History Stanton was organized in 1860 when the people of Montcalm County voted to move the county seat here from Greenville, which had been the original county seat since 1840. At that time, the County Board purchased 40 acres (160,000 m2) from Fred Hall of Ionia and named the location "Fred" in his honor. The family of Levi Camburn was the first to settle here, and he became its first postmaster on March 10, 1862. The city was renamed for U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton in 1863.[6] St...