Stanton Davis Kirkham (December 7, 1868 – January 6, 1944) was anaturalist,philosopher,ornithologist andauthor. Although widely travelled, he resided primarily inCanandaigua, Ontario County,New York. He was born inNice,Alpes-Maritimes,France, the only child ofMajor Murray S. Davis (Commander, 8th Cavalry, Troop A, Camp Winfield Scott, Nevada, 1867) and Julia Edith Kirkham Davis, daughter of Gen. Ralph Wilson Kirkham,Union Armygeneral, who adopted Kirkham and brought him to theUnited States. He was named after Secretary of WarEdwin M. Stanton, whom his father had served as an aide. He attended public schools inCalifornia and later graduated from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology.
Kirkham was the author ofAs Nature Whispers (1902),The Ministry of Beauty (1907),Where Dwells the Soul Serene (1907),In The Open: Intimate Studies and Appreciations of Nature (1908),The Philosophy of Self-Help: An Application of Practical Psychology to Daily Life, (1909),Mexican Trails: A Record of Travel in Mexico, 1904-7, and a Glimpse at the Life of the Mexican Indian (1909),Resources: An Interpretation of the Well-Rounded Life (1910),East and West: Comparative Studies of Nature in Eastern and Western States (1911),Outdoor Philosophy: The Meditations of a Naturalist (1912),North and South: Notes on the Natural History of a Summer Camp and a Winter Home (1913),Half-True Stories: For Little Folks of Just the Right Age (1916),After Thirty Years (1923),Animal Nature and Other Stories (1926),Cruising Around the World and the Seven Seas (1927) andShut-In (1936).
He married Mary Clark Williams (1869 - 1911), granddaughter ofNew YorkGovernorMyron H. Clark, on May 16, 1907. They had two children, a son, Paul Kirkham, and a daughter, Mary Clark Kirkham (1908-2000). He was quoted in Chapter 6 ofAs a Man Thinketh byJames Allen. He died inNew York City at the age of 75. An illness he contracted during a horseback journey acrossSouth America in 1914 rendered him an invalid for the latter part of his life. His philosophy, as stated inThe Ministry of Beauty and other works, could be said to fall within the category ofTranscendentalism. He is buried inWoodlawn Cemetery,Canandaigua, New York.
