This remarkable photo reached the author labeled as being of the family of James Ambrose Gibson with General Price. We know little, at this point, of General Price, but he is believed to have been from Missouri. The best explanation for this picture would be that he later settled in Indian Territory. A potential son of his, Nathan, is mentioned as a companion of James Ambrose in his youth, perhaps even a cousin. We can only speculate this photo may have been taken in the early 1870s in the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.
The woman in the back is labeled as being Clara Elizabeth (Hodge) Gibson. She married James Ambrose when she was quite young. It is hard to believe both of these boys are children of James Ambrose, however. The one standing next to him may be Nathan and the one standing next to General Price is his son, or grandson. If this little boy is Nathan, born 19 December 1871, then this picture was more likely taken in the late 1870s.
For the record, there is, in Civil War history, a Major General Sterling Price, who led Confederate forces in and around Missouri during the Civil War. A recent assist from the PRICE Family GenForum Web site helped locate the following link, which contains a brief biography on this man, along with a picture:
As we can tell from this information, if the above photo is indeed of this General Price, then the photo almost has to have been taken somewhere in Missouri, as there is no indication he was ever in Indian Territory. And the photo would have to have been taken before he passed away in September, 1867. This is potentially still possible, as James and Clara were married in 1865. Comparing the two pictures, there is enough similarity that it could still be the same person. There is enough dissimilarity that we could be talking about someone else. If these two pictures are of the same man, than our photo was taken towards the end of his life, when he was much thinner, more gaunt. This could be due to his age or his state of health or both. The Web site above does not indicate when their photo was taken, i.e. what time in his life.
Courtesy of Sherry Balow, responding to the above referenced query on the PRICE Family GenForum Web site, we have this picture representing itself as showing several Confederate Generals in Mexico, after the conclusion of the Civil War. It is apparently a known historical fact that Maj. General Sterling Price went to Mexico after the Civil War.
From all of the information uncovered on the most likely General Price to be in this picture, we must conclude it is highly unlikely the gentlemen seated in our old family photo is Maj. General Sterling Price. We also can say, as this man's family is well documented, that he had no son by the name of "W. N." [William Nathan?] Price. If there is any family connection to this particular General, then Nathan would have had to be a cousin or nephew. And there is no recorded historical information to suggest that Maj. General Sterling Price was ever in the Oklahoma Territories. At least, he certainly never lived there. And, last, if this old family photo is of Maj. General Sterling Price, then clearly the two boys shown are not children of James and Clara. They would presumably be associated with the Price family, perhaps grandchildren of the General.
All considered, of course, we may ultimately never know. It is another among the countless examples we've probably all heard about at one time or another of why it is very nice to have pictures labeled properly.
Author: Roger L. Roberson, Jr. • Last updated: 11 January 2003