Wedding group from 1907.

We're currently processing additional materials donated by the family of Lewis Zandenberg. Lewis was a former president of the Stirling-Rawdon Historical Society and Chair of the Stirling Public Library Board, and a keen genealogist and local historian. Among the items he collected are a pair of photographs from 1907, taken to mark the 50th wedding anniversary of a couple from Stirling, Ontario.

Married couple in a car.

The married couple are identified on the back of the photographs as Abigail Ann (1839-1927) and Stephen Badgley (1835-1914). Abigail's maiden name was Barager and she married Stephen on October 27th, 1857.

The building in both of these photographs is the Methodist Church in Stirling, now St. Paul's United Church. The younger couple in the front of the car are probably the Badgleys' son, William Ward Badgley (1868-1929) and his wife Sarah (born Stiles, 1866-1958).

A closer look at both photographs reveals an interesting character: there is a man pictured in them who doesn't seem to entirely belong. He is lurking just outside the group in the first photograph, hands in pockets, in contrast to the more formal poses taken by the rest of the people in the image:

Man standing behind group.

and here is what seems to be the same man, skulking at the corner of the church in the second photograph:

Man standing in background of photo.

We are left wondering if he was part of the party, or if he was deliberately inserting himself into the photographs in order to spoil them.