Sheridan Stewart was born on his family’s Centennial Farm in Tompkins Township on November 7, 1917. He attended Tompkins Center School in the Village, graduated from Jackson High school in 1935, and was a graduate of Michigan State University in Agriculture Science.
Sheridan was always a very community oriented citizen, serving many years as Trustee on the Township Board, a longtime member of the Tompkins Cemetery Association, and a member of Tompkins Grange. His main interests in life were farming, hunting and the stock market. He described himself as, