Biographies P
William Walker Prine
When “Old Kaskaskia” was the commercial and social center of the then far West, before the Revolution, a young Frenchman of family and property came to join its community. After the birth of his two daughters, his wife died, a blow from which he never recovered. In the grief stricken period following his death his orphan daughters returned to France for a visit.
In the meantime, during the stormy days of the Revolution, one of LaFayette's young officers had met and loved one of these girls. When LaFayette came back to visit the new born Republic for which he had done so much, he went to Kaskaskia, where there were so many French folk of high connection back home. There the young officer, still with him, pressed his suit anew. And when he learned later that the sisters were at the ancestral home in the Paris neighborhood, he hastened thither, and the two were married in Paris. To this union was born the beautiful Lilian de Hortonville, maternal grandmother of William Walker Prine. With his bride young de Hortonville returned to America, taking the name of Horton, and casting his fortunes in with the infant government.
William Walker Prine was born April 12, 1846, and died on an Illinois Central train, March 13, 1918, one month short of his 72nd year. At the age of 15 he enlisted in the Union Army, Co. G., 30th Illinois Volunteers, Dec. 1, 1861. At Vicksburg he re-enlisted as veteran volunteer, same company and regiment, serving till the end of the war, being honorably discharged July 17, 1865, at Louisville, KY. He immediately went to Chicago, took a business course and went into business with an uncle. In 1877, he joined the Illinois Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and filled appointments in that conference for several years. He became a member of the Louisville Conference in 1882 serving faithfully until his superannuation in 1911, his health and strength having failed under the burden of infirmities carried from the days of his military service. He was at one time severely wounded in battle and was for some time in the hospital but was so anxious to be back at the front that he was allowed to leave the hospital before he was entirely recovered. From this he suffered all the rest of his days.
Though Bro. Prine was reared in the state of Illinois and served four years in the Union Army, at the close of the war he felt such a strong sympathy for the Southern people that he cast his lot in with the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He was an ardent admirer of the people of the Southland and few men were more interested in the Methodist Episcopal Church South than he was.
Brother Prine filled the following appointments in our Conference: Cumberland Circuit, Temple Hill Circuit, Magnolia Circuit, Bradsfordsville, Buffalo, Mannsville, Sacramento, Cerulean Springs, Eddyville, Smithland, Grand Rivers, Franklin Circuit, Yelvington, South Carrollton, Hebbardsville, Beech Grove, Richardsville, Woodburn and Rochester.
In 1868 Bro. Prine married Miss Emerine E. Owen who died in 1875; in 1877 he was married to Miss Sarah E. Lawson who died in 1887; in 1888 to Mrs. George Brownfield Fisher, who died in 1914. To each of these unions three children were born, of whom five are living: Mrs. S.A. Beauchamp, Alva, OK; Mrs. Thomas B. Terhune, New Albany, IN; Mr. A.E. Prine, Paducah, KY; Mr. E.S. Prine, Wellsburg, WV and Mr. Gordon M. Prine, MO. A sister Mrs. Abigail Johnson of Poplar Bluff, MO also survives him.
Brother Prine was a gentleman of high ideals, ardent enthusiasm, sunny disposition, utterly fearless, and loyal to his friends, his convictions, his country, his Church, and his Lord.
He was a well informed man being a student and reader of good books. His preaching was not of the popular sort but was always thoughtful and free from controversy. He was never dogmatic and his preaching at times seemed to lack in certainty, but his faith was always robust and laid hold of things unseen. He filled many hard fields but was never heard to complain. He bore hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. He was always deeply interested in the members of the Conference. One of the last things he said to the writer was, “If I never get to Conference again tell the brethren I am one of them and am constantly thinking of them.”
His funeral services were conducted by Rev. Geo. E. Foskett and Rev. S.J. Thompson at the Hutchinson Presbyterian Church in New Albany, IN where his son-in-law, the Rev. Thomas B. Terhune, is pastor. His body was buried in Cave Hill, National Cemetery, Louisville, KY, March 16, 1918.
Source: Thompson, S.J. “William W. Prine.” Minutes of the Seventy-Third Session, Louisville Annual Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Louisville, KY: Pentecostal, 1918. Pages 61-62. hathitrust.org, 9 July 2018.
Contributed by Dorann O'Neal Lam
Updated July 9, 2018