Witmer Stone
Encyclopedia
Witmer Stone was an American ornithologist, botanist, and mammalogist, and was considered one of the last of the “great naturalists.” Stone is remembered principally as an ornithologist. He was president of the American Ornithologists’ Union
(AOU) 1920–23, and was editor of the AOU’s periodical The Auk
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
of Philadelphia, eventually serving as Director of the institution. Stone was one of the founding members of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (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
was the other) to serve as president of both the AOU and the American Society of Mammalogists
, and he co-authored two popular books about mammals. His outstanding botanical contribution was The Plants of Southern New Jersey, published in 1911. Stone spent many summers at Cape May, New Jersey
, 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.
, 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
, and Stewardson Brown became the Curator of the Department of Botany at the Academy of Natural Sciences
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
home.
Stone graduated from Germantown Academy
in 1883. He obtained an A.B. degree from the University of Pennsylvania
(UP), then in March 1888 was appointed a Jessup Fund Student at the Academy of Natural Sciences
of Philadelphia, when Dr. Joseph Leidy
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
in 1888 and to Mexico
in 1890.
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).
After a joint meeting of the Philadelphia and Torrey Botanical Clubs to Toms River
, New Jersey, in early July 1900, Stone resolved to write a flora of the New Jersey Pine Barrens
. 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 [2002].”
Stone’s first manuscript to appear in a “serious” publication was “The Turkey Buzzard Breeding in Pennsylvania” in American Naturalist
in 1885. His first note in The Auk
was “Migration of hawks at Germantown, Pennsylvania” in 1887. Stone was a founding member of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC) in 1890, and authored the DVOC’s 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 wrote 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
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 (1905–1908) of the AOU Committee on Nomenclature and Classification; and as editor of The Auk
1912–1936 (after editing the DVOC's Cassinia
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.
, 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
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 first visited Cape May
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.
Stone was posthumously awarded the Brewster Medal
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). Dover Publications
(1965) and Stackpole Books
(2000) have both published editions of BSOCM; however, both editions are now out of print.
American Ornithologists' Union
The American Ornithologists' Union is an ornithological organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birders...
(AOU) 1920–23, and was editor of the AOU’s periodical The Auk
The Auk
The Auk is a quarterly journal and the official publication of the American Ornithologists' Union, having been continuously published by that body since 1884. The journal contains articles relating scientific studies of the anatomy, behavior, and distribution of birds. The journal is named for the...
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
Academy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World...
of Philadelphia, eventually serving as Director of the institution. Stone was one of the founding members of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (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
Joseph Grinnell was a 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 the Grinnell System...
was the other) to serve as president of both the AOU and the American Society of Mammalogists
American Society of Mammalogists
The American Society of Mammalogists was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals and professions studying mammals. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists who emphasize the importance of public policy and...
, and he co-authored two popular books about mammals. His outstanding botanical contribution was The Plants of Southern New Jersey, published in 1911. Stone spent many summers at Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States...
, 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, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, 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
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, and Stewardson Brown became the Curator of the Department of Botany at the Academy of Natural Sciences
Academy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World...
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
Alexander Wilson
Alexander Wilson was a Scottish-American poet, ornithologist, naturalist, and illustrator.Wilson was born in Paisley, Scotland, the son of an illiterate distiller. In 1779 he was apprenticed as a weaver. His main interest at this time was in writing poetry...
. Stone also spent time exploring the woods and fields around his grandmother’s Chester County, Pennsylvania
Chester County, Pennsylvania
-State parks:*French Creek State Park*Marsh Creek State Park*White Clay Creek Preserve-Demographics:As of the 2010 census, the county was 85.5% White, 6.1% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 3.9% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 1.8% were two or more races, and 2.4% were...
home.
Stone graduated from Germantown Academy
Germantown Academy
Germantown Academy is America's oldest nonsectarian day school, founded on December 6, 1759 . Germantown Academy is now a K-12 school in the Philadelphia suburb of Fort Washington, having moved from its original Germantown campus in 1965...
in 1883. He obtained an A.B. degree from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
(UP), then in March 1888 was appointed a Jessup Fund Student at the Academy of Natural Sciences
Academy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World...
of Philadelphia, when Dr. Joseph Leidy
Joseph Leidy
Joseph Leidy was an American paleontologist.Leidy was professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, and later was a professor of natural history at Swarthmore College. His book Extinct Fauna of Dakota and Nebraska contained many species not previously described and many previously...
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
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
in 1888 and to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in 1890.
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
Stone visited the Academy of Natural SciencesAcademy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World...
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 Clubs to Toms River
Toms River
The Toms River, formerly Tom's River, is a freshwater river and estuary in Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States.The Toms River rises in the Pine Barrens of northern Ocean County and flows southeast and east, fed by several branches, in a meandering course through wetland area and empties...
, New Jersey, in early July 1900, Stone resolved to write a flora of the New Jersey Pine Barrens
Pine Barrens (New Jersey)
The Pine Barrens, also known as the Pinelands, is a heavily forested area of coastal plain stretching across southern New Jersey. The name "pine barrens" refers to the area's sandy, acidic, nutrient-poor soil, to which the crops originally imported by European settlers didn't take well...
