HON. W. C. PRICE
William C. Price was born in Jackson county, Tennessee, March 11, 1821.
His father, Campbell Price, was a native of South Carolina, who removed his family to Benton, then Washington County,
Ark., in 1829. Thence he removed to Bowers Mill, in what is now Lawrence county Mo., late in 1833. The next year
he went to Newton County, coming to McDonald county in 1835. He entered government land and settled on Buffalo
creek where the subject of this sketch now resides. It was here that he reared his family and passed the remainder
of his days. Hon. William C. Price grew to manhood at the home of his parents, assisting in the work of the farm.
He can remember when wild animals were very plentiful in the region of his home, and Indians often hunted up and
down the valleys. On February 1, 1844, Mr. Price was united in marriage with Clarinda, a daughter of James F. Beeman,
and to them were born twelve children. Politically he is a Democrat, and his party has favored him with several
important offices. For four years he served as sheriff of the county, and represented the same in the State Legislature
from 1873 to 1877.
For six years he served as superintendent of the United State Flouring Mills in the Seneca Nation, Indian Territory.
During the Civil War he sympathized with the South, and served in the Confederate army as a member of Captain Parks’
Company H, Second Cherokee Regiment, with which he participated in the battles at Fort Gibson and Armstrong Ford.
He was one of the leaders of his party for many years, and several terms. He is now living out his old days in
peace and plenty at the old home where he grew to manhood.
Source: (History of McDonald County, Missouri, by Judge J. A. Sturges,
1897); transcribed by Linda Rodriguez
HEZEKIAH WEST
Hezekiah West was born November 7, 1763 near Fredrick, Maryland. He was the only
son, but had sisters. The family moved to Sandy River, Camden District, South Carolina when Hezekiah was seven
or eight years old. Except for the time he was in service, he lived there until 1804.
Upon his father’s death in 1778 in battle at St. Tilles, 16 year old Hezekiah volunteered for the army under
the command of Captain Frost’s Company and Captain Richard Winn’s Regiment. Later he joined a company of horse
troopers or Rangers under the command of Captain John McCool where he remained until the end of the war. He had
no documents to show day or date as he had the misfortune to have his house burned soon after he was married after
the close of the War. He suspected the fire was started after being robbed by a man named Holdman who soon left
the area.
Pension: S34519 SC Pension roll, Johnson County, July 18, 1833, age 77. Pension Census, Johnson County, June
1, 1840, age 76 [sic]
Hezekiah West was a member of the Illinois State Convention from Johnson County in 1818.
A note in the Illinois General Assembly. Journal of the House of Representatives of the Ninth General Assembly
of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, Begun and held in the town of Vandalia, December 1, 1834. A
Mr. Oliver presented the petition of Hezekiah West, praying that the Legislature would adopt a memorial to Congress,
instructing our Senators and requesting our Representatives, to use their exertions to place him upon the pension
roll; and, on his motion, the reading thereof was dispensed with and the same referred to a select committee
Hezekiah left South Carolina in 1804 and moved to Jackson County, Tennessee and lived there for five years. He
worked as a surveyor. He then moved to Kentucky and lived there for two years. He then moved his family to southern
Illinois in 1810 or 1811, where he lived until his death on July 29, 1845.
Hezekiah was married to Priscilla Osborn. They had many children.
He was also a Methodist minister.
Hezekiah was buried in West Eden Cemetery near Vienna, Illinois. His grave is marked by a government marker.
“Illinois Revolutionary War Veteran Burials “ 1917.
His name is on a bronze marker on the lawn of the Johnson County Courthouse in Vienna, placed by the Daniel Chapman
Chapter DAR in 1918. The Chapter also marked his grave.
[Sources: Information gathered from the book by Henry Hebard West titled
Descendants of Hezekiah West, 1763-1845 , his request in December 1832, for a pension for his service in the
Revolutionary War and his will written in 1844. Submitted by Jackie Murrie]
