Santa
Barbara County
Biographies
Successfully following in the
professional footsteps of his father, Francis Price has become a leader of the
Santa Barbara bar and a lawyer of state-wide prominence. He was born October 4, 1890, in the city
which is still his home, and is a son of Samuel S. and Mary M. (Peckinpaugh)
Price. The father served as district
attorney for Santa Barbara county and attained high standing in his profession.
Following his graduation from the
Santa Barbara high school with the class of 1909, Francis Price was a student
at Stanford University, from which he received the Bachelor Arts degree in
1914, and in the following year won the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence from
the same institution. Admitted to the
California bar in 1915, he has since practiced continuously in Santa Barbara
and is a member of the well-known law firm of Heaney, Price & Postal, with
offices at 21 East Ca᷉non Perdido street.
Due to his legal attainments Mr. Price was appointed special counsel for
the state of California in the first litigation under the anti-alien land act
and special counsel for various public bodies of California with water-supply
problems. He represented the estate of
Rosalie Caden Evans (following her murder in Mexico in 1924) in negotiations with
the Mexican, British and American governments, resisting depredations against
her property, resulting from attempts to enforce the provisions of the Mexican
agrarian law. He was counsel for the
city of Santa Barbara during the emergency following the memorable earthquake
of 1925. Well versed in legal science,
Mr. Price has the gift of imparting his knowledge clearly and readily to others
and is a member of the law faculty of Stanford University and lecturer in law
at that institution. He is foreign representative
for C. C. Nelson, Inc.; a member of the advisory board of the Security-First
National Bank of Los Angeles; and a
director of the Alisal Corporation, the Association Holding Company, the Belle
Haven Corporation, the Diehl Grocery Company, the Loan & Building
Association of Santa Barbara, the Parma Company, the Santa Barbara Biltmore
Corporation, the Santa Barbara Ice Company, the Stearns Warf Company, the Union
Realty Company and the Montecito Van & Storage Company.
At San Francisco on the 19th
of June, 1915, Mr. Price was married to Miss Carrie Sanford, by whom he has a
son and a daughter, Francis, Jr., and Barbara.
The family residence is at 1817 Anacapa street. Mr. Price has taken a keen interest in
research work having to do with folklore of California and is thoroughly
informed in matters pertaining to the early history of the state. He has found time for the study of Spanish
and is able to converse fluently in that language. He belongs to the County and Valley Clubs of
Montecito, the Bohemian Club of San Francisco, the Jonathan Club of Los
Angeles, and the Santa Barbara Club, which he represented as president in 1932
and is now one of its directors. He is
also a director of the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and the Knapp Hospital; a
trustee of the Knapp College of Nursing, the Santa Barbara School of Arts and
the Santa Barbara Foundation; and is serving on the Stanford national board of
Stanford University. His political
support is given to the republican party and in all matters of citizenship he
is loyal, progressive and public-spirited.
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Society of Mexican
Pilgrims, the California State Bar Association and the American Bar
Association.
Transcribed by
Mary Ellen Frazier.
Source:
California of the South Vol. V, by John Steven McGroarty,
Page 761-762, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2013 Mary Ellen Frazier.