David Stanton Tappan was born in Steubenville, Ohio on April 2, 1845. His grandmother was the sister of Edwin M. Stanton, War Secretary under Abraham Lincoln. IN 1864, Tappan received an A.B. from Miami University, graduating at the head of his class. He served as the Principal of Slate Lick Academy, Pennsylvania, in 1865 and Callenburg Academy, Pennsylvania in 1867. The following year, he was ordained a Presbyterian minister and led congregations in Charlton, Iowa, from 1868 to 1871; Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, from 1871 to 1890; and Portsmouth, Ohio from 1890 to 1899. In 1899, the Miami University Board of Trustees named Tappan President. Although not an enthusiastic supporter of co-education, Tappan presented bachelor's degrees to Miami's first three women graduates in 1900. That same year, he had to deal with a typhoid epidemic that affected a third of the student body and took the life of his daughter. In 1902, shortly after the Ohio Legislature decided to locate a normal school at Miami, Tappan resigned. He subsequently pastored a church in Circleville, Ohio from1902 to 1913. David Stanton Tappan died on March 20, 1922 at home in Los Angeles, California.
From the guide to the David Stanton Tappan Collection, 1899-1912, 1899-1902, (Miami University)
