Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Prince, William

PRINCE, William, horticulturist, b. in Flushing, L. I., 10 Nov., 1766; d. there, 9 April, 1842. In 1793 he bought eighty acres of land and extended the nurseries of his father in Flushing. He brought many varieties of fruits into the United States, sent many trees and plants from this country to Europe, and systematized the nomenclature of the best-known fruits, such as the Bartlett pear and the Isabella grape. The London horticultural society named for him the “William Prince” apple. He was a member of the horticultural societies of London and Paris, of the Imperial society of Georgofili of Florence, and of the principal American societies, and the meeting of horticulturists in 1823, at which De Witt Clinton delivered an address, was held at his residence. He published “A Treatise on Horticulture,” the first comprehensive book that was written in the United States upon this subject (New York, 1828).—His son, William Robert, horticulturist, b. in Flushing, L. I., 6 Nov., 1795; d. there, 28 March, 1869, was educated at Jamaica academy, L. I., and at Boucherville, Canada. He imported the first merino sheep into this country in 1816, continued the “Linnæan nurseries” of his father, and was the first to introduce silk-culture and the morus multicaulis for silk-worms in 1837, but lost a large fortune by this enterprise, owing to the change in the tariff, which destroyed this industry for several years. In 1849 he went to California, was a founder of Sacramento, and in 1851 travelled through Mexico. He introduced the culture of osiers and sorghum in 1854-'5, and the Chinese yam in 1854. With his father, he wrote a “History of the Vine” (New York, 1830); and, in addition to numerous pamphlets on the mulberry, the strawberry dioscorea, medical botany, etc., he published a “Pomological Manual” (2 vols., 1832); “Manual of Roses” (1846); and about two hundred descriptive catalogues of trees, shrubs, vines, plants, bulbs, etc.—William Robert's son, Le Baron Bradford, author, b. in Flushing, L. I., 3 July, 1840, is descended through his maternal ancestors from William Bradford, of the “Mayflower.” He was educated in Flushing, and was graduated at Columbia law-school in 1866. In 1871-'5 he was a member of the assembly for Queens county, and in 1872 was chairman of the judiciary committee which investigated the corrupt judiciary of New York city. He was a member of the National Republican conventions of 1868 and 1876. In 1876-'7 he was a member of the state senate. From 1879 till 1882 he was chief justice of New Mexico, and in 1880-'2 he was president of the bureau of immigration of that territory. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal general conventions between 1877 and 1886, and since 1877 has been a trustee of the Long Island cathedral. Since 1880 he has been chancellor of the jurisdiction of New Mexico and Arizona. He is the author of “Agricultural History of Queens County” (New York, 1861); “E Pluribus Unum, or American Nationality” (1868); “A Nation, or a League” (Chicago, 1880); “General Laws of New Mexico” (Albany, 1881); “History of New Mexico” (New York, 1883); and “The American Church and its Name” (New York, 1887).