. 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 [2002].”
As an ornithologist
Stone’s first manuscript to appear in a “serious” publication was “The Turkey Buzzard Breeding in Pennsylvania” in American Naturalist
American Naturalist
The American Naturalist is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1867. It is published by the University of Chicago Press on behalf of the American Society of Naturalists. The journal covers research in ecology, evolutionary biology, population, and integrative biology....
in 1885. His first note in The Auk
The Auk
The Auk is a quarterly journal and the official publication of the American Ornithologists' Union, having been continuously published by that body since 1884. The journal contains articles relating scientific studies of the anatomy, behavior, and distribution of birds. The journal is named for the...
was “Migration of hawks at Germantown, Pennsylvania” in 1887. Stone was a founding member of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC) in 1890, and authored the DVOC’s 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 wrote 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
The Auk
The Auk is a quarterly journal and the official publication of the American Ornithologists' Union, having been continuously published by that body since 1884. The journal contains articles relating scientific studies of the anatomy, behavior, and distribution of birds. The journal is named for the...
alone.
Witmer Stone had a long association with the American Ornithologists’ Union
American Ornithologists' Union
The American Ornithologists' Union is an ornithological organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birders...
(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 (1905–1908) of the AOU Committee on Nomenclature and Classification; and as editor of The Auk
The Auk
The Auk is a quarterly journal and the official publication of the American Ornithologists' Union, having been continuously published by that body since 1884. The journal contains articles relating scientific studies of the anatomy, behavior, and distribution of birds. The journal is named for the...
1912–1936 (after editing the DVOC's Cassinia
Cassinia (journal)
Cassinia is the journal of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club. Published periodically since 1901, the journal is composed of papers relating to the ornithology of eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Cassinia is named in honor of John Cassin....
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.
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 CountyCape May County, New Jersey
-Climate:Being the southernmost point in New Jersey, Cape May has fairly mild wintertime temperatures. Contrary to that, the summertime has lower temperatures than most places in the state, making the county a popular place to escape the heat. It is in zone 7a/7b, which is the same as parts of...
, 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, New Jersey
-Climate:Being the southernmost point in New Jersey, Cape May has fairly mild wintertime temperatures. Contrary to that, the summertime has lower temperatures than most places in the state, making the county a popular place to escape the heat. It is in zone 7a/7b, which is the same as parts of...
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 first visited Cape May
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States...
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.
Stone was posthumously awarded the Brewster Medal
Brewster Medal
Brewster Medal is an award from the American Ornithologists' Union. The award is named for William Brewster. From 1921 to 1937 it was given biennially but has been annual since then.- List of winners :* 1919 : Robert Ridgway...
by the American Ornithologists’ Union
American Ornithologists' Union
The American Ornithologists' Union is an ornithological organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birders...
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). Dover Publications
Dover Publications
Dover Publications is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward Cirker and his wife, Blanche. It publishes primarily reissues, books no longer published by their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books in the public domain. The original published editions may be...
(1965) and Stackpole Books
Stackpole Books
Stackpole Books is an independent 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 areas of crafts, outdoors, regional...
(2000) have both published editions of BSOCM; however, both editions are now out of print.
Trivia
- Stone was an honorary member of many foreign ornithological societies, the Linnaean Society, the Nuttall Ornithological Club, the Cooper Ornithological Club, and the Zoological Society of Philadelphia (Stone was also Director of the latter); was awarded the Otto Hermann Medal of the Hungarian Ornithological Society in 1931; was a member of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the Advisory Committee of the National Audubon SocietyNational Audubon SocietyThe National Audubon Society is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation. Incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world and uses science, education and grassroots advocacy to advance its conservation mission...
, and the American Philosophical SocietyAmerican Philosophical SocietyThe American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
; and was President of the Pennsylvania Audubon Society. - Stone married Lillie May Lafferty on August 1, 1904; they had no children. Stone dedicated Bird Studies at Old Cape May to his wife.
- Stone prepared three reports for the State Museum at Trenton: The Mammals of New Jersey (1908), The Birds of New Jersey, Their Nests and Eggs (1909), and The Plants of Southern New Jersey (1911).
- The world’s largest photograph of Witmer Stone hangs in the Cape May Bird ObservatoryCape May Bird ObservatoryThe Cape May Bird Observatory was founded in 1975 in Cape May, New Jersey, United States. The purpose of the Cape May Bird Observatory is to conduct research, encourage conservation, and organize educational and recreational birding activities...
’s Center for Research and Education in Goshen, NJ.
Further reading
- Stone, Witmer. Bird Studies at Old Cape May. Stackpole Books. 2000.
- Rehn, James A. G. "In Memoriam: Witmer Stone." Auk 58:299-313.http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v058n03/p0299-p0313.pdf
- History of the DVOC.http://www.dvoc.org/History/History.htm
- Sutton, Clay and Pat. Birds and Birding at Cape May. Stackpole Books. 2006.