Stanton, Frederick Perry, secretary and acting governor of the Territory of Kansas, was born at Alexandria, D. C. (now Va.), Dec. 22, 1814, a son of Richard and Harriet (Perry) Stanton. The father was a Revolutionary soldier, and after the war worked at the trade of bricklayer, which the son learned with him. Under the instruction of Benjamin Hallowell, a Quaker teacher, Frederick was prepared for the Columbian University of Washington, D. C., where he was graduated at the age of nineteen years. He then taught for a time in Virginia, after which he became an instructor in a college in North Carolina. While occupying this position he began to prepare himself for the Baptist ministry, but changed to the law, was admitted to the bar, and in 1834 opened an office in Memphis, Tenn. He soon became identified with the Democratic party of Tennessee, and in 1844 was elected to Congress. His Whig opponent, Dr. Christian, chagrined at his defeat, made an attack on Mr. Stanton and severely wounded him by a pistol shot in the neck. After ten years in Congress, Mr. Stanton declined a reëlection for a sixth term, and on April 1, 1857, was appointed secretary of Kansas Territory. He held that office until succeeded by James W. Denver on Dec. 21, of the same year, and twice during his incumbency he was called upon to act as governor. Upon retiring from the office he purchased a large tract of land near Lecompton and built what was at that time the largest and most costly residence in Kansas. When it was thought admission under the Lecompton constitution was probable, he became a candidate for United States senator and was defeated by only one vote. After the admission of the state in 1861, when James H. Lane, one of the United States senators from Kansas, was offered a commission as brigadier-general by President Lincoln, Mr. Stanton was appointed senator by Gov. Robinson, but Lane declined the commission in the army and retained his seat in the senate, hence there was no vacancy for Mr. Stanton to fill. At the beginning of the Civil war Mr. Stanton joined the Republican party, and it is said was seriously considered as a possible member of President Lincoln's cabinet. In 1861 he opened a law office in Washington, D. C., for practice in the supreme court of the United States. He was president of the International Peace League, and was a delegate to the Richmond convention in 1882. In 1884 he visited Kansas, and on Sept. 2 delivered an address at the old settlers' meeting at Bismarck Grove, near Lawrence. The following year he went to Florida for his health, and continued to reside in that state until his death on June 4, 1894. A fine marble bust of Gov. Stanton is among the collections of the Kansas Historical Society.