Witmer Stone (September 22, 1866 – May 24, 1939) was an American
ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
,
botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
, and
mammalogist In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous system
In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part o ...
, and was considered one of the last of the “great naturalists.”
Stone is remembered principally as an
ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
. He was president of the
American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) 1920–23, and was editor of the AOU's periodical ''
The Auk
''Ornithology'', formerly ''The Auk'' and ''The Auk: Ornithological Advances'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It was established in 1884 and is published quarterly. ...
'' 1912–1936. He spearheaded the production of the 4th edition of the AOU checklist, published in 1931. He worked for over 50 years in the Ornithology Department at the
Academy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...
of Philadelphia, eventually serving as Director of the institution. Stone was one of the founding members of the
Delaware Valley Ornithological Club
The Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC) is the one of the oldest ornithology organizations in the United States. Founded in 1890, the club has held regular meetings at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for over 125 years, and ...
(DVOC) in 1890 and was actively involved in the organization for the remainder of his life. Stone was one of only two scientists (
Joseph Grinnell
Joseph Grinnell (February 27, 1877 – May 29, 1939) was an American field biologist and zoologist. He made extensive studies of the fauna of California, and is credited with introducing a method of recording precise field observations known as ...
was the other) to serve as president of both the AOU and the
American Society of Mammalogists
The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals, and professions studying them. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists ...
, and he co-authored two popular books about mammals. His outstanding botanical contribution wa
''The Plants of Southern New Jersey'' published in 1911. Stone spent many summers at
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May is a city located at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations, and part of th ...
, summering there annually starting in 1916. He is best remembered for his two-volume classic ''Bird Studies at Old Cape May'', which was published by the DVOC in 1937, two years before his death.
Early life
Witmer Stone was born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, on September 22, 1866, to Anne Eveline (née Witmer) and Frederick Dawson Stone. According to longtime friend, Cornelius Weygandt, Witmer Stone was “of the Chester County Quaker-Pennsylvania Dutch cross that has given us so many of our botanists and ornithologists, paleontologists and chemists.” Stone showed an early interest in all things natural, and was an inveterate collector. Stone was a boyhood friend and schoolmate of two of the Brown brothers: Amos Brown later became a geology professor at
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, and Stewardson Brown became the Curator of the Department of Botany at the
Academy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...
of Philadelphia. Stone and his brother, Frederick, and three of the Brown brothers formed the “Wilson Natural Science Association”, named in honor of the pioneering American ornithologist
Alexander Wilson. Stone also spent time exploring the woods and fields around his grandmother's
Chester County, Pennsylvania
Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the De ...
home. Stone married Lillie May Lafferty on August 1, 1904; they had no children.
Stone graduated from
Germantown Academy
Germantown Academy, informally known as GA and originally known as the Union School, is the oldest nonsectarian day school in the United States. The school was founded on December 6, 1759, by a group of prominent Germantown citizens in the Gree ...
in 1883.
He obtained an A.B. degree from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
(UP), then in March 1888 was appointed a Jessup Fund Student at the
Academy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...
of Philadelphia, when Dr.
Joseph Leidy
Joseph Mellick Leidy (September 9, 1823 – April 30, 1891) was an American paleontologist, parasitologist and anatomist.
Leidy was professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, later was a professor of natural history at Swarthmore ...
was the academy's president. The academy established an ornithology department in 1891, the same year that Stone completed an A.M. degree at UP. (UP later conferred an honorary ScD. on Stone in 1913, and presented him with the Alumni Award of Merit in 1937.)
Stone participated in Academy-sponsored collecting expeditions to
Bermuda
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in 1888 and to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
in 1890.
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
Stone visited the
Academy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...
many times while growing up, and later worked there for 51 years.
Stone inherited an ornithological specimens collection that had not been cared for properly, and spearheaded heroic efforts to salvage this and collections from other fields. Some specimens were historically valuable, including types described by pioneering ornithologists and mammalogists. The size of the academy's bird collection increased fivefold during Stone's tenure, from 26,000 specimens to 143,000.
From 1893 to 1908 Stone was Assistant Curator at the academy; Curator 1908–1918 and Executive Curator 1918–1925; Director 1925–1928; Curator of Vertebrates, 1918–1936; and lastly, three titles (with year of appointment) that Stone held at the time of his death: Vice President (1927), Emeritus Director (1928), and Honorary Curator of Birds (1938).
As a botanist
Stone was an original member of the Philadelphia Botanical Club.
He had a knowledge of systematics of the local flora “surpassed only by that of Simon-pure botanists,”
and, according to a later eminent botanist, Frans Stafleu, Stone's concentration on ornithology was a “definite loss” for botany. Stone produced 20 botanical writings during his lifetime.
After a joint meeting of the Philadelphia and
Torrey Botanical Club
Torrey Botanical Society (formerly Torrey Botanical Club) was started in the 1860s by colleagues of John Torrey. It is the oldest botanical society in the Americas. The Society promotes the exploration and study of plant life, with particular ...
s to
Toms River, New Jersey, in early July 1900, Stone resolved to write a flora of the
New Jersey Pine Barrens
The New Jersey Pine Barrens, also known as the Pinelands or simply the Pines, is the largest remaining example of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecosystem, stretching across more than seven counties of New Jersey. Two other large, contiguou ...
. Over the next decade Stone made hundreds of collecting trips to southern New Jersey. His research culminated in his botanical pièce-de-résistance, ''The Plants of Southern New Jersey'', published in 1911, which “is the only comprehensive floristic treatment for southern New Jersey and it continues to be used today
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Fiction
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*''002 Operazione Luna'',
*1965 Italian film
*Zero Two, a ''Darling in the Franxx'' character
Airports
*0O2, Baker Airport
*O02, Nervino Airport
Astronomy
*1996 ...
