Walter Franklin Prince
| Walter Franklin Prince | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 22 April 1863 |
| Died | 7 August 1934 (aged 71) |
| Occupation | Episcopal minister, Parapsychologist |
Walter Franklin Prince (22 April 1863 – 7 August 1934) was an American parapsychologist and founder of the Boston Society for Psychical Research in Boston.
Born in Detroit, Maine Prince graduated from Maine Wesleyan Seminary in 1881 to become an Episcopal minister. He earned a BD in 1886 from Drew Theological Seminary and a PhD from Yale University in 1899. His doctoral thesis was on multiple personality. In 1910 he was the rector of All Saint's Church in Pittsburgh and in 1916 the director of psychotherapeutics at St. Marks's Episcopal Church in New York City.
In 1885, Prince married Lelia Madora Colman, they had no children but adopted a daughter. Lelia died in 1924. Prince authored several works on the study of human psychic abilities, among them The Psychic in the House (Boston 1926), The Case of Patience Worth (Boston 1927), The Enchanted Boundary (Boston 1930). He was fiercely critical of the claims of the physical medium Margery Mina Crandon.
In 1908, Prince joined the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR). In 1917 he left the clergy and became an assistant for his friend James H. Hyslop. When Hyslop died in 1920, he became the research officer and editor for the ASPR Journal and Proceedings.
Prince was a friend to Harry Houdini and Hereward Carrington and they all had exposed the tricks of fraudulent mediums, however, unlike Houdini both Carrington and Prince believed that some mediums were genuine. Houdini and Prince wrote many letters to each other.
...
Wikipedia