Leon Cushing Prince (1875-1937)

Leon Prince was born on May 15, 1875 to Morris Watson and Katherine Farnham Buck Prince in Concord, New Hampshire. He attended Bordentown Military Academy and then enrolled in New York University in 1894. During his time at military school, Prince was struck with muscular dystrophy which would confine him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. In 1896 his father became a professor at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Prince transferred to the school shortly after in 1897. While at Dickinson, he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa honorary society and an officer in Belles Lettres Literary Society.

He graduated in 1898 and enrolled in the Dickinson School of Law. He graduated with a L.L.B. in 1900 and joined the Cumberland County Bar Association the same year. Also in 1900, Prince became an ordained clergyman of the New York Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and began a career as a librarian and instructor at Dickinson. Three years later he was promoted to the position of adjunct professor of history and economics. He held this position until 1910, when his father retired and Prince became a full professor of history and economics.

In addition to his teaching career, he was a well known orator and politician. From 1928 to 1936, he served two terms in the Pennsylvania State Senate. Here he was given the honor of presenting an annual speech commemorating Lincoln's birthday, for whom his father had voted in 1864. He also presented numerous speeches and sermons throughout Pennsylvania and the surrounding states. Prince received an award from the American Legion recognizing his efforts to secure hospitalization for disabled veterans and Albright College awarded him an honorary doctorate of literature in 1917. He also wrote seven books during his lifetime: Bird's Eye View of American History (1907), Sense and Nonsense of Christian Science (1911), World Federation - A Myth or Menace (1912), American Holy War (1918), The American Soldier (1919), The Man Who Dares (1920), and The Pharaoh's Question (1927).

In 1910, he had married Julie Delaven, who had been a student at the College for a year. Leon Cushing Prince died suddenly of a blood clot in his heart on January 31, 1937. His funeral was held four days later at the Allison Methodist Church. The College closed for the day and six students served as pallbearers. Pennsylvania governor John J. Earle attended the funeral and Dickinson College President Fred Corson presented the eulogy.