WALTER JAMES ALOYSIUS STANTON SR. was born in March of 1867 to James and Emma Stanton. The 1870 Census shows the family in what was then Camden's South Ward. The 1880 Census finds the Stanton family, which included older brother Willie and younger siblings Elizabeth and Wesley, at 439 Riley Street in the Fourth Ward. The Stanton family lived at 230 Washington Street in the late 1880s and 1890s. Walter Stanton worked as an upholsterer in the 1880s and 1890s.

Walter Stanton married Elizabeth Kelly around 1892. On September 27, 1893 a son, Walter Stanton Jr., was born. Another son, Thomas Carroll Stanton was born on January 1, 1901.

As a young man, and well into his 30s,  Walter Stanton Sr. was well known in Camden as a baseball player. He worked at a number of different jobs after he married, alternately as a butcher, a driver, and a salesman. He also was involved with a number of social organizations, including the Camden Wheelmen, a group of bicycle enthusiasts.

The 1894 City Directory shows Walter Stanton at 450 South 2nd Street. He was at 226 Berkley the next year. The 1896 City Directory shows Walter Stanton and family at 434 South 2nd Street. He was then working as a driver for R.T. Robinson. By 1897 he was working as a driver and salesman for W. Mills & Brother, a meat business located at 1598 Broadway. The family then lived at 310 Clinton Street, before moving to 318 Berkley Street, where they stayed from 1898 through 1905. The Census of 1900 shows that his brother-in-law Joseph Kelly lived with the family. Walter Stanton Sr. was then still working as a butcher, most likely for W. Mills and Brother. Walter Stanton Sr. is listed as a driver in the 1901 and 1902 editions, probably still at the same place of employment. From 1903 through 1905 he worked as water tapper.

By 1906 the family had moved to 522 South 2nd Street. Walter Stanton Sr. had by then joined the Camden Police Department. The following year saw Walter Stanton Sr. playing right field for the Camden Police Department's baseball team. 

Walter Stanton Sr. served on the Camden Police Department into the 1930s. Son Thomas Stanton also was on the force from the mid-1920s through at least 1950.

When the Census was taken in 1910, the Stanton family lived at 1139 Pear Street, which was late renamed Whitman Avenue. Also at home was father-in-law John Kelly. Oldest son Walter Stanton Jr. was then working as a clerk, according to the Census, but he had other plans for himself that would take him to the vaudeville stage.

When it was time for him to register for the draft on June 5th of 1917 Walter Stanton Jr. and his parents and brother were living at 604 South 3rd Street. He was not working at the time. He joined the United States Navy on June 25, 1917 and served as an Able Seaman during World War I.

The Stanton family had moved to 618 South 2nd Street by the end of 1919. After returning from the Navy, Walter Stanton Jr. had by this time established himself on the vaudeville stage, listing his occupation as "vocalist". Through the mid-1940s Walter Stanton Jr. partnered in a variety act with Joe Hamilton, a veteran vaudeville and minstrel show entertainer who lived in Camden. The act ended with Hamilton's death in 1946.

The 1924 City Directory shows that the Walter Stanton Sr. family had moved to 533 Fulton Place. They remained at that address through at least April of 1930.

The 1940 Census shows Walter Stanton, although well past 70, still working as a Camden police officer. Mandatory retirement at age 65 would not come into play until after World War II. He and wife Elizabeth were then living at 362 Dudley Street in the then new Westfield Acres public housing project.