John “Corry O'Lanus” Stanton

John “Corry O'Lanus” Stanton

4 Nov 1832 - England - 2 Nov 1870 (aged 37) - Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, USA

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156460114/john-stanton

Born in London, England, came to America at age 15.

He became a workman for a fireworks company at Williamsburg.

There was a large explosion there and two people were killed.

John was uninjured. He wrote an essay about the events and presented it to the Williamsburg Times editor. The editor was so impressed with John's descriptive report he offered him a job as a writer on the newspaper staff. Three years later, Mr. Stanton became an attache for the Brooklyn Eagle.

He was employed there until his death except for two years with the Brooklyn News. He also contributed to several other newspapers throughout the country.

John Stanton first wrote with his pen name, Corry O'Lanus in February 1864 in the Sunday Mercury where he wrote a series of letters descriptive of the Brooklyn Sanitary Fair. His sense of ludicrous was exceedingly keen and continually cropped out. His work became to be called the "Epistles". His satire was almost always aimed at actual and current events and his Epistles were largely local. His style of writing was humorous and enlightening and made the cares of life easier to bear. He never looked to be a humorist.

He was near-sighted and virtually deaf. The latter made it difficult to perform in public company and he kept out of it. His health began to fail in the past few years and he was granted a furlough to rest in Florida. While there he continued to send articles to his newspaper but when he realized his death was imminent he returned to Brooklyn to die there. He died two days before his 38th birthday. His funeral was one of the largest ever in Brooklyn, many thousands attended, many with prominent positions as writers and public servants.

DEATH OF AN EDITOR. York, 2d. John Stanton, one of the editors of the Brooklyn Eagle, died this morning of consumption. He was well known as a humorous writer, under the name tie plume of “Corry O’Lanus.”

Letters from Mark Twain to Corry O'Lanus aka John Stanton https://books.google.com/books?id=EWvU21-vV8EC&pg=PA45&dq=Corry+O%27Lanus+editor&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjfoOT5u_blAhXLnuAKHXeLBscQ6AEwAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=Corry%20O'Lanus%20editor&f=false

Obesity in America https://books.google.com/books?id=-FeQBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7&dq=Corry+O%27Lanus+editor&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiYyYqJvfblAhXNhOAKHUgsDCkQ6AEwA3oECAQQAg#v=onepage&q=Corry%20O'Lanus%20editor&f=false

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, tuberculosis (TB) was the leading cause of death in the United States, and one of the most feared diseases in the world. Formerly called “consumption,” tuberculosis is characterized externally by fatigue, night sweats, and a general “wasting away” of the victim.