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Page 24 December 2018 The Catoctin Banner Newspaper www.TheCatoctinBanner.com Published by www.EPlusPromotes.com
From Thurmont’s Stoner House to the White House —

The Wallpaper Stor y

Joan Bittner Fry

Preface
Courtesy Photo
William Jones was a prosperous tannery owner who operated his tannery
along Little Hunting Creek in Thurmont in 1838. To show his prosperity,
he built a six-room stone house on East Main Street. That was not enough,
though. To give his new home a touch of elegance and class, he ordered new
panoramic wallpaper from the French company of Jean Zuber.
Eugenie and Daniel Rouzer purchased the home in 1891. The Rouzers’
daughter, Gertrude, and her husband, William Stoner, eventually inherited
the house. Gertrude Stoner sold the house in 1961, and it was scheduled for
demolition to make room for a grocery store (Thurmont Super Thrift at the
time; now Hobbs’ Hardware).
In 1929, Gertrude Stoner had written to Gregory and Brown Co., an
interior decorating firm, trying to find out the history of the unusual wallpaper.
J.C. Waterman replied saying the print was called “Scenic America” and
was manufactured by a French manufacturer, J. Zuber in Rixheim, Alsace,
France. The scenes were taken from a set of Currier and Ives prints and show
American landscapes: Natural Bridge, Niagara Falls, West Point, and Boston
Harbor. The wallpaper was an extravagant cost of $10.00 at the time. It
journeyed from France to Thurmont in tin foil tubes to protect it from the
moisture of an ocean crossing.

The Zuber wallpaper in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House.

Viewpoint from Baroness Stackelberg, Baltimore American (newspaper), Sunday, September 3, 1961

The Stoner House provided a near miracle recently for a young man his wife, Mildred, is the White House curator. It was through her that Mr. Hill
who had faith in his own judgment and real devotion to a cause. He is a later aroused the interest of Mrs. John F. Kennedy in the scenic wallpaper.
33-year-old Washingtonian named Peter Hill who, through a set of unusual Last spring when he was in desperate need of money to carry on his
circumstances, sold some very early 19th Century wallpaper that he bought religious drives, as if in answer to prayer, friends told him to go to an antique
for $50 for 250 times as much as he paid for it. The paper, which shows a sale in Thurmont, Maryland. There a Mrs. Stoner was selling the furniture
scene of the Boston Harbor in the early days, and another scene of an Indian in her old house as it was being torn down in just a few days to make way
dance, brought $12,500 to the finder and his Danish-born wife and was later for a chain store (Thurmont Super Thrift, now Hobbs’ Hardware). When
presented by the purchasers to the White House. Mr. Hill entered the house he noticed the magnificent wallpaper in the front
Mr. Hill happened on to the paper on account of an interest in the history hall and was told that in order to acquire it he must deal with the wrecking
of religion and a zest for antique collecting. The antique collecting and selling company.
has helped him make money to carry on the spreading of the gospel as a lay Hill told Stoner he wanted to purchase the wallpaper, but she told him
preacher. he would have to negotiate with Ralph Miller who was in charge of the
Through some of the heirlooms he found in the past that are now part demolition that was scheduled to start in two days. Miller told Hill that a
of the historical collections at the Smithsonian Institute, Peter Hill met John woman had offered $100 for the wallpaper but would not be able to remove
Newton Pearce. Mr. Pearce is in the cultural section of the Smithsonian, and it before the house was demolished, according to a 1961 Frederick Post
article.
He paid $50 for the wallpaper and set to in a rush to remove it from the
walls where it had been for over 100 years. He spent three days removing
the complete set of “Scenic America” wallpaper with a razor blade and putty
knife. After this was done he called his friend Mr. Pearce of the Smithsonian
… Story continued on page 25