William R. Prince circular

William Robert Prince (November 6, 1795 - March 28, 1869), horticulturist, was born in Flushing, NY, to William Prince, Jr. and Mary Stratton and educated at Jamaica Academy and in Boucherville, Canada. He followed after his father and grandfather, becoming associated with the Linnean Botanic Garden & Nurseries at Flushing. He collaborated with his father to write A treatise on the vine (1830) and The pomological manual (1831). In about 1835, he and his brother took over from their father the management of the nursery. In 1837, Prince's interest in silk culture led him to invest heavily in the venture, importing mulberry species and building a cocoonary for accommodating the silkworms. Consequently, he lost both his fortune and the mortgaged nursery. In 1846, he published Prince's Manual of Roses, an enlargement with additional directions and comments of The Rose Amateur's Guide by the Englishman, Thomas Rivers, who had published his work in 1837. He went to California in 1849 to seek gold, and engaged in the horticulture and mercantile business in Sacramento. In 1851 he left the business in the hands of Thomas H. Jackson, traveled through Mexico, and returned to Flushing, and endeavored to retrieve the horticultural fame of the Linnaean Botanic Garden and Nurseries, of which he had gained control once more. At some time in the late 1850s, he resigned the business into the hands of his sons, who continued it under the name of Prince and Company Nurseries until the outbreak of the Civil War when the head of the new firm entered the Union Army. After the war, since he chose to accept a commission in the regular army, the nurseries were offered for sale and passed out of the family's hands.