”
The
Academy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...
preserves many botanical specimens that Witmer Stone collected circa 1910, including many from New Jersey. The Mid-Atlantic Herbarium Consortium was leading a project to digitize herbarium records from the
Mid-Atlantic region through volunteer crowd-sourcing as of 2020.
As an ornithologist
Stone's first manuscript to appear in a “serious” publication was “The Turkey Buzzard Breeding in Pennsylvania” in ''
American Naturalist
''The American Naturalist'' is the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society of Naturalists, whose purpose is "to advance and to diffuse knowledge of organic evolution and other broad biological principles so as to enhance th ...
'' in 1885.
His first note in ''
The Auk
''Ornithology'', formerly ''The Auk'' and ''The Auk: Ornithological Advances'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It was established in 1884 and is published quarterly. ...
'' wa
“A migration of hawks at Germantown, Pennsylvania”in 1887. Stone was a founding member of the
Delaware Valley Ornithological Club
The Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC) is the one of the oldest ornithology organizations in the United States. Founded in 1890, the club has held regular meetings at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for over 125 years, and ...
(DVOC) in 1890, and authored the DVOC'
''The Birds of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey'' which was published in 1894 and put both him and the club on the ornithological map.
He wrot
''The Birds of New Jersey, Their Nests and Eggs'' published in 1909.
His ornithological publications run into the hundreds;
a search on the Searchable Ornithological Research Archive website turns up approximately 125 articles and notes in ''
The Auk
''Ornithology'', formerly ''The Auk'' and ''The Auk: Ornithological Advances'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It was established in 1884 and is published quarterly. ...
'' alone.
Witmer Stone had a long association with the
American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU). He was elected an Associate in 1885; a Fellow in 1892; and a member of the council in 1898. He served as chairman of the AOU Committee on Bird Protection 1896–1901; as a member (from 1901) and later as Chairman (1915–1931) of the AOU Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of North American Birds; and as editor of ''
The Auk
''Ornithology'', formerly ''The Auk'' and ''The Auk: Ornithological Advances'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It was established in 1884 and is published quarterly. ...
'' 1912–1936 (after editing the DVOC's
Cassinia
''Cassinia'' is a genus of about fifty-two species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae that are native to Australia and New Zealand. Plants in the genus ''Cassinia'' are shrubs, sometimes small trees with leaves arranged alternately, a ...
for ten years). Stone was vice-president of the AOU 1914–1920, and President 1920–1923. He chaired the committee which produced the 4th edition of the AOU checklist, published in 1931.
Stone was an honorary member of many foreign ornithological societies, the Nuttall Ornithological Club, the Cooper Ornithological Club, and the Zoological Society of Philadelphia (Stone was also Director of the latter). He was awarded the Otto Hermann Medal of the Hungarian Ornithological Society in 1931 and was a member of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the Advisory Committee of the
National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...
, and the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. He was also President of the Pennsylvania Audubon Society.
''Bird Studies at Old Cape May''
For all of his work as one of the preeminent ornithologists of his day, Stone's most enduring popular legacy is undoubtedly his charming ''Bird Studies at Old Cape May'' (''BSOCM''), originally published by the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC) in 1937. This was an ornithological history of the New Jersey coast, with an emphasis on
Cape May County
Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are fiv ...
, particularly the coastal areas. The bulk of the work consists of species accounts of all the birds that had been found in
Cape May County
Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are fiv ...
at the time of the writing, with their historical occurrence in the state and notes on seasonality, habits, behavior, etc. gleaned from Stone's own notes and the records of fellow DVOC members. Stone dedicated ''Bird Studies at Old Cape May'' to his wife. Stone first visited
Cape May
Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay fro ...
in August 1890, and spent most of July–August 1891 there. He made frequent trips there over the years, and became an annual summer resident starting in 1916 and continuing until at least 1937. The largest photograph of Stone hangs in the
Cape May Bird Observatory’s Center for Research and Education in Goshen, NJ.
Stone was posthumously awarded the
Brewster Medal The William Brewster Memorial Award, usually referred to as the Brewster Medal, is awarded by the American Ornithologists' Union and is named for ornithologist William Brewster. It is given to an author, or coauthors who are not previous recipien ...
by the
American Ornithologists’ Union in 1939 for ''BSOCM''. The DVOC published 1,400 two-volume sets of ''BSOCM'' (see the DVOC website for information about the original DVOC editions
Bird Studies at Old Cape May
at www.dvoc.org). Dover Publications
Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are out of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books ...
(1965) and Stackpole Books
Stackpole Books is a trade publishing company in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. It was founded by E. J. Stackpole Jr. in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1930 and was moved to its current headquarters in 1993. Stackpole publishes nonfiction books in the ...
(2000) have both published editions of ''BSOCM''; however, both editions are now out of print.
References
Further reading
History of the DVOC
*McConnell, Scott. ''Witmer Stone: The Fascination of Nature''. Self-published, 2014.
*
*Stone, Witmer. ''Bird Studies at Old Cape May''. Stackpole Books. 2000.
*Sutton, Clay and Pat. ''Birds and Birding at Cape May''. Stackpole Books. 2006.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Witmer
American ornithologists
1866 births
1939 deaths
People from Cape May, New Jersey
Scientists from Philadelphia
University of Pennsylvania alumni
Germantown Academy alumni
Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)
Members of the American Philosophical Society