Frederick Octavius Prince (January 18, 1818 – June 6, 1899) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, politician, and mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Boston, Massachusetts.

He was the father of financier

Financier

Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...

 Frederick H. Prince

Frederick H. Prince

Frederick Henry Prince was an American stockbroker, investment banker and financier.He was born in Winchester, Massachusetts, the son of Frederick O. Prince, former Mayor of the city of Boston and Helen Henry Prince. He studied at Harvard University, but left in his sophomore year to get an early...

.

Biography

Frederick Prince was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 18, 1818, the son of Thomas J. and Caroline Prince.
He was educated at Boston Latin School

Boston Latin School

The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23, 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts. It is both the first public school and oldest existing school in the United States....

 and graduated from Harvard College

Harvard College

Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...

 in 1836. He studied law at the office of Dexter & Gardiner and was admitted to the bar in 1840.
He engaged in politics as a member of the Whig Party

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

.

In 1848, Prince married Helen Henry and took residence in Winchester, Massachusetts

Winchester, Massachusetts

Winchester is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, eight miles north of Boston. With its agricultural roots having mostly disappeared, it is now an affluent suburb...

. They had five sons and one daughter.

Prince was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Massachusetts House of Representatives

The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...

 in 1851 and served for three years.
He was a prominent participant in the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853

Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853

The Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853 met in order to consider changes to the Massachusetts Constitution. This was the third such convention in Massachusetts history; the first, in 1779–80, had drawn up the original document, while the second, in 1820-21, submitted the first nine...

.
In 1854, he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate

Massachusetts Senate

The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state...

.

Prince joined the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 after the Whig Party dissolved in 1860.
He was a delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention

Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

 and was elected secretary of the convention. He served as secretary until 1888.

In 1876, Prince was elected Mayor of Boston, serving in 1877.
He was defeated for re-election that year, but returned to office in 1879, serving until 1881.

During his tenure as mayor, Prince oversaw improvements to the city's sewer system and the development of the city's park system. At the end of Mayor Prince's incumbency, the most important projects before the city were the erection of the new Court House, the Public Library building, and the establishment of public parks in different parts of the city. In 1880, the city government celebrated the 250th anniversary of the settlement of Boston. On this occasion the statue of John Winthrop

John Winthrop

John Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of...

 was unveiled on Scollay Square

Scollay Square

Scollay Square was a vibrant city square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was named for William Scollay, a prominent local developer and militia officer who bought a landmark four-story merchant building at the intersection of Cambridge and Court Streets in 1795...

.

After serving as mayor, Prince became a trustee of the Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was the first publicly supported municipal library in the United States, the first large library open to the public in the United States, and the first public library to allow people to...

 and served as president of its board of trustees for 11 years.
During his trusteeship, he advocated and oversaw the construction of the library's McKim Building in Copley Square

Copley Square

Copley Square is a public square located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, named for the donor of the land on which it was developed. The square is named for John Singleton Copley, a famous portrait painter of the late 18th century and native of Boston. A bronze statue of...

.

Prince was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts

Governor of Massachusetts

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...

in 1885 and 1896, losing both times.

Frederick Prince died in Boston on June 6, 1899.

A bust of Frederick Prince now stands in the Cushman Room of the Boston Public Library.