Ezra Morton Prince (1831-1908)

Lincoln was a “tall, gaunt man, sallow complexion, coarse dark hair, an old battered stove pipe hat, set on the back of his head, coarse rough boots, innocent of blacking, baggy pants, much too short for his legs, and a rusty old bombazine coat that hung loosely about his frame.” - From "A Day with Abraham Lincoln" by Ezra Prince
Ezra Prince was Leonard Swett's cousin. Swett invited him to move to Bloomington in 1856.
  • Prince was a lawyer and teacher

Attended the Bloomington Republican Convention on May 29, 1956 where Lincoln delivered his Lost Speech.

One of the founders of the McLean County Historical Society

Wrote "A Day with Abraham Lincoln" to document his 1856 overnight journey from Bloomington to Tremont with Lincoln.

"A Day with Abraham Lincoln"

In October 1856, Lincoln came to Bloomington on his way to Tremont to make a speech campaigning for the Republican candidates, (John Frémont  and William Dayton) during the election of 1856. Bloomington was the closest railroad station to Tremont. When he arrived in Bloomington, Lincoln rented a carriage and asked his friend Prince to take him to Tremont. 

Prince recorded his recollections in a pamphlet called "A Day with Abraham Lincoln." It was probably written around the turn of the century, but the date is unspecified.
He [Lincoln] commenced by telling a little story. He said Judge Douglass' [sic] Squatter Sovereignty plan reminded him of the man who went into a restaurant and called a ginger cake which was handed to him, but spying the sign, "Sweet cider for Sale" he handed the cake back and said he would take a glass of cider in its place. He drank the cider but was about to leave the place when the keeper called to him to come back and pay for his cider. "Cider," said the customer, "why I gave you the cake for the cider." 
     "Well then," was the reply, "pay me for the cake." 
     "Pay you for the cake? I didn't have the cake."
     "Well," replied the keeper scratching his head, "that is so, but it seems to me I am cheated some way in this deal."
     "And so," said Mr. Lincoln, "somebody, the North or South, is bound to be cheated by Mr. Douglass' [sic] theory of Squatter sovereignty." 

- From Ezra Prince's "A Day with Abraham Lincoln"
Related Articles and Resources: