WILL J. PRINCE, M.D., a leading physician and surgeon of Piqua and one of the city's most active and public spirited citizens, was born in 1861, at New Bremen, Auglaize County, Ohio, and is a son of the late Dr. William Prince.

In 1864 Dr. William Prince moved with his family, to Piqua, and he continued from then until his death in 1877, in the active practice of his profession. He was a graduate of the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati.

Dr. W. J. Prince attended the Piqua schools and Chickering Institute, and after completing special courses at Wittenberg College, entered the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, in 1883, and was graduated there with his degree in 1887.

He came back to Piqua and here has found a satisfactory field of work, and congenial surroundings for his life outside his profession. In addition to a large general practice, he is retained by a number of the local manufacturing plants as surgeon. He is a member of the Miami County and the Ohio State Medical Societies, the American Medical Association, the National Medical Association and the Eclectic State Medical Society. From early manhood he has taken an interest in public affairs and in the welfare of the city and has given much professional service to aid in establishing its sanitary condition and for four years was most useful in the position of health officer. For nineteen years be has been a member of the School Board, has been president of the Board of Public Safety and served one term as president of the Ohio Board of Education. Dr. Prince was the first to encourage athletics in the public schools in Piqua, and their cultivation in the schools has spread throughout the state and given rise to an organized body known as the Ohio State School Athletic Association, divided into four districts. During one administration of the late ex-President Cleveland, he was pension examiner.

In 1887, Dr. Prince was married to Miss Jeanette Snyder, of Washington City, D. C., and they have one son, Will J. Jr., who is a member of the graduating class of 1909 at the Piqua High School.

Dr. Prince is a Royal Arch Mason, has filled the office of exalted ruler in the Elks, and has several times been sent as a representative to the Grand Council of the Red Men, and is also examining physician for several beneficiary orders. His life has been one of more than ordinary activity and usefulness.