Rodman McCamley Price (May 5, 1816June 7, 1894) was an American naval officer, businessman, and
Democratic Party politician who served as the 17th
Governor of New Jersey
The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...
from 1854 to 1857. He also worked to establish the American government in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and served on the first
San Francisco City Council, where he became a real estate tycoon. He represented New Jersey in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
for one term from 1851 to 1853.
Early life and career
Rodman McCamley Price was born in
Newton, New Jersey
Newton, officially the ''Town of Newton'', is an Local government in the United States, incorporated municipality in and the county seat of Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County[Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...]
and later merchants.
He attended the public schools of
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and the
Lawrenceville Academy. Price pursued classical studies at
The College of New Jersey
The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, ...
(today Princeton University) but did not graduate due to illness.
[ He ]read law
Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...
but never practiced, choosing instead to enter the commission business in New York.
Naval career, Mexican-American War, and California
Using family connections to the Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...
administration, Price secured an appointment as a purser in the United States Navy in 1840.[ His first assignments came during peacetime, and he sailed aboard the '' USS Fulton'' and '' USS Missouri''. In July 1843, Price was aboard the ''Missouri'' on its voyage as one of the first steam warships to cross the ]Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
.[
While off the coast of ]Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
, the ''Missouri'' was wrecked in an accident, and Price spent some time as a guest of the British Consul in Gibraltar before touring the Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
. He met with the famous American author Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...
, serving as the United States Minister to Spain, and aided Irving's research on a biography of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
.[ He also visited Paris before returning to duty.][ Price rejoined the Navy on the sloop of war '' USS Cyane'', part of John D. Sloat's Pacific Squadron. As purser, Price's duties were primarily to oversee payrolls; he occasionally made land at Monterey, Matamoros, or Lima to provision and bargain with local merchants.][
On July 7, 1846, the ''Cyane'' entered the ]Mexican-American War
Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...
by ferrying a detachment of United States Marines
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...
who seized Monterey, California
Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...
.[ On the same day, Sloat, now Military Governor of California, named Price prefect and ''alcalde'' (magistrate) at Monterey, where he administered the military occupation for a month.][ As alcalde, Price's duties included recording land titles, and he exploited his position by acting as Sloat's investment agent and partner in the land rush that followed the American annexation.][
]
San Francisco
In 1848, he returned to New York to secure himself an appointment as purser for the Pacific Squadron. He moved to a new headquarters in San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, where he provisioned and payrolled ships between Monterey and Honolulu.[
When the ]California gold rush
The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...
hit and inflated commodity prices, the Navy expected Price to establish the hegemony of American credit and prevent the drain of gold bullion to London.[ Instead, he enriched himself as a real-estate tycoon and entered politics. He was elected to the first Common Council of San Francisco and became a booster of the city's Long Wharf project. In August 1849, he was "detached" from the Pacific Squadron for making unauthorized drafts on specie in the Customs House and neglecting to submit quarterly returns on expenses.][
Despite his removal, Price's political career flourished. In September 1849, he was a delegate to the first of the California Constitutional Conventions and finished third in the November elections for the new state's inaugural United States Representatives. He served on the first ]Ayuntamiento
''Ayuntamiento'' ()In other languages of Spain:
* ().
* ().
* (). is the general term for the town council, or ''cabildo'', of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin America, for the municipality itself. is mai ...
de San Francisco from August 6, 1849, to January 10, 1850. He returned to Washington to render account, but on his return journey his steamer, the ''Orleans St. John'', caught fire on the Alabama River
The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa River, Tallapoosa and Coosa River, Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka, Alabama, Wetumpka.
Over a co ...
. Price claimed his payroll vouchers were destroyed in the fire, muddling his case and leading to years of litigation over $88,000 in unaccounted Navy funds.[
On December 28, 1849, he purchased Rancho San Geronimo from fellow naval officer Joseph Warren Revere for $7,500. The two would split the profits of timber exports from the property. On August 6. 1851, Price bought the remainder of Revere's property for $8,000. Price's move to New Jersey later inspired Revere to purchase farm land and construct The Willows, a custom mansion in ]Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown () is a Town (New Jersey), town in and the county seat of Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. .
U.S. House of Representatives (1851–1853)
Having left California, Price purchased a mansion in Hoboken and entered a Wall Street
Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
partnership to manage his California holdings and speculated in Californian real estate.[ In 1850, Price's father and ]Robert Field Stockton
Robert Field Stockton (August 20, 1795 – October 7, 1866) was a United States Navy commodore, notable in the capture of California during the Mexican–American War. He was a naval innovator and an early advocate for a propeller-driven, steam ...
, who was familiar with Price from Stockton's time as military governor, engineered Price's nomination for U.S. Representative from the state's fifth congressional district, which was composed of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Passaic counties. Owing to a division in the Whig Party following the Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that temporarily defused tensions between slave and free states during the years leading up to the American Civil War. Designe ...
