Jonathan Stanton
Jonathan Stanton (1834–1918) was an ornithologist and longtime professor of Greek and Latin at Bates College.
Career
A native of Lebanon, Maine and an 1856 graduate of Bowdoin College, 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. The local Stanton Bird Club is still active to this day and the "Stanton Ride", where he 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.