Ezra M. Prince House

418 E. Grove

The original owner and resident of the house at 418 East Grove Street was an important figure in the history of Bloomington. Ezra M. Prince was the first General Secretary of the McLean County Historical Society and was perhaps the most studious of all the Society's early officers in the research and preservation of the county's early history. Mr. Prince's ancestors lived in Maine in the late 18th century. John Prince, Ezra's great Grandfather served under Captain Blake in the War of 1812. John Prince's son, Job, was born in Maine in 1798. Job Prince had a reputation of possessing great physical courage, exemplified most dramatically in his single handed arrest of a well known desperado who had eluded the town constables of Turner, Maine.

Ezra M. Prince was born at Turner on May 27, 1831. After his basic education at the common schools of the area, he was a student of Washington Gilbert, a prominent lawyer of Bath, Maine. In the fall of 1854 he entered the law school of Harvard College. After a year at the college he was admitted to the bar and in April 1856 he moved permanently to Bloomington.

On May 29th 1856, Ezra M. Prince attended one of the first Republican Conventions in Bloomington and was witness to Lincoln's now famous "Lost Speech." This speech, one of the few Lincoln ever delivered without notes, was arguably one of the most important public addresses of his career. The content of the speech was reputed to be so far-reaching in its condemnation of the institution of slavery through Lincoln's seldom displayed passion and emotional intensity that all onlookers were literally held spellbound throughout its duration. Prince wrote in 1900:

"At the convention of 1856, enthused by the sympathy of the audience and feeling perhaps a prophetic insight into the future, Mr. Lincoln made one of his great speeches, great even for him in which he showed the sinfulness of slavery and the need of a new party to curb the aggressions of the slave power, and so preserve the Union from impending destruction. His audience spell-bound by his eloquence and earnestness listened only to applaud. The reporters, affected the same as the other hearers, made no notes of the speech. This has been called the "Lost Speech" of Mr. Lincoln. Since then portions of this speech have lingered in men's minds like some half forgotten music which one thinks he can recall, but regretfully finds it an elusive dream..."

Ezra M. Prince held the office of Master of Chancery of McLean County for four years and served for two years as a member of the Bloomington Board of Education. He was an officer of the Bloomington Library Association, a co-founder of the Law Library of Bloomington and he taught for several years in the Wesleyan Law School. He died Auguest 27, 1908 in Bloomington.

The largest and by far most important contribution by Ezra M. Prince was his extensive work done as co-founder and secretary of the McLean County Historical Society. His methods of preservation and dedication to the task of preserving information about people, events and customs of the early settlers helped to lay the foundation of the Historical Society as it exists today.

- Gary Justis

Mowrer Brothers

The small house at 418 East Grove Street, c, 1855, is one of the oldest remaining continuous- use structures in Dimmitt's Grove. This house was once home for a pair of brothers who would become two of the most important foreign news correspondents of the early 20th century. Paul Scott Mowrer, b. July 14th, 1887 and Edgar Ansel Mowrer, b. March 7th 1892 grew up in Dimmitt's Grove experiencing an active boyhood, full of richness and adventure, despite their family's modest means. Parts of the house and neighborhood are eloquently described in Paul Scott Mowrer's book, House of Europe, pub. 1945:  "Downstairs our house had a parlor, a sitting room, two bedrooms, a dining room, and a kitchen; upstairs, with slanted ceilings, were grandma's room, the hired girl's room, and the attic. Father and Mother used one downstairs bedroom; my brother and I slept upstairs with Grandma Mowrer. She and I both retired at the same early hour. After I was in bed, before she undressed, she would sit by the lamp and read me a chapter from the Bible, usually some forthright Old Testament story like that of David and Goliath, or Noah and the flood." Young Paul Scott had a somewhat conflicted interest in the neighbor girl, Hazel Funk: "The Funks, unfortunately, were rich. They lived in a big brick house on the corner of the next block. They had a coachman and governess, and according to mother's ideas, I had to be washed and dressed up before I could go to play with Hazel; otherwise I might have liked her more. As it was, we played fairy tales, which we both liked to read--just us two. Side by side in the swing under the oak, we took long journeys together, and I rescued her, all over the place, from sundry robbers and witches, as a princess should be rescued; but that governess was never very far off."

During the period of the Mowrer brother's childhood, Grove Street was a major residential thoroughfare. All the important parades, circus, G.A.R., political campaigns and torchlight processions passed by the Mowrer house. Paul recalls a visit to his house by Gordon Lily, better known as Pawnee Bill, the most famous Wild West Show owner and promoter of the day.

As adults, the Mowrer brothers became noted journalists; each assigned at various times during both World Wars to the Chicago Daily News' foreign offices. Both distinguished themselves as reporters, authors, lecturers, editors and respected leaders in their fields. Paul organized and directed the Daily News service in France from 1914-18. He was awarded the French Legion of Honor in April of 1918.  In 1929 he was awarded the First Pulitzer Prize for war correspondence. Paul Mowrer married Hadley Richardson, Hemingway, former wife of Ernest Hemingway in 1933. Along with his autobiography, he published 10 volumes of poetry. Eventually becoming a resident of the state of New Hampshire, Mr. Mowrer was named poet laureate of that state in 1968. He died in April 1971.

Edgar Ansel Mowrer joined the staff of the Chicago Daily News in 1913 at the outbreak of the First World War. He was assigned to the French and Belgium fronts, then to the Italian front where he saw the fighting that paved the way for Hitler's rise to power. His observations on Hitler's activities and its resulting correspondence and analysis won him the Pulitzer Prize for foreign correspondence in 1933. Edgar Mowrer was one of many foreign journalists asked to leave Germany during Hitler's increasing harassment of the free press. He continued to cover the Second World War with an important report on the fall of France, filed after his move to Lisbon in 1940-41. Edgar Ansel Mowrer died in March 1977.

Photo of Paul Scott Mowrer reproduced

Courtesy of the Newberry Library, Chicago