Stearns, Winfrid Alden, 1852-1909

Winfrid Alden Stearns (1852-1909) was an amateur naturalist, ornithologist, and ethnologist who corresponded with several prominent experts in the natural sciences. Among his works were a collaboration with surgeon and naturalist Elliot Coues, New England Bird Life (1881-1883) and the self-published A Manual of Ornithology (1895) that was heavily criticized by university-trained naturalists.

Stearns was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to William Augustus Stearns and Rebecca Alden Frazar Stearns. Stearn's father (1805 - 1876) was the fourth president of Amherst College, serving from 1854 to 1876. A graduate of Andover Theological Seminary in 1831, William Stearns also had a law degree, received in 1862. He was a descendant of Isaac Stearns, who arrived in America with Governor Winthrop in 1630, and a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

...