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 from 1854 to 1857. He also worked to establish the American government in California 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 for one term from 1851 to 1853. Early life and career Rodman McCamley Price was born in Frankford Township, New Jersey on May 5, 1816. His grandfather and great-uncle were quartermasters for the Continental Army and later merchants of He attended the public schools of New York City and the Lawrenceville Academy. Price pursued classical studies at The College of New Jersey (today Princeton University) but did not graduate due to illness. He read law 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 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 U.S.S. Fulton and U.S.S. Missouri. In July 1843, Price was aboard the Missouri on its voyage as one of the first steam warships to cross the Atlantic Ocean. While off the coast of Gibraltar, 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. He met with the famous American author Washington Irving, serving as the United States Minister to Spain, and aided Irving's research on a biography of Christopher Columbus. 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 by ferrying a detachment of United States Marines who seized Monterey, California. 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