Published Sunday, October 13, 2002
in society's possession
By Sherris Moreira-Byers
Herald Staff Writer
After nearly 113 years and at least 1,000 miles, two family pictures have finally made it back home.
Pictures of Robert and Mary A. Hoagland Stewart were returned to the couple's former home at 5465 E. State St. in Hermitage -- the aptly named Stewart house -- in August. The Hermitage Historical Society, which is headquartered in the stately brick home, accepted them at their August meeting.
They were in the hands of a former Sharon resident, William Tamplin, 89, now of Hilton Head, S.C.
"I got these amongst a lot of other photos that I had, that I got from my mother and her mother," said Tamplin, referring to Lavinia McCallen, who formerly lived on U.S. Route 62 near Clay Furnace Road and Dermond Road, with her husband John.
On the back of the photos are the names of the Stewarts and "Christmas 1889." The picture was taken by the former Seavy photography studio in Sharon.
Tamplin said he thinks the photos were a gift from the Stewarts to his grandparents, and that's why he had them with family photos. His grandparents lived about a mile or two away from the Stewarts.
"In those days that would have been very close neighbors, you know, horse and buggy days. A mile and a half or two miles would have been very close neighbors back then," said Helen Harrison, 77, of West Salem Township.
Mrs. Harrison helped Tamplin identify some of his family photos in 2001 and later realized that the Stewart photos may have been the Stewarts, of Stewart house fame. "They would have been neighbors and definitely friends if they had given them a picture."
Mrs. Harrison has done quite a bit of genealogical research on the McCallen family to help out a cousin who was related to the family. On one of Tamplin's trips back to the area, he heard about Mrs. Harrison and her research and decided to ask her for help with photo identification. She and her family formerly lived in Jefferson Township, and her grandparents and Tamplin's were neighborhood friends. "All the farmers knew each other back then," she said.
At Mrs. Harrison's suggestion, Tamplin decided to bring the photos back to the area.
"I read something in The Herald about the historical society using the home of the Robert and Mary Stewart and I thought about the pictures. The historical society had said they had no pictures of them," Mrs. Harrison said.
During a trip up to his summer cottage on Lake Erie in August, Tamplin called Mrs. Harrison and said he was going to drop the photos at her home. She delivered them to the historical society during an August meeting.
"It was very thrilling, almost shocking," said Debbie Hoffman, the Hermitage Historical Society's secretary. "The pictures are a part of the house, the history of the house."
The society, which started in 1996 and now has about 140 members, has rented the Stewart house from the city since 1998. They have collected Hermitage and Hickory Township memorabilia and have decorated several rooms to represent the era of the circa 1867 home.
The Stewart family pictures, which will be properly framed by the society, are an historical treasure the society prizes.
"I do think its exciting that they are back in their own house," said Mrs. Harrison.
For information about the Hermitage Historical Society, call (724) 347-3485.