Professor John Stanton of Bates College on a bird walk

Jonathan Stanton (1834–1918) was an ornithologist and longtime professor of Greek and Latin at

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

, a librarian and a supporter of the debate program.

Career

A native of

Lebanon, Maine Lebanon is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 6,469 at the 2020 census. Lebanon includes the villages of Center Lebanon, West Lebanon, North Lebanon, South Lebanon and East Lebanon. It is the westernmost town in Ma ...

, USA, and an 1856 graduate of Bowdoin College, Stanton studied law from 1856 to 1857 and became a teacher at the

New Hampton School New Hampton School is an independent college preparatory high school in New Hampton, New Hampshire, United States. It has 305 students from over 30 states and 22 countries. The average class size is eleven, and the student-faculty ratio is five ...

in New Hampshire from 1857 to 1858. He studied at

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

from 1858 to 1861. He was the principal of the

Pinkerton Academy Pinkerton Academy is a secondary school in Derry, New Hampshire, United States. It serves roughly 3,269 students, making it by far the largest high school in New Hampshire, more than 1,300 students greater than the Nashua High School South, next ...

in Derry, New Hampshire, from 1861 to 1863. He then went to Bates College where his brother, Levi, had been teaching. Stanton taught at Bates from 1863 until his death in 1918. He taught Greek and Latin, led debates and taught a popular class in ornithology. Stanton maintained a correspondence with

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

and some of Darwin's letters have survived. The local Stanton Bird Club is still active and owns the Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary. The "Stanton Ride", where Stanton paid to have horses and carriages take the freshman class on a picnic where he would tell them the history of the college, continued as a tradition for over 100 years. Referred to by students as "Uncle Johnny" and by college president George C. Chase as "the spirit of Bates", Stanton refused to leave Bates for any other colleges and remains one of the school's most influential professors to this day. Stanton was influential in creating a strong debate tradition at Bates with the creation of debate prizes and supporting the literary and debate societies, such as the Polymnian and Eurosophian Societies in the early years of the school. Stanton's large collection of bird specimens was mainly sent from Bates to the

Maine State Museum The Maine State Museum is the official Maine government's museum and is located at 230 State Street, adjacent to the Maine State House, in Augusta. Its collections focus on the state's pre-history, history, and natural science. Permanent exhib ...

in 1980, but several specimens remain on campus.

References

External links

Brief biographyStanton Bird Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanton 1834 births 1918 deaths Bowdoin College alumni Bates College faculty