{{Short description|American ornithologist, botanist, and mammalogist (1866–1939)}} {{Infobox person | name = Witmer Stone | image = WitmerStone.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1866|09|22}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1939|05|23|1866|09|22}} | death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | resting_place = Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | birthname = | spouse = Lillie Mae Lafferty (1904–1939) | occupation = Ornithologist, botanist, mammalogist}}
'''Witmer Stone''' (September 22, 1866 – May 24, 1939) was an American ornithologist, botanist, and mammalogist. He worked for over 51 years in the Ornithology Department at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and served in multiple roles including as Director from 1925 to 1928. Stone was a founding member of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club in 1890 and established their periodical ''Cassinia''. He served as editor of the American Ornithologists' Union's periodical ''The Auk'' from 1912 to 1936 and as president of the organization from 1920 to 1923. He was a member of multiple scientific societies and president of the American Society of Mammalogists and the Pennsylvania Audubon Society. He published several books and hundreds of articles on birds, flora, and mammals with a focus on Eastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey.
The Witmer Stone Wildlife Sanctuary in Cape May Point, New Jersey, was established in 1935 by the National Audubon Society and named in his honor. He was posthumously awarded the Brewster Medal by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1939.
==Early life and education== Stone was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 22, 1866, to Anne Eveline (née Witmer) and Frederick Dawson Stone.<ref name="Penn">{{cite web |title=Witmer Stone 1866 - 1939 |url=https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/witmer-stone/ |website=archives.upenn.edu |publisher=University Archives and Records Center |access-date=25 June 2024}}</ref> He was raised in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia which bordered wooded areas and the Wingohocking Creek. Stone, along with his brother Frederick and neighborhood friends, loved to explore the woods and formed the "Wilson Natural Science Association",{{sfn|Rehn|1941|p=300}} named in honor of the pioneering American ornithologist Alexander Wilson.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Stone, Witmer|journal=Cassinia|title=Stewardson Brown|volume= 24|pages=1–7}}</ref>
Stone graduated from Germantown Academy in 1883, and received an A.B. degree from the University of Pennsylvania.<ref name="Penn"/> After graduation, he worked for a brief time as an assistant in the library of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.{{sfn|Rehn|1938|p=2}} In March 1888, he was appointed a Jessup Fund Student at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and helped organize their extensive collection of birds.<ref name="Penn"/> The academy established an ornithology department in 1891, the same year that Stone completed an A.M. degree at the University of Pennsylvania. Stone married Lillie May Lafferty on August 1, 1904; they had no children.{{sfn|Rehn|1941|p=313}} He received an honorary ScD. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1913, and was presented with the Alumni Award of Merit in 1937.<ref name="Penn"/>
==Career== Stone worked at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for over 51 years.<ref name="Huber">{{cite journal|author=Huber, Wharton|title=Witmer Stone (1866 to 1939)|url=http://www.mammalsociety.org/uploads/Stone%20Obituary.pdf|journal=Journal of Mammalogy|year=1940|volume= 21|issue=1|pages=1–4|doi=10.2307/1374648|jstor=1374648}}</ref> He inherited an ornithological specimens collection that had not been cared for properly since the death of John Cassin in 1869.<ref name=Jeitner/> Stone led efforts to salvage the ornithological collections and others. 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.{{sfn|Rehn|1938|p=3}}
Stone participated in hundreds of academy sponsored field expeditions to the Pine Barrens and coastal regions of New Jersey. He also participated in field expeditions to various locations including Arizona, Bermuda, Kentucky, Maryland, Mexico, Minnesota, and South Carolina.{{sfn|Rehn|1938|pp=3-4}}
From 1893 to 1908, he worked as 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).<ref name="Huber"/> In regard to Stone's tenure at the academy, the zoologist John Percy Moore stated that, "His life became so merged with that of the Academy that for many years it was difficult to think of them apart."{{sfn|Rehn|1938|p=3}}
Stone was an original member of the Philadelphia Botanical Club.<ref name="Moore">{{cite journal|author=Moore, Gerry|title=A Review of the Nomenclature in Witmer Stone's The Plants of Southern New Jersey|journal=Bartonia|year=2002|volume=61|issue=61|pages=27–47|jstor=41610086}}</ref> His focus was ornithology, but Stone also had a good knowledge of crustaceans, insects, mollusks, reptiles and the local flora.{{sfn|Rehn|1938|p=1}} The Dutch botanist Frans Stafleu stated that "Stone's concentration on ornithology was a definite loss for botany."<ref>{{cite journal|author=Stafleu, Frans|title=Witmer Stone and his Plants of Southern New Jersey|journal=Taxon|volume=22|pages=467–468|doi=10.2307/1219341|year=1973|last2=Stone|first2=Witmer|issue=4|jstor=1219341}}</ref> Stone produced 20 botanical publications during his lifetime.<ref name="Rehn">{{cite journal|author=Rehn, James A. G.|title=Witmer Stone (1866–1939)|journal=Science|year=1939|volume= 90|issue=2341|pages=434–435|doi=10.1126/science.90.2341.434|bibcode=1939Sci....90..434.}}</ref>
