Manuel Price was born into slavery around 1842 in Albemarle County, Virginia. His owner, John Coles Carter, moved from Virginia to Missouri in 1852 and owned 126 slaves by 1860. Price married Nancy Scott at Thomas Cobb's house on Lack Firm sometime between December 25, 1863, and January 1, 1864. His wife had been born in Albemarle County around 1838, and she had been rented out by Archibald Bankhead to work as a nurse. Manuel and Nancy lived on Lick Farm in Lincoln County, Missouri, along with Price's brother and Nancy's sister, who were also married. Manuel and Nancy had no children together, although Nancy had had three children prior to her marriage. 

Price enlisted as a private in the Union army on February 28, 1864, in Louisiana, Missouri, for a period of three years. He mustered into Company D of the 68th USCT Infantry Regiment on March 10, 1864, at Benton Barracks in St. Louis. Price's enlistment records describe him as 5 feet, 11 inches tall, with black hair, black eyes, and a dark complexion. The regiment was formally organized as the 4th Missouri Colored Infantry, and the army attached it to the District of Memphis, Tennessee, as a part of the 16th Corps. Price, however, passed away at the post hospital in Benton Barracks on April 14, 1864, due to complications from pneumonia.

His widow Nancy began receiving an $8 monthly pension on April 15, 1864, but she lost it when she married William Douglass on March 3, 1866. She received another pension in 1888 after her second husband died. Around the same time, a woman named Lucy Rose, who claimed to be Manuel Price's daughter, unsuccessfully filed for a minor pension.

Documents:

Testimony of Nancy Douglas, former wife of Manuel Price