Robert Reed Price was born in Tennessee on December 20, 1859 (or December 27, 1859). Price moved to North Wilkesboro (Wilkes County), North Carolina, with his family sometime before 1910, where he worked as a salesman at a grocery store. He moved back to Hawkins County, Tennessee by 1920, where he died on February 19, 1937 (or February 20, 1936).