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Royce Davis Purinton (October 27, 1877 – March 25, 1919) was an American college football coach. He served as the head football coach at Bates College in 1902 and from 1904 to 1917. He also coached the Bates baseball team from 1906 to 1917.

Biography

Purinton was born in West Bowdoin, Maine to Nathaniel S. and Jennie (Williams) Purinton. His father was the private secretary to three Governors of Maine.

Purinton was captain of the Bates football in 1899. After graduating, he worked for the Pejepscot Paper Company. He began his coaching career at Bates in 1902. He did not return the following season, nut was brought back in 1904. In 1906, he was named physical director of the college. In February 1918, he went to France to work as a physical director for the YMCA. He returned to Bates in January 1919.

Purinton died of heart failure, on March 25, 1919, in Lewiston, Maine. He was survived by his wife, the former Rena A. Dresser of Turner, Maine and a son, Royce Jr. Their daughter, Frances, died of the spanish flu in 1918.

References

1. Who's Who in New England. A.N. Marquis. 1915. p. 881. Retrieved July 10, 2018 – via Internet Archive.
2. "Bates Student". Class of 1907 Bates College. April 1, 1906. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
3. "Baseball Year-by-Year Records". Bates Athletics. Bates College. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
4. ^ "Sudden Death of Royce Purinton". Lewiston Evening Journal. March 26, 1916. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
5. "Football At Bates". The Lewiston Daily Sun. September 19, 1902. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
6. "Football At Bates". The Lewiston Daily Sun. September 16, 1904. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
7. "Royce D. Purinton, Director Of Athletics At Bates, Dead". Norwich Bulletin. Norwich, Connecticut. March 26, 1919. p. 3. Retrieved March 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com [REDACTED] .

External links

• Royce Purinton at Find a Grave

• 1877 births
• 1919 deaths
• Bates Bobcats athletic directors
• Bates Bobcats baseball coaches
• Bates Bobcats football coaches
• Bates Bobcats football players
• Bates College alumni
• Coaches of American football from Maine
• People from Sagadahoc County, Maine