Albert Sidney Priddy (1865 - 1925)

Born 7 Dec 1865 in Lunenburg, Lunenburg, Virginia, United States

Husband of Mamie Jeffries (Hardy) Priddy — married 20 Oct 1923 in Rapides, Rapides, Louisiana, United States

Died 13 Jan 1925 at age 59 in Brookville, Campbell, Virginia, United States

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Biography

Albert was born in 1865. Dr. Albert Priddy was the first superintendent of the Virginia Colony for Epileptics and the Feebleminded. He was a supporter of eugenics and started a Carrie Elizabeth Buck's court case that would challenge Virginia's newly passed sterilization law that allowed for the forced sterilization of individuals who were considered feeble-minded. His goal in the lawsuit was to create legal precedence to support the law, since laws previously passed elsewhere had been overturned in various court cases. He chose his personal confidant and fellow supporter of eugenics, Irving Powell Whitehead, to serve at Carrie Buck's attorney. However, Dr. Priddy died in 1925 from Hodgkin's disease during litigation. His successor, Dr. John Hendren Bell, eventually took his place in the proceedings. The case eventually made it to the United States Supreme Court as Buck v. Bell.^[1]

Opinion of Carrie Buck's Family History

"In order to obtain Laughlin’s eugenics opinion for the trial in the circuit court, A.S. Priddy, the colony superintendent, provided to H. H. Laughlin of the Eugenics Record Office a statement of facts regarding Carrie Buck and her family history. Under “Family History,” the Superintendent stated: 'These people belong to the shiftless, ignorant and worthless class of antisocial whites of the South. . . . She [Carrie Buck] has a life-long record of moral delinquency and has borne one illegitimate child, considered feebleminded . . . this girl comes from a shiftless, ignorant and moving class of people, and it is impossible to get intelligent and satisfactory data. . . .' If ever a statement of facts displayed an animus against a person and a class of people, and on its face admitted that it was not based upon 'intelligent and satisfactory data,' this statement by Superintendent Priddy did, and its transparency belies the beneficent, paternalistic face presented by the eugenics movement at that time."^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Buck v. Bell
2. ↑ Brown, Frank Overton, Jr. (2013, July). Three Generations. Virginia Lawyer Magazine, 62(1), pp. 26-32. Retrieved August 1, 2023, from https://www.vsb.org/Site/Site/news/virginia-lawyer-magazine.aspx

• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV2Z-T15Q : 13 December 2015), Albert Sidney Priddy, 1925; Burial, Keysville, Charlotte, Virginia, United States of America, Merry Oaks Cemetery; citing Find A Grave: Memorial #62733892.
• "Louisiana, Parish Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1T-1SGT : 15 May 2018), Albert Sidney Priddy and Marnie H Mitchell, 20 Oct 1923; citing Rapides, Rapides, Louisiana, United States, various parish courthouses, Louisiana; FHL microfilm 1,317,225.
• "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFLG-F93 : 12 April 2016), Albert Preddie in household of Robert Preddie, Virginia, United States; citing p. 8, family 57, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 553,139.
• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCPR-2N4 : 16 July 2017), Albert S Priddy in household of Robert W Priddy, Walton, Charlotte, Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district ED 62, sheet 374D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1360; FHL microfilm 1,255,360.
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMFP-62V : accessed 2 December 2018), Albert S Priddy in household of Robert W Priddy, Walton District Smithville (part of), Charlotte, Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 38, sheet 13A, family 263, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,704.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPLL-C95 : accessed 2 December 2018), Albert S Priddy, Walton, Charlotte, Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 38, sheet 2A, family 29, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1625; FHL microfilm 1,375,638.
• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJNV-6V5 : accessed 2 December 2018), Albert S Priddy in household of Elishah Fitzgerald, Walton, Charlotte, Virginia, United States; citing ED 28, sheet 13A, line 48, family 200, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1882; FHL microfilm 1,821,882.
• "Virginia Births and Christenings, 1584-1917," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X5DN-B8K : 10 February 2018), Albert Sydney Priddy, 07 Dec 1865; citing Lunenburg, Virginia, reference p 101; FHL microfilm 32,422.
• "Virginia, Death Certificates, 1912-1987," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVRW-M2MK : 20 August 2018), Albert Sidney Priddy, 13 Jan 1925; from "Virginia, Marriage Records, 1700-1850," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2012); citing Brookville, Campbell, Virginia, United States, entry #, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond.