was elected in 1829 president of Georgetown col- lege, Ky. He died in Washington, while on his way to this new field of service, lie was probably the most eloquent Baptist minister of his time in this country. He received from Princeton the de- gree of D. D. in 1801. Besides a volume of poems, which he issued when he was seventeen years old, his publications consisted of a few occasional ser- mons and discourses, among them Kulogium on Dr. Benjamin Rush" (1S13). See a "Memoir" by Rev. S. W. Lynd (Boston, 1834).
STAUNTON, William, clergyman, b. in Ches-
ter, England, 20 April, 1803 ; d. 29 Sept., 1889. At
the age of fifteen he came to the United States, and
received a good English and classical training under
one of the professors in Hobart college. He stud-
ied theology under Rev. Dr. (afterward Bishop)
Whitehousein Rochester, N. Y., from 1830 till 1833,
was ordained deacon in Oneida Castle, N. Y., 9
June, 1833, by Bishop Benjamin T. Onderdonk,
and priest in ion church. Palmyra, N. Y., 7 Sept.,
1834, by the same bishop. During his diaconate
he served as missionary in Palmyra and Lyons,
N. Y. He was rector of St. James's church, Rox-
bury, Mass., in 1835-'7, and of St. Peter's church,
Morristown, N. J., in 1840-'7, founded St. Peter's
church, Brooklyn, X. Y., and was its first rector in
1848-51, and was rector of Trinity church, Pots-
dam. N. Y., in 1852-'9. Afterward, having given
up active parochial work, he had resided in Xew
York city, and been engaged in literary and other
occupations. He received the degree of D. D. from
Hobart in 1856. Dr. Staunton had published " Dic-
tionary of the Church," which was subsequently
revised and enlarged under the title of " Ecclesias"-
tieal Dictionary" (New York. 1844-'61) ; "The
Catechist's Manual" (1850); "Songs and Prayers
for the Family Altar" (1860); "Book of Common
Praise" (1860); a prize "Te Deum " and original
" Voluntaries for the Organ " ; and " Episodes in
Clerical and Parish Life " (1887). In 1878 he took
charge of the musical science department in a new
cyclopaedia, and wrote nearly all the articles on
that subject. He had also contributed freely to
church literature in magazines and reviews.
STEARNS, Asahel, educator, b. in Lunenburg,
Mass., 17 .Tune, 1T74; d. in Cambridge, Mass., 5
Feb., 1839. His ancestor, Isaac Stearns, came to
this country from England in 1030, and was among
the first settlers of Watertown. Mass. Asahel was
graduated at Harvard in 1797, studied law, was ad-
mitted to the bar, and began practice at Chelmsford,
Mass. He was for several years county attorney
for Middlesex, a member of congress in 1815-'17,
and professor of law at Harvard in 1817-'29. He
was a member of the American academy of arts
and sciences, and was one of the commissioners for
revising the statutes of Massachusetts, which was
his last labor. He published "Summary of the
Law and Practice of Real Actions, with an Ap-
pendix of Practical Forms" (Hallowell, 1824). and,
with Lemuel Shaw. "General Laws, 1780-1822,"
edited by Theron Metcalf (Boston, 1823).
STEARNS, Charles, clergyman, b. in Leomin-
ster, Mass.. 19 July, 1753 ; d. in Lincoln, Mass.,
20 July, 1820. He was graduated at Harvard in
1773, afterward taught school, and studied theol-
ogy, and in 1780-'! was a tutor at Cambridge. In
1781 he was ordained pastor of the Unitarian
church at Lincoln, where he remained till his death.
He received the degree of D. D. from Harvard in
1810. He published " The Ladies' Philosophy of
Love, a Poem in Four Cantos" (1797); Princi-
ples of Morality and Religion" (1798); and ser-
mons and other works.
STEARNS, Charles Woodward, physician, b.
in Springfield. Mass.. in 1S1X; d. in Longmeadow,
Mass., X Sept.. 1887. He was graduated at Yale in
1837, and took his medical degree at the Univer-
sity i if Pennsylvania in 1840. After practising for
some time he entered the army as a surgeon, subse-
quently travelled and studied in Europe, and at
the opening of the civil war re-entered the service
as surgeon of the 3d New York regiment. He was
on service at Fort McHenry, Baltimore. Suffolk.
Va., Fortress Monroe, and in the field. Dr. Stearns
was widely known as an enthusiastic Shakespeare-
an student and writer. His principal works are
" Shakespeare's Medical Knowledge " (New York,
1805) : "The Shakespeare Treasury of Wisdom and
Knowledge " (1869) ; and " Concordance of the Con-
stitution of the United States" (1872).
STEARNS, George Luther, merchant, b. in
Medford, Mass., 8 Jan., 1809 ; d. in New York, 9
April. 1867. His father. Luther, was a teacher of
reputation. In early life his son engaged in the
business of ship-chandlery, and after a prosperous
career undertook the manufacture of sheet- and
pipe-lead, doing business in Boston and residing in
Medford. He identified himself with the anti-
slavery cause, became a Free-soiler in 1848. aided
John Brown in Kansas, and supported him till his
death. Soon after the opening of the civil war Mr.
Stearns advocated the enlistment of negroes in the
National army. The 54th and 55th Massachusetts
regiments, and the 5th cavalry (colored), were
largely recruited through his instrumentality. He
was commissioned major through the recommenda-
tion of Sec. Stanton, and was of great service to
the National cause by enlisting negroes for the
volunteer service in Pennsylvania. Maryland, and
Tennessee. He was the founder of the " Common-
wealth " and " Right of Way " newspapers for the
dissemination of his ideas.
STEARNS, John, physician, b. in Wilbraham,
Mass., 16 May, 1770; d. in New York city, 18
March. 1848. He was graduated at Yale in '1789,
and at the College of physicians and surgeons, Xew
York, in 1812. He settled at Waterford, N. Y., in
1793, was in the New York senate in 1809-'13, in
1810 removed to Albany, and in 1819 went to New
York city, where he remained till his death. He
originated the Saratoga county medical society,
and in 1807 the Medical society of the state of New
York, and in 1846 was the first president of the
New York academy of medicine. He was also a
founder of the American tract society. He con-
tributed valuable medical discoveries to the Xew
York " Medical Repository," and published nu-
merous addresses (1818-'47).
STEARNS, John Glazier, author, b. in Ack-
worth, Cheshire co., N. H., 22 Nov., 1795; d. in
Clinton, N. Y., 16 Jan., 1874. He was graduated
in the first class at Hamilton literary ancl theologi-
cal institution (now Madison university) in 1822,
and was ordained a minister of the Baptist church,
He was for fifty years a preacher in central New
York, and published, among other works, "Dia-
logue on the Means of separating Masonry from
the Church of Christ " (Utica. 1828) ; " Inquiry into
the Natuiv and Tendency of Freemasonry" (1829);
" An Antidote for the Doctrine of Universal Sal-
vation " (1829); "Essays on the Influence of the
Spirit and the Word in Regeneration " ; " The
Primitive Church" (1853); "The Sovereignty of
God and Moral Agency " (1856) ; " Letters on Free-
masonry " (I860) ; and several smaller works.
STEARNS. John Newton, editor, b. in New Ipswich, N. H., 24 May, 1829; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 21 April, 1895. He was carefully prepared
