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| Newspapers.com, The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, Thursday, June 19, 1913, Page 7 |
POSTMASTER CLAXTON IS NOT SERIOUSLY WOUNDED
(Special Dispatch to The Journal.)
WRIGHTSVILLE, Ga., June 19.—Reports from the bedside of H. J. Claxton, postmaster at Kite, Ga., who was shot by Eldridge Price Tuesday morning, state that Mr. Claxton is rapidly recovering. Price is still in jail here.
The shooting occurred at the Kite postoffice, when Claxton, it is alleged, resented some remarks made by Price and advanced on the latte
The bullet from Price's 32-calibre revolver grazed Claxton's left elbow and entered his side just below the heart. The wounded man was rushed to a sanitarium here and for a while it was thought he would not recover.
It is said that Claxton was not armed. - Transcription by Google Gemini
The next day, June 20th, another article indicates that the postmaster is recovering and that Elridge is in jail. However, that is the last article I can find on the matter. If he was convicted, he did not do much time cause just two years later, he committed bigamy with a 16 year old and was in Florida, New York, Illinois and who knows where else.
So like I said, in 1915, Elridge was running around the country with his child bride while he was still married to someone else.
Then in 1917, things seem to take a more disturbing turn:
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| Newspapers.com, The Vicksburg Post, Vicksburg, Mississippi, Tuesday, April 10, 1917, Page 1 |
WANTS HIS DAUGHTER
Jackson, Miss., April 10.—G. L. Manning of Gatesville, Copiah county, was here today inquiring for two men, Eldridge S. and Homer Price, said to be brothers, Eldridge Price having married Miss Dora Manning, a sister, while Homer Price is married to a Miss Wynn, also of Crystal Springs.
It seems the two men and two women, all of them young, left Crystal Springs on Sunday, April 1, coming to Jackson, where they remained one day. Mr. Manning is disturbed because in leaving Crystal Springs the quartette also took with them his young daughter, 12 years old, who was with them in Jackson, and has not been seen since.
The party left Crystal Springs in a Studebaker six-cylinder, seven-passenger car of the 1917 series, and were seen in the same car at the Studebaker depot here. Sheriff Shelton of Copiah County, and Chief of Police L. B. Williams, of Jackson have sent out telegraphic descriptions of the entire party, who are believed to be headed for the far west. - Transcribed by Google Gemini
What in the world?! Again, I cannot locate an article about the outcome of this situation. This leads me to hope the 12 year old girl found her way back home safely.
Also, this article confuses me. I have not seen anything else about Elridge marrying a Dora Manning. Then it states that his brother, Homer, is married to a Miss Wynn. Well, Elridge's wife that he does marry for the first time sometime in 1917 is Edith Wynn.
From 1918-1925, it appears that Elridge stays out of criminal trouble. He was busy setting up oil businesses, getting sued and having judgements put against him. He was living in Dallas, Texas, married to Edith, and his three oldest children were born during this time period.
Then in January 1925, Elridge went on the offensive and decided to be the one doing the suing.
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| Newspapers.com, The Brownsville Herald, Brownsville, Texas, Thursday, January 08, 1925, Page 1 |
$800,000 Suit Filed Against Oil Concern
SHERMAN, Texas, Jan. 8.—Eldridge Price, oil promoter of Whitesboro, Texas, has filed in the 16th district court of Cooke county a suit against the big Indian Oil and Development, alleging breach of contract and asking $80,000 damages. This company recently brought in a discovery well in eastern Cooke county and has several thousand acres of land under lease in that county. - Transcription by Google Gemini
At the end of 1925, Elridge made a deal that would become headline news in a few short years.
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| Newspapers.com, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana, Sunday, December 20, 1925, Page 45 |
A DEAL IN WHICH MONEY WAS NOT THE MAIN FACTOR
Larger Offer Declined, Though Buyer Volunteers Release
After a property deal had been completed and the papers signed another and much higher price was tendered. The purchaser notified the seller that he would not stand in the way of the larger remuneration and offered to surrender his deed. The seller as promptly replied, declining the sacrifice, and gave assurance that the agreement would be carried out to the letter.
This is not a fanciful story, but an actual occurrence. Truth is stronger than fiction. The transaction took place at Hot Springs, Ark., and was witnessed by Victor Clesi of the N. J. Clesi firm, who, with his wife, recently spent a few weeks at the health resort. One of the principals was Eldridge Price, a Texas oil man, who was registered at the same hotel with his wife and children. Mrs. Price was known here when she was Miss Edyth Wynn of Jackson, Miss.
The property involved was the Potash Sulphur Springs. Mr. Price was much impressed with the location and the character of the flow, and decided to invest part of the fortune he had acquired in the oil fields in the lovely Arkansas spot, his plan being to erect a fine home for himself and a magnificent hotel, and to put the water back on the market. The owner was Mrs. L. H. Fordham, who resides in Hot Springs, and she consented to sell a half-interest for $100,000. Twenty minutes after the deal was confirmed, an Australian, with similar development purposes, arrived with an offer to purchase outright for $300,000. Mr. Price immediately notified Mrs. Fordham that he would not hold her to her bargain, should she desire to accept the larger sum. The lady matched the splendid spirit displayed, and said that no monetary consideration would induce her to dissolve the partnership, which she was certain would prove as pleasant as it would be profitable.
Mr. Clesi commented that the incident made him feel proud of his profession, increased his faith in human nature and did him as much good as did the rest he enjoyed. - Transcription by Google Gemini
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| Newspapers.com, National Hotel Reporter, Chicago, Illinois, Thursday, December 17, 1925, Page 1 |
Things were seemingly quiet again for Elridge in 1926 and most of 1927. He apparently was living in Hot Springs, Arkansas during this time. He had a couple of judgements filed against him, and then this happened in 1927:
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| Newspapers.com, The Houston Post, Houston, Texas, Friday, February 04, 1927, Page 3 |
Missouri Forbids Oil Lease Sales
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Feb. 3. (AP)—An order to cease and desist selling oil and gas leases or propositions to persons in Missouri was issued Thursday by Fenton Stockard, state securities commissioner, to Eldridge Price, Hot Springs, Ark. The company, Eldridge Price, Stockard says, is not authorized to sell securities, having failed to comply with the Missouri securities laws. - Transcription by Google Gemini
Then came 1928, and it seems that every newspaper in the country ran more than one article about Elridge Price. First off, in July of 1928, Elridge was arrested in Denver, Colorado:
Newspapers.com, The Wichita Falls Times, Wichita Falls, Texas,
Saturday, July 21, 1928, Page 6
When officers arrested him, he admitted to them that he was out on bond in Arkansas and Texas on similar charges. Denver let him bond out that evening until officers from Memphis could arrive to extradite him back to Tennessee. Well, he "disappeared" or skipped out on all his bonds until November when he was located in Gainesville, Texas and taken into custody.
Elridge might have been trying to avoid the police, but he was NOT keeping a low profile. At least not at the beginning of August. Remember the lady, Leona Fordham, that sold Elridge that 1/2 interest in the hotel property in Hot Springs, Arkansas? Well she died in 1927, and her EX-husband, Dr. W. G. Fordham, who handled her financial affairs, sued Elridge for the property to go back into the estate because he alleged that Elridge got the property under fraudulent circumstances. He won the suit and the court only gave Elridge $5,000 to cover improvements he had already made to the property.
Ol' Elridge came out swinging. He went public - even to the police - and accused Dr. Fordham of forging a will for his ex-wife after she died, making himself the sole beneficiary of her one million dollars. Elridge went so far as to say that his arrest in Denver the previous month was arranged by Dr. Fordham to "scare" him into keeping quiet about the will.
Now this story was literally covered by newspapers from Los Angeles to New York, Texas to Chicago, and many, many points in between. This article from Atlanta seemed to explain it the best.
CHEMIST HELD IN FORGERY OF $1,000,000 WILL
3 Others Charged With Plot to Get Property of Divorced Wife
WOMAN IS INVOLVED
Dr. Fordham, Arrested in Hot Springs, Blames Texas Oil Man
DENVER, Col., Aug. 4.—(AP)—Dr. W. G. Fordham, prominent physician and chemist, and J. H. Boutcher, Denver lawyer, are among four persons charged Saturday by the prosecutor’s office with forgery and uttering forgery in connection with a will under which Fordham is made beneficiary of his divorced wife’s estate, said to approximate $1,000,000.
Fordham was arrested Saturday in Hot Springs, Ark., on advice of Denver authorities. Boutcher was expected to surrender Saturday night, according to word he sent district attorney’s deputies.
Mrs. Melisa Hogue, and John H. Finch, witnesses to the will, and the other co-defendants are being sought by police throughout the state Saturday night.
Dr. Fordham is charged with having written the will shortly after the death of Mrs. Fordham in Hot Springs on July 7, 1927, and specified that he should be sole heir of the estate. The will was probated in Hot Springs, Ark., where most of the property involved is located.
Price Causes Probe
Pressing their investigation on the strength of a story told by Eldridge Price, wealthy Texas oil man who claims a part of the property in the estate, authorities said several other persons besides Dr. Fordham would be named defendants in the action. These included the attorney who drew the will, officials said.
Price, who recently was arrested in Denver on a charge of defrauding Mrs. F. A. Montgomery, of Memphis, Tenn., of $20,000, said his arrest was part of a conspiracy to keep him from telling what he knew about the will. Dr. Fordham recently was successful in litigation at Hot Springs through which he recovered from Price a large amount of property owned by his former wife.
He charged Price obtained the property through fraud.
An affidavit made by W. Rice Elliott, a farmer living near Littleton, Colo., was presented to the district attorney by attorneys for Price, alleging that during the summer of 1926, Dr. Fordham asked him to sign a will, purporting to be that of Leona E. Fordham, who, Dr. Fordham said, was his sister-in-law.
Refused to Sign Will
Elliott set forth that he asked when the will was drawn and when informed it was about a year before, flatly refused to place his signature on the document. Elliott said that Dr. Fordham declared the witnessing of the will was merely a formality and had asked him to sign it as a friendly act.
Mrs. Anna Stokes, one of the witnesses who signed the will, in an affidavit to the district attorney, told of signing at the request of the doctor. Authorities said no charges would be filed against her.
Price declared he would go to Hot Springs and attempt to reopen his suit to obtain half of the potash sulphur springs property which the court had awarded to Dr. Fordham.
At the physician’s home here, the physician’s present wife said she had heard nothing from her husband concerning the charges.
FORDHAM DENIES CHARGES INVOLVING $1,000,000 WILL
HOT SPRINGS, Ark., Aug. 4.—(AP)—Emphatic denial through his attorneys of charges that he forged his divorced wife’s will to become beneficiary to an estate of approximately $1,000,000 was made Saturday by Dr. W. G. Fordham, prominent Denver, Col., physician and chemist, following his arrest here on a felony warrant telegraphed by the chief of police of Denver. He was released under bond of $1,000 for his appearance next Saturday morning before Municipal Judge V. S. Ledgerwood.
The charge, Dr. Fordham’s statement says, appears to have been instigated by Eldridge Price, Texas oil man, who recently lost possession of Potash Sulphur Springs property, six miles from this city, in litigation brought by the physician to set aside the contract of Mrs. Fordham, who died at the state hospital for nervous diseases July 7, 1927, made with Price.
Chancellor Duffey held in the suit over the property that Mrs. Fordham was not mentally capable of making a contract and that what Price had offered her in exchange for a half-interest in the Potash Sulphur Springs property was not of sufficient consideration.
Dr. Fordham, through his attorneys, denies forging his wife’s will and declares he is not guilty of any offense. He stated Mrs. Fordham owned mining interests in California and ordinarily would go there during the summer to look after assessment work on her property, always stopping at his house in Denver on her way to and from that state. Although they had been divorced nearly 25 years ago, they were most friendly in their regard for each other.”
In the summer of 1924, while in Denver, the physician said his wife made her will. Since the divorce, he stated, he has aided Mrs. Fordham financially in sums in excess of the value of the estate.
Eldridge Price, alleged by Fordham to have instituted the action against him, has been defendant in the local courts several times in litigation having to do with his oil and gas lease transactions. Suits against Price are still pending in the local courts.
Extradition proceedings will be started by the Denver authorities immediately, officers here said. - Transcription by Google Gemini
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| Newspapers.com, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana, Friday, August 10, 1928, Page 7 |
In 1929, everything was silent. No articles. No arrests. Nothing. Was Elridge in jail? I don't know. The press was quiet in 1929 about the goings on of Elridge Price.
However, never count Elridge out. He started 1930 out with a bang... literally. He shot A.J. Couk, a former employee of his, and the father of his daughter-in-law. When arrested, Elridge refused to tell officers what the disagreement was about.
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| Newspapers.com, The Houston Post, Houston, Texas, Saturday, March 08, 1930, Page 6 |
In June of 1930, this came out:
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| Newspapers.com, Times Record, Fort Smith, Arkansas, Monday, June 02, 1930, Pages 1 & 2 |
The 1930's will be covered in the next blog post in this series. If you have read this entire post, thank you. Elridge was a busy man, and I am sure I only hit the highlights. He was a black sheep, but he was never boring. There is much more to come in the story of Elridge Solomon Price, Jr.
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