After a joint meeting of the Philadelphia and Torrey Botanical Clubs in Toms River, New Jersey, in early July 1900, Stone resolved to write a book on the 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 publication of ''The Plants of Southern New Jersey'' in 1911. It has been described as "the only comprehensive floristic treatment for southern New Jersey and it continues to be used today [2002]."<ref name="Moore"/>
{{botanist|W.Stone}} [[File:Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, January, 1898.jpg|thumb|Members of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club in January, 1898 - Stone is #28]] Stone's first ornithology manuscript was "The Turkey Buzzard Breeding in Pennsylvania" published in ''American Naturalist'' in 1885.{{sfn|Rehn|1941|p=308}} His first note in ''The Auk'' was "A migration of hawks at Germantown, Pennsylvania"<ref>{{cite web | title=The Auk | date=1884 | url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044072188717;view=1up;seq=175 }}</ref> in 1887.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Stone, Witmer|title=A Migration of Hawks at Germantown, Pa|journal=The Auk|volume=4|issue=2|pages=161|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v004n02/p0161-p0161.pdf|doi=10.2307/4067130|year=1887|jstor=4067130}}</ref> Stone was a founding member of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC) in 1890. His role at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia allowed for the DVOC to meet at the academy. He founded the DVOC publication ''Cassinia'' and published multiple scientific papers, club activities and memorials. He authored the DVOC's ''The Birds of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey'',<ref>{{cite book | title=The birds of eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with introductory chapters on geographical distribution and migration | date=1894 | publisher=Delaware Valley Ornithological Club | url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002005710 }}</ref> published in 1894 and ''Bird Studies at Old Cape'' in 1937.<ref name=Jeitner>{{cite web |last1=Jeitner |first1=Mick |last2=Rowan |first2=Linda |title=In Search of Witmer Stone |url=https://dvoc.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Cassinia_74-75_In-Search-of-Witmer-Stone.pdf |website=dvoc.org |publisher=Delaware Valley Ornithological Club |access-date=25 June 2024}}</ref> He wrote ''The Birds of New Jersey, Their Nests and Eggs'',<ref>{{cite book | title=The birds of New Jersey | series=New Jersey State Museum. Annual report ;1908 | date=1909 | publisher=J.L. Murphy Publishing Co. | url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007924393 }}</ref> published in 1909 and hundreds of other ornithological papers.<ref name="Rehn"/>
Stone was elected an Associate of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) 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'' 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.<ref name="Rehn"/>
Stone was an honorary member of many ornithological and scientific societies including 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, and the American Philosophical Society.<ref>{{cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Witmer+Stone&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |website=search.amphilsoc.org |publisher=American Philosophical Society |access-date=27 June 2024}}</ref> He was president of the Pennsylvania Audubon Society{{sfn|Rehn|1941|p=312}} and of the American Society of Mammalogists.<ref name="Huber"/>
Stone's most enduring legacy is his ''Bird Studies at Old Cape May''. 1,400 two-volume sets were originally published by the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club in 1937.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sherman |first1=Sandra L. |title=Tracking Stone's Tome - The dispersal of 1,400 copies of Bird Studies at Old Cape May' |url=https://dvoc.org/Publications/TrackingStone.htm |website=dvoc.org |publisher=Delaware Valley Ornithological Club |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> This was an ornithological history of the New Jersey coast, with an emphasis on Cape May County, 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, and behavior gleaned from Stone's notes and the records of fellow DVOC members. Stone dedicated ''Bird Studies at Old Cape May'' to his wife. Stone made frequent trips to Cape May, New Jersey, and it became his annual summer residence.{{sfn|Rehn|1941|p=307}}
He died on May 23, 1939,{{sfn|Rehn|1941|p=299}} and was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Witmer Stone |url=https://remembermyjourney.com/memorials/witmer-stone?id=7OL4BJEO |website=remembermyjourney.com |publisher=webCemeteries |access-date=8 January 2025}}</ref>
