Stanton Davis Kirkham

Stanton Davis Kirkham was a naturalist, philosopher, ornithologist and author. Although widely travelled, he resided primarily in Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York. He was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France, the only child of Major Murray S. Davis and Julia Edith Kirkham Davis, daughter of Gen. Ralph Wilson Kirkham, Union Army general, who adopted Kirkham and brought him to the United States. He was named after Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, whom his father had served as an aide. He attended public schools in California and later graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.