, transcribed by Moraga. The diary also
includes Jacob’s account of his journey on the Pacific Mail Steamship “Kansas City” via Panama to visit two of his children,
Maria and Ricardo, in Colombia. Additionally, there is a Price & Price account book tracking Jacob Price’s financial accounts
for family members and business ventures such as Price & Price, Price & Speyer, and real estate investments.
Collection processed by Sean Flores on June 6, 2011.
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Price Family Papers, MS 59, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
This collection is open for research.
Items in this collection are arranged by subject.
Original photograph of Jacob Price dated December 24, 1862 now in the SDHC Photograph Collection, OP 8173.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession numbers 750304, 800423, 840214A.
Biographical / Historical Notes
Samuel and Deborah Brockman Price emigrated with their nine children from Wislica, Poland to the United States in the early
1800s to escape Russian rule over Poland and the fear of their sons being drafted into the Russian army. Upon arrival in the
U.S., the Price family settled in New York.
Jacob Price (May 5, 1839-May 18, 1915), son of Samuel and Deborah Price, enlisted in the U.S. military as a private in Company
D of the 5th Regiment and fought in the Civil War. Jacob was discharged from the military on June 27, 1864 after sustaining
a gunshot wound and soon after traveled to work for his brother, Adolphus, in Colombia, South America where he ran clothing
stores. Jacob returned to the U.S. in the early 1870s and operated a men’s furnishings store in New Jersey. Jacob married
his second wife Celia Lindenborn of New York in 1873. By the late 1880s, Jacob transitioned to operating his business in San
Diego, purchasing the Reed Block at the corner of Sixth and H Streets. He renamed it the Price Block and opened a men’s clothing
store at this location. The store was later taken over by his children, Samuel, Walter, and Alice and renamed Price & Price.
Price Block also later housed Price & Speyer, a boot and shoe store run by Jacob’s son, Charles, and Albert Speyer. Following
Jacob’s death in 1915, a conflict arose for his widow Celia Price with her claim to Jacob’s Civil War pension due to his previous,
unresolved marriage. As a result, Celia was denied claim to the pension.
File of genealogical support materials has been added to Finding Aid folder.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Blumann, Ethel
Blumann, Rosalie Augusta Price
Bosch, Angeline
Freemasons.
High, Thomas
Kansas City (Steamship).
Knight of the East and West.
Moraga, Anzelmo
Pacific Mail Steamship Company.
Price and Price.
Price family
Price, Celia Linderborn
Price, Deborah Brockman
Price, Hubert
Price, Jacob
Price, Samuel
Pricy, Harry
Scottish Rite (Masonic order).
Weis, Ruth Price
Diaries
San Diego (Calif.)
Box-folder 1:1
Box-folder 1:2
Jacob Price diary, 1912 November 23-December 18 and undated
Box-folder 1:3
Box-folder 1:4