==Legacy== In 1935, the National Audubon Society leased 25 acres of land in Cape May Point, New Jersey, for the creation of a wild life sanctuary and named it the Witmer Stone Wild Life Sanctuary in his honor. The location of the sanctuary is ideal for birding as it attracts migratory birds of the eastern seaboard looking for cover and food<ref>{{cite web |last1=Allen |first1=Robert P. |title=Sanctuary or Slaughter Pen? |url=https://dvoc.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Article-Sanctuary-or-Slaughter-Pen.pdf |website=dvoc.org |publisher=Nature Magazine |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> as they await favorable winds to cross the Delaware Bay.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pough |first1=Richard H. |title=The Witmer Stone Wildlife Sanctuary |journal=Audubon Magazine |date=July–August 1942 |volume=XLIV |issue=4 |pages=201–205 |url=https://dvoc.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Article-Audubon_1.pdf |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> The sanctuary expanded to 1,000 acres, however in 1941, a magnesite factory for the production of fire brick needed to produce steel for the war effort was located in the middle of the sanctuary. The emissions from the factory damaged the flora and fauna of the sanctuary and the lease and sanctuary were abandoned in 1959.<ref name=Jeitner/> The former sanctuary is now part of Cape May Point State Park.<ref>{{cite web |title=Witmer Stone Sanctuary |url=https://dvoc.org/about/committees/witmer-stone-sanctuary/ |website=dvoc.org |publisher=Delaware Valley Ornithological Club |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref>
Stone was posthumously awarded the Brewster Medal by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1939.<ref>{{cite web |title=William Brewster Memorial Award |url=https://americanornithology.org/awards-grants/achievement-awards/senior-professional/brewster/ |website=americanornithology.org |publisher=American Ornithological Society |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref>
In 1943, The Delaware Valley Ornithological Club established the Witmer Stone Award to recognize ornithological publications not conducted during professional duties.<ref>{{cite web |title=Witmer Stone Award |url=https://dvoc.org/about/awards/ |website=dvoc.org |publisher=Delaware Valley Ornithological Club |access-date=27 June 2024}}</ref>
==Publications== *''The Birds of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey'',<ref>{{cite book | title=The Birds of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey: With Introductory Chapters on Geographical Distribution and Migration, Prepared Under the Direction of the Delaware Ornithological Club | date=1894 | publisher=Delaware Valley Ornithological Club | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=la8zAQAAMAAJ }}</ref> Philadelphia: Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, 1894 *''American Animals - A Popular Guide to the Mammals of North America North of Mexico, With Intimate Biographies of the Most Familiar Species'',<ref>{{cite book | title=American Animals: A Popular Guide to the Mammals of North America North of Mexico, with Intimate Biographies of the More Familiar Species | date=1902 | publisher=Doubleday, Page | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sccGAAAAYAAJ }}</ref> New York: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1904 *''The Plants of Southern New Jersey; With Especial Reference to the Flora of the Pine Barrens and the Geographic Distribution of the Species'',<ref>{{cite book | title=The Plants of Southern New Jersey; with Especial Reference to the Flora of the Pine Barrens and the Geographic Distribution of the Species | date=28 August 2016 | publisher=Creative Media Partners, LLC | isbn=978-1-371-95981-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VYNAvgAACAAJ }}</ref> Creative Media Partners LLC, 1911 *''The Phylogenetic Value of Color Characters in Birds'',<ref>{{cite book | title=The Phylogenetic Value of Color Characters in Birds | date=1912 | publisher=Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95kaAAAAYAAJ }}</ref> Philadelphia, 1912 *''The Hawaiian Rat'',<ref>{{cite book | title=The Hawaiian Rat | date=1917 | publisher=Bishop Museum Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CKNkHK2KIQoC }}</ref> Honolulu, Hawaii: Bishop Museum Press, 1917 *''Bird Studies at Old Cape May'',<ref>{{cite book | title=Bird Studies at Old Cape May: An Ornithology of Coastal New Jersey | date=1937 | publisher=Dover Publications, Incorporated | isbn=978-0-486-21386-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TyavAEACAAJ }}</ref> Dover Publications, 1937
== See also == *
==References== === Citations === {{reflist|35em}}
=== Sources === *{{cite journal |last1= Rehn |first1= James A.G. |date= 1938 |title= Witmer Stone (1866–1939) |url= https://dvoc.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/C31_1_11StoneW.pdf |journal= Cassinia |volume= 31 |pages= 1–11 |access-date=27 June 2024 }} *{{cite journal |last1= Rehn |first1= James A.G. |date= July 1941 |title= In Memoriam: Witmer Stone |url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v058n03/p0299-p0313.pdf |journal= The Auk |volume= 58 |issue= 3 |pages= 299–313 |doi= 10.2307/4078949 |jstor= 4078949 |access-date=26 June 2024 }}
== Further reading == {{Americana Poster|year=1920|Stone, Witmer|Witmer Stone}} *{{cite journal |last1=McConnell |first1=Scott |date= 1 October 2015 |title=Witmer Stone: The Fascination of Nature |url=https://academic.oup.com/auk/article/132/4/955/5149108 |journal=The Auk |volume=132 |issue=4 |pages=955–957 |doi= 10.1642/AUK-15-60.1 |access-date=25 June 2024 }} *Sutton, Clay and Pat. ''Birds and Birding at Cape May''. Stackpole Books. 2006.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Witmer}} Category:1866 births Category:1939 deaths Category:20th-century American botanists Category:American academic journal editors Category:American ornithological writers Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Category:Germantown Academy alumni Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society Category:People from Cape May, New Jersey Category:Presidents of the American Society of Mammalogists Category:Scientists from Philadelphia Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:Writers from Cape May County, New Jersey