Navasota had a Cover Girl!

Another Texas woman who has not only been forgotten to history but robbed of her origins is Adelaide Prince. From Millican, Texas, she became one of the leading ladies of the stage, touring all over the United States and England. But her legacy has had no resting place, and that is much her own fault.

Born to a family of Jewish immigrants around 1868, the home folk in Navasota knew her as Lena Rubinstien. According to Maureen Chinski, fellow Jewess and the author of The Navasota Bluebonnet, (published in 1954) young Lena moved to the Navasota area when young and attended private schools there, where she grew into a “great beauty” and showed dramatic skill early. By age nineteen she was married to Harry Prince, a Galveston showman who gave her a stage name and a start in show business.

But soon little “Len” from Millican had left him and her children for fame and fortune in the east, where she fell under the spell of Creston Clarke of the famed Booth acting dynasty, whom she married and starred with in many productions. Later Rubinstien/Prince became one of the first actresses to attempt the difficult transition from the stage to the Silent Screen. She is credited with at least three early films.

Perhaps embarrassed by her lack of motherly responsibility, she shed old associations in Texas and assumed a new life with her new career, and as this handbill reveals, she claimed to her fans that she was born in England. This could be true, but if it is, she must have come over to America as an infant. She actually came back to Navasota in 1890, where she and her company put on a one-night show; The Last of His Kind. It is presumed she had come to Navasota to see her children, who were still young and might well have been farmed out to their grandparents. [An anonymous blog commenter has offered that both of her children lived long lives, and son Harry became a successful writer in California, actually writing at least one screenplay.]

Her true hometown of Millican, Texas was never exposed, and she died in exile. By then her relations back home had probably given up on her, and there was no blood-kin to mourn her passing. Had not Maureen Chinski casually mentioned her in a paragraph in her book, which she never lived to see published, we would have never known about this amazing story… begging to be told.

Since discovering Lena in the Chinski account, I have found several wonderful relics of her career, floating around the Internet, such as tobacco cards, magazine covers, and the advertisement at the top, which quite clearly illustrates her flamboyant tendencies. Adelaide Prince was never a big star, but certainly a worthy member of the incredible "Residents of Navasota and the Surrounding Area Hall of Fame":

Chuck Norris- Karate master, philanthropist, and Hollywood actor

Joe Tex, AKA Josef Hazziez- Songwriter and popular soul performer

Mance Lipscomb- Texas Songster, mentor to rock stars

Alvin Ailey- Iconoclast of American modern dance

Milt Larkin- Blues and jazz band leader

Alger "Texas" Alexander- Early Texas blues singer

Frank Hamer- Navasota City Marshal and famous Texas Ranger

Adelaide Prince- American cover girl, stage and Silent Screen actress

Virgil "Ned" Garvin- One of the 100 best Major League baseball pitchers

Little Lena from Millican, Texas

New York, east coast and London theatre goers knew her as “Adelaide Prince,” the statuesque actress and wife of leading man Creston Clarke, a member of the legendary Booth family, the first acting dynasty in the United States. She was a world travelled entertainer, claiming to have been born in England, trained in the finest drama schools, and married into one of the most famous and controversial names in American history. Not only had the Booth family dominated the theatre for decades, but one of them had killed President Lincoln. But Adelaide was born after all of that, and found in Creston Clarke the keys to fame, fortune, and legitimacy as she travelled with him and his company, always guaranteed the leading female role in his plays. Later in the 1920’s she acted in the first motion pictures, becoming a “silent film” star. And no one knew…

In fact she was known in these parts as Lena Rubinstein, daughter of Solomon Rubinstein. Millican born, she was enjoyed in Navasota as an aspiring entertainer, who dazzled the town in local Drama Club events, only to leave as soon as she could, around 1887. Only 19, “Len” left her modest upbringing and private education, where her chosen lifestyle was unimaginable, if not downright improper, to marry Harry Prince, a wealthy Galvestonian, and become an Island City phenomenon. After bearing him two children, she gave up on her prospects in Texas and went on to the northeast, where she was given acting roles immediately. Her debut was in Portland, Maine, but by 1891 she was in London, acting in Irving’s “As You Like It,” and an understudy to Ada Rehan. Navasota historian Maurine Chinski postulated that Harry Prince waited patiently for her return to Galveston, hard work and her children, which was never to be.

She lived the rest of her life under her assumed name and identity, even after marrying Clarke around 1910, long after they had toured the east coast with impressive shows. She and Clarke did a one night stand in Navasota in the 1890’s, no doubt during a trip to visit her children. It was entitled “The Last of His Race,” and was held over for a matinee the next day. One wonders if her children ever saw her perform, or if they and their father were lost with 5000 others during the 1900 Storm, which nearly wiped Galveston off of the map. Yet Lena, aka “Adelaide,” became an important player on the stage and screen, dying in Pennsylvania of natural causes in 1941. A rolling stone gathers no moss.