Ezra Prince

Oil painting on canvas: portrait of Ezra Prince with long reddish brown beard, seated on red chair wearing a black suit. Mr. Prince is looking left. The painting is mounted in a gold frame and is signed by C. C. Burleigh, Jr.

Ezra Morton Prince, born in Maine, became a lawyer in Bloomington, IL. He was friends with Abraham Lincoln and attended the 1856 Anti-Nebraska State Convention of Illinois. This is the convention where Lincoln gave his now famous “Lost Speech,” speaking out against the expansion of slavery. Prince was a prominent lawyer and an active member of the community, founding Bloomington’s first public library and the McLean County Historical Society. He also taught at the Law School at Illinois Wesleyan University.