, Price was narrowly elected in the usually Whig district.[
Price was not an active member of the House and served one uneventful term in office, largely focusing on his California real estate deals and constituent services.][ He participated in only one House debate, speaking in favor of recodification of martial law aboard Navy vessels. He argued that traditional flogging led to a "well-ordered, well-disciplined ship," but that summary courts-martial should supersede the captain's power to punish at sea.][ He lost re-election in 1852 and returned home to focus on his property interests.][
]
Governor of New Jersey (1854–1857)
1853 election
In 1853, Price was recruited to run for governor on the Democratic ticket. Whig critics attacked him for his ties to the " Joint Companies," a name given to the conglomerate formed by the merger of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company with the Camden & Amboy Railroad which effectively had a monopoly on transportation, and his residence in California, which some argued disqualified him from office.[ The Democratic campaign focused on an opposition to monopoly and a general promise of "reform."][ Price was elected by a reduced but substantial margin.
]
Term in office
As governor, Price had little real influence against the county machines that dominated the Democratic Party or the large corporations that dominated the state. He hewed to standard Jacksonian democratic rhetoric, criticizing unbridled corporate consolidation, paper bank notes, and public spending. To fulfill his campaign pledge for reform, Price backed a Law Reform Commission to reorganize the state judiciary, reaching a compromise with Whigs to pass the reforms in exchange for more appointments of Whig judges to the bench.
Responding to Protestant nativism in the state, Price suggested that the legislature enact a limited moratorium on naturalization in the period preceding elections and ignored calls for the prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
of liquor and saloons, provided that the legislature upheld "constitutional rights." Price favored local control on the question of slavery, particularly in Kansas, and campaigned on behalf of James Buchanan
James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...
and Fernando Wood
Fernando Wood (June 14, 1812 – February 13, 1881) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician, merchant, and real estate investor who served as the 73rd and 75th Mayor of New York, Mayor of New York City. ...
in 1856.
Price also established the first state geological survey at the urging of agricultural societies and North Jersey industrialists, defraying costs by selling maps of the state's soil and mineral resources to European investors.
Transportation
Price continued to support the Joint Companies, bargaining with Stockton to extend the corporation's charter until 1869 with the option of a state takeover in twenty years, in part to avoid disrupting the $200,000 in tax revenue that the monopoly provided to the state. He continually proposed to scrap the system of town highway commissioners in favor of countywide administration but was consistently blocked by those who relied on the highway commissions as lucrative patronage positions.
In response to outcry from Jersey shippers amid the rapid expansion of the Manhattan wharves on the Hudson River
The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
, Price and Governor of New York Myron Clark established a harbor commission to investigate whether construction was obstructing river flow and to recommend official bulkhead lines, the first in interstate port regulation. He also appointed the first pilots' board to protect Newark and Jersey City operators struggling to maintain a portion of imports from Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
.
Education
Price is sometimes regarded as the father of the New Jersey public school system; he responded to two decades of calls for public education by signing the first legislation establishing state normal schools, turning professional education into an important statewide lobby. His work built on the prior efforts of Democratic governors Daniel Haines and George F. Fort. Price himself participated in the 1854 Sussex Institute and urged state support for its extension to all counties. In January 1855, he called for the establishment of a state training school and drafted the bill that established the Trenton Normal School.
Later career
Barred from a second term in office by the Constitution of New Jersey, Price unsuccessfully sought to serve as ambassador to Mexico under President Buchanan.
Instead, Price devoted himself to business ventures, particularly in industries which had blossomed under his policy as governor. He engaged with his business partner Horace P. Russ in quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...
ing his father's property on the Hackensack River
The Hackensack River is a river, about 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban ar ...
, using the minerals to produce pavement for Russ construction projects in New York, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia. While still in office, Price and his father established a privately owned ferry from Weehawken
Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking ...
to New York; its flagship vessel was named the ''Rodman M. Price''. Price also established a barge commerce on the inland waterways of New York state and speculated in land in the south Bergen hills.
During the American Civil War, Price was largely silent on politics except to participate as one of nine delegates from the state to the Peace Conference of 1861 and an April 4, 1861 editorial urging New Jerseyans not to take up arms. He spent the remainder of his life as a gentleman farmer and struggled financially after his father's death; his various businesses failed until 1890, when the United States Congress provided him a bill of relief in his longstanding claims against the Navy. The money was immediately appropriated to settle another debt arising out of his California real estate holdings. Before his death, he spent time in a debtors' prison at the Hackensack jail.
Death
Price died in Oakland, New Jersey on June 7, 1894. He was buried in the Reformed Cemetery, in Mahwah, New Jersey
Mahwah is the northernmost and largest municipality by geographic area () in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 25,487, a decrease of 403 ...
.
References
Notes
External links
New Jersey Governor Rodman McCauley Price
National Governors Association
The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American Politics of the United States, political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 U.S. state, states, Territories of the United States, territories ...
Rodman McCamley Price
The Political Graveyard
The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...
*
Dead Governors of New Jersey bio for Rodman McCamley Price
Guide to the Rodman M. Price Papers
at The Bancroft Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Rodman M.
1816 births
1894 deaths
Democratic Party governors of New Jersey
People from Newton, New Jersey
Princeton University alumni
United States Navy officers
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey
American Presbyterians
American people of Welsh descent
Lawrenceville School alumni
Military personnel from Sussex County, New Jersey
19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives