Mystery solved! by Janet Cummer In the days before community museums, artifacts were often left in the care of the local library. When I arrived at Strathroy Library as a librarian in 1970, there were a number of items already there, left at some point in the past, unlabeled, undated and with no recorded origin. One item in particular always intrigued me, as it resided on the top shelf of my office and remained there until I left in 2008. It was a fragment of a larger stone statue, Asian in appearance, and heavy–quite out of place in Strathroy. Nobody seemed to know where it had come from. Here is what may have happened… This story involves George Sulman, a crackerjack travelling salesman for a Montreal company, who was so successful at his job that by the age of 17, he was considered the youngest com- mercial sales-man in Canada. During this time, he had a regular customer living in Strathroy, named Jack Meekison. Meekison operated a stationery and bookstore on the south side of Front Street, halfway between Caradoc and Frank Streets. As told by his son, Ted Sulman, many years later, “Dad became very friend- ly with Jack, and one evening was asked to his home for supper. Entering the house, Dad saw a tall, strikingly beautiful young girl crossing the other end of the hall and said to himself, 'That’s the girl for me.'” Her name was Mary Agnes Meekison, Jack's sister and a daughter of Andrew and Margaret Meekison, who had em- igrated from Scotland and set up a grocery business in Strathroy. George and Mary were married in 1889 at the bride’s home in Strathroy, a small affair with only family present. The couple then boarded the train for a honeymoon in eastern Ontario. Marriage accounts of the time were quite flattering, and the Meekison wed - ding was no exception. “The bride was generously remembered by her many friends, the presents to her being numerous and of a useful and costly character and is but another evidence of the esteem in which she is held here.” (Age, Sept. 19, 1889).
The mysterious Buddha statue Photo courtesy of Bill Groot
Egyptian princess, purchased by the Sulmans in Cairo and given to the Chatham-Kent Museum in 1943 Photo courtesy of Janet Cummer
The Sulmans settled in Chatham where, in 1888, George had started a small store, Sulman’s Beehive, selling wallpaper, statio - nery and fancy goods. Business was so good that within a short time, he bought a larger store and reportedly travelled six months of the year, returning to run the store for the other six. In 1901, he was elected Chatham's mayor and later served as MPP in the provincial leg-islature. His residence on Stanley Street, still standing today, was large and impressive. However, the true Sulman legacy lies elsewhere. In their day, the Sulmans were Canada’s most famous globetrotters, returning with treasures that today might be considered illegal. Their travels took them off the beaten path, exploring almost every country in the world. Mary Sulman's obituary confirms this: “It was Mrs. Sul - man’s boast she had been in strange places where no white wom - an had ever trodden. Like her husband, she was an entertain- ing lecturer, and could hold audiences with descriptions ... They brought back many curios which are now in the Chatham-Kent Museum.” (Age Dispatch, December 19, 1946). These curios in- cluded an Egyptian mummy, placed at the back of the Sulman store to attract customers, and given to the Museum in the 1940s. Where does the library's statue fit into this story? Thanks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we know the history of the statue. It was a Buddha, part of a larger carving, probably cut from a temple in northwest Pakistan (then India). The style indicates its origin as 3rd century AD. But how did it come to Strathroy? Jane (Jenny) Meekison’s obituary in 1942 offers a clue. Jane, a music teacher, a friend of Charlotte Rapley, and Mary Sulman's sister, lived at the northeast corner of Albert and Victoria Streets. Her obituary notes that in 1936 she accompanied the Sulmans on a trip to northern India. It may be that she purchased the heavy statue and had it shipped to Strathroy. Perhaps Jane had picked up the Sulman desire to bring home the ages! Her death, without heirs, left the Buddha needing a home. Charlotte was on the li- brary board at the time and leaving it with the library might have seemed a good solution. It remains there today – a rather exotic piece of Strathroy history and probably a valuable one.
Sulman house in Chatham, still standing, once full of treasures brought back from world travel Photo courtesy of Janet Cummer
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Hometown Strathroy-Caradoc October 2025
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