Edward Page Gaston

Edward Page Gaston (November 19, 1868 – 1956), F.R.G.S., was an American journalist, lecturer, and temperance activist from Harvey, Illinois. He was also a proponent for the repatriation of the remains of Pocahontas.[1]

Early life

Gaston was born in Henry, Illinois, in 1868. He was the son of Alexander H. Gaston and Henrietta (née Page) Gaston; [2] he was the brother of anti-tobacco crusader Lucy Page Gaston.[3]

Career

While serving as the European manager for Funk & Wagnalls,[4] he lived in London. He was attached for a time to the American Legation in Mexico City and founded the PanAmerican news agency in the same city; Gaston also climbed the Popocatépetl volcano in Mexico.[5] Gaston excavated and surveyed prehistoric ruins and cliff-dwellings in Arizona and New Mexico with the Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition (1888), living among Zuni (1893).[2]

Gaston was involved with social issues. He was founder and the U.S. director of the World Prohibition Federation; founder and honorary secretary of the International Prohibition Confederation, London, 1909;[2] as well as a spokesman for approximately 100 temperance societies, including the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League.[6] He also formed and led an organization known as the New Vigilantes whose purpose was to "challenge the power of the gangsters of New York and throughout the country... and to place hundreds of them, as well as corrupt public and police officials, behind the bars."[7] In 1923, in search of the remains of Pocahontas, Gaston received permission from St George's Church to dig on the site of the burned down Gravesend church.[8]

Gaston received the Turkish decoration of the Lya'kat (Order of Merit).[9] He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society; as well as the founder and honorary secretary of the International Prohibition Confederation, London, 1909.[2]

Personal life

He married Lilian Craske in 1901.[2]

References
  1. "People". Time Magazine. 27 July 1942. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  2. The International Blue Book (Public domain ed.). International Who's Who Publishing Company. 1911. pp. 495–. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  3. Loerzel, Robert (January 2008). "The Smoking Gun". Chicago Magazine.
  4. Blocker, Jack S.; Fahey, David M.; Tyrrell, Ian R. (2003). Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 693–. ISBN 978-1-57607-833-4. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  5. "Aids British Captives; is arrested in Berlin; Edward Page Gaston, an American Writer, Detained When About to Leave City". The New York Times. Berlin. October 6, 1914. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  6. "LIQUOR: Return of the Drys". Time (Time Magazine). January 12, 1942.
  7. "New Vigilantes Ask For Volunteer Students Help". Volume XVII, Number 20. Vassar Miscellany News. December 14, 1932. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  8. Hearst Magazines (May 1923). Popular Mechanics (Public domain ed.). Hearst Magazines. pp. 694–. ISSN 0032-4558. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  9. Addison, Henry Robert; Oakes, Charles Henry; Lawson, William John; Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen (1907). Who's who (Public domain ed.). A. & C. Black. pp. 663–. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
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