To share a preview of what Elridge Price was about, let me share this opinion column that was published in 2007:
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Newspapers.com, "Out Yonder" column by Ross McSwain, Standard-Times,
San Angelo, Texas, Sunday, March 25, 2007, Page 13 |
"Con men were full of confidence
Ross McSwain
Out Yonder
Texas has had many confidence men over the years, and one of the most famous is former Pecos businessman Billie Sol Estes, but he will have to take second or third place to a pair of Ballinger con artists as the most colorful.
Billie Sol was planning his first deals in cotton allotments and fertilizer tanks that got him into trouble with the law when obscure con man Eldridge Solomon Price of Ballinger went to jail for the last time.
Eldridge Price’s ghost rose from the grave when my longtime friend, Associated Press reporter Mike Cochran, wrote one of his delightful pieces on Billie Sol, a West Texas icon we bought spent time covering for newspapers during the latter part of the 20th century. Over the years I crossed trail a number of times with Estes. He is a gracious man, as any admitted con man should be, but he never granted me an interview. Perhaps it is just as well, since he knew my late mother who lived in Brady at the same time that Estes called the Heart of Texas town home, and at one time he rented a farm near Clyde from my late uncle, Bill Chambers.
Although Estes holds the unofficial title of Texas’ best known con man, some folks believe Price was the kingpin among southwestern confidence men, taking millions of dollars from hundreds of people during the toughest times of the Great Depression. He started serving his last lengthy prison sentence in 1960, a good while before Estes' shadowy deals in anhydrous ammonia tanks became national news.
According to newspaper reports, retired FBI agent Ed Dorris of San Angelo said people were afraid to talk to Price because they were fearful he would sell them something. Early San Angelo Standard-Times files say Price worked his scams from coast to coast. Estes' activities were generally located in Texas.
The smiling, nattily dressed Price was 65 years old when he entered Leavenworth Federal Prison for the last time after being convicted of swindling 36 persons on promises of oil well riches. He was described in court as being "the world's greatest salesman." Price had something in common with Estes besides the middle name of "Sol." He also was pudgy-built, wore expensive clothes and eyeglasses.
Price's troubles centered around the sale of fake oilfield leases in Texas and stocks in a Utah uranium mine. Over his long years of dodging lawmen, tax revenue agents and even fellow thieves, Price reportedly was involved in crimes ranging from stealing gold-filled watches in Florida in 1915 to assault with intent to murder in Texas in 1930. When convicted on 14 counts of fraud involving oil leases and the uranium stock in November 1957, he was released on $10,000 appeal bond. When he failed to appear for the appeal hearing, he was ordered arrested. He was found in El Paso in January 1960. He reportedly died in prison.
Another notable Ballinger con man was B. W. "Chophouse Charlie" Pilcher. He left a mark on the Runnels County town and it wasn't just for selling Bibles.
Pilcher spent most of his nights and days dealing stud and monte, and carried a silver dollar with a diamond embedded in it for marking cards. He was a gambler and opened the first and last gambling hall in Ballinger. Pilcher arrived in Ballinger in 1886. He was 29 years old and looking for work in the town the Santa Fe Railroad promised to make prosperous. Pilcher told Standard-Times reporter Frank Burnett in 1945 that he walked all the way from Abilene to Ballinger. In a few days he had earned enough to allow him to bank his own game, first in a tent and later in a dugout on Main Street.
Pilcher made lots of money gambling, but he changed his ways in 1893 when "he heard the gospel" at a church meeting. He told Burnett his life changed and he became a "new man."
Pilcher was to become a constable, and started selling Bibles all over the Concho Country. He later served as chief of police, justice of the peace and operated a café. His last card game was in 1926 on a trip to Mexico. He made enough to pay all the travel expenses before his wife caught him and made him quit the game.
I would have loved to have crossed trails with Chophouse Charlie and ol' Eldridge. What a pair.
I'll be seeing you Out Yonder. Transcription provided by Google Gemini.
Points to remember about cousin Elridge: Nothing is ever as it seems; there are no clear cut answers or information - as a matter of fact there are at least two answers for every fact; and very little is the truth from his side of things. As far as con men and swindlers go, Elridge was evidently one of the best, if not THE best.
Elridge (The vast majority of newspapers referred to him as Eldridge, but that was not his name. I think the first misprint was copied from then on out.) Solomon Price was born on July 2nd or 4th, 1893 in either Emanuel or Johnson County, Georgia. He always told people he was born in Wrightsville in Johnson County. He was the second child and first son born to Solomon 'Solie' Price (1868-1929) and Jemsie Ann Missoura Hatcher or Hadden (1871-1919).
At the age of 17, he married Anna Morgan Outlaw on February 19, 1911 in Johnson County. They had one child together, Annie Evelyn Price, born December 4, 1913 in Wrightsville. I have found no divorce record for them. This will become an important point soon.
From 1915, I found the following article. I wasn't sure it was the same Elridge Price.
JAX GIRL WEDS IN THE NORTH DESPITE PARENTS
Miss Lillion King and Eldridge Price Marry After Being Separated.
Outwitting every effort of the bride's parents in Jacksonville and her relatives in New York to break off their engagement, Miss Lillian King and Mr. Eldridge Price, both of this city, were married Tuesday by the Rev. Dr. Henry T. Beattle, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, of Hoboken, N. J. The marriage was performed at the parsonage at a time that corresponded exactly with the time the marriage license was issued, twenty-four hours earlier.
The story of the elopement became known when an aunt of the bride, a Miss McRae, who lives in New York, went to Hoboken to make inquiries about the marriage. She was surprised to learn that neither distance nor parental determination had prevented the marriage of her niece to Mr. Price.
Miss McRae told Dr. Beattle that Miss King's parents in this city strongly objected to their daughter's marriage to Mr. Price. Both are twenty-one years old. In order to break off the match, the bride's mother, Miss Ethel McRae King, sent her to New York and tried to keep her whereabouts a secret from Mr. Price. This was ten days ago.
Mr. Price, after spending considerable money in telegraph and telephone tolls, located Miss King and the marriage was arranged. And now that it's all over they will leave shortly, it is understood, for Panama on their honeymoon.
Newspapers.com, Jacksonville Journal, Jacksonville, Florida, Wednesday, June 23, 1915, Page 9. Transcription by Google Gemini.
Newspapers.com, The Jersey Journal, Jersey City, New Jersey, Monday, June 21, 1915, Page 5
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"COUPLE WEDDED ON AN ALTERED CERTIFICATE Time of Issuance Changed in Attempt to Comply With Twenty-four Hour Law—Clergyman Says He Didn’t Notice It. CLERK TUCKER NOT RESPONSIBLE Rev. Henry T. Beatty, D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Hoboken, to-day denied that he had observed any alteration in the marriage license issued by Elridge S. Price and Lillian King, a runaway couple from Jacksonville, Fla., who were wedded by him at 2:45 o'clock last Wednesday morning. Dr. Beatty declares that he believed the license to have been issued at 2 o'clock the preceding morning and had no idea the provision of the law requiring 24 hours to elapse between the time of issuance of the license and the ceremony was being evaded. That the license was altered, however, an examination of the blank in the office of Registrar of Vital Statistics Joseph S. Tucker shows. The license was issued at 7 o'clock p. m. on Tuesday, June 15. The figure "7" had been scratched out with a knife, rubbing the surface off the blue paper and the word "two," in a handwriting very different from Mr. Tucker's, written in the space before the printed letters "a. m.". Mr. Tucker stated to-day that when he issued the license at 7 o'clock last Tuesday evening Price, the bridegroom, asked him if he could not "fix it" so that the twenty-four hour law might be evaded, saying that he and wife-to-be wanted to start for Panama. Tucker declares he positively refused to be a party to any such violation. "The license appeared perfectly regular to me," Dr. Beatty explained to-day. "I did not notice anything that looked like an alteration." The document plainly shows, however, that it was altered. The handwriting of the word "two" is similar to that in which the names of the witnesses to the marriage, Mrs. Edith Beatty and Homer Price, are written. Dr. Beatty said to-day that his wife, Mrs. Beatty, was one of the witnesses. On the certificate her name is spelled incorrectly, having but one "t" in it instead of two. "Who wrote in the names of the witnesses to the marriage?" Dr. Beatty was asked. "I did," he replied. There has been a disposition in some quarters to throw blame on Mr. Tucker for issuing a license at 2 o'clock in the morning. He naturally resents this, declaring that he never issued a license at such an hour. There is nothing in the law, however, to prevent him doing so if he so desired. Be that as it may, it is quite plain that the time of the issuance of the license was altered so as to comply with the twenty-four hour law. Health Commissioner Dr. J. F. X. Stack, head of the Vital Statistics Department, stated to-day that he proposed to have the license, showing the alteration, photographed in readiness for any eventuality that might arise." Transcription by Google Gemini.
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| Newspapers.com, The Montgomery Times, Montgomery, Alabama, Wednesday, September 01, 1915, Page 1 |
"Chicago Police After Pair Wanted in South
CHICAGO, ILL., September 1—The Chicago police yesterday were asked by telegraph to search for Eldridge S. Price, wanted in Georgia and Florida and New Jersey on several charges. The message came from Sheriff G. M. Grier, of Dublin Ga., and stated that Price is wanted there on a charge of bigamy, on complaint of his 16-yearold wife, Lillian Price. The telegram described Price at 23 years old. He is said to be an automobile salesman.
A telegram received yesterday from Montgomery, Ala., asked that the police here arrest Homer Billingsley, a graduate of Auburn college, who was employed as a chemist in the Alabama state food department. He is said to have embezzled several hundred dollars. A reward of $250 is offered for his arrest." Transcription by Google Gemini.
I now knew these articles about this marriage to "Lillian" was MY Elridge Price because of several points, i.e., the time frame fits. Elridge would have been 22-23 at this time. The first article, however, was wrong that both he and Lillian were 21. Her being 16 would explain why her parents were so against the marriage. The mention of New Jersey... that was where he and Lillian married. I guess you should always combine business with pleasure on your travels. The third article states that he is said to be an automobile salesman, and Elridge was - among other things. Last but not least, the man that stood up for Elridge at the marriage... Homer Price... that is Elridge's brother. So it appears he married another woman while he was still married to his first wife.
Sometime between 1915 and 1917, Elridge and Anna must have divorced, though as I said, I have not found a record of that.
It was around this time that Elridge began to move westward. He married Edith Shanklyn Wynn from Virginia on February 9, 1917 in Jackson, Madison County, Mississippi. Then when their first child was born, they were in Dallas, Texas. They had 4 children in less than 10 years:
* Alsace Lorraine Price on January 19, 1919 in Dallas, Texas
* Eldridge Solomon Price, Jr on November 5, 1921 in Dallas. (Junior changed his legal name to Bradford 'Brad' Fulford once he was an adult.)
* Alvin Armington 'Al' Price was born January 31, 1924 in Dallas.
* Sterling Woodrow Price was born in Mineral Wells, Palo Pinto County, Texas on October 19, 1928.
Then it appears that Elridge and Edith divorced. They were married again in Gregg County, Texas on May 16, 1929.
Their 5th child, Jeamisean Edith Price, was born sometime between 1935-1936 in Alaska.
Alaska? You ask. Well, it seems Elridge had fled there to avoid tax evasion charges.
Then in 1940, Elridge and Edith are estranged again. He was trying to gain custody of their youngest daughter, who was 4 years old at the time. Elridge filed a sanity complaint against Edith. After being interviewed by two physicians, they found that Edith was in fact not insane so the custody trial could continue. During the case, Jeamisean had been put in the custody of her older sister, Lorraine. I have been unable thus far to find out the verdict in this case or whether it was dropped because the couple reconciled. Because obviously, they did reconcile...
However, Edith filed for divorce in Austin, Texas in late 1943 or 1944. Edith filed an injunction against Elridge and the judge restrained Elridge from interfering and annoying his wife and their two minor children, Jeamisean, age 9, and Sterling, age 15. However, he was acquitted on a lunacy complaint Edith had filed against him.
In her petition for divorce, Edith alleged cruel treatment. She sought monthly support of $100 for the two children until they reach the age of 16. She also stated in the petition that she and Elridge were married in Jackson, Mississippi on February 19, 1917, and that they lived together intermittently as husband and wife until December 5, 1944.
The couple filed for yet another marriage license in 1947. So what is that? 3 divorces and 4 marriages just with each other?!!
This blog post is just part 1 of probably at least a 3 part series. In the next post, I will share Elridge's criminal exploits between 1915-1940.
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Elridge Solomon Price Sr, his wife, Edith Shaklyn Wynn
with their two oldest children, Alsace Lorraine and Elridge Solomon Jr |
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Elridge and Edith
ride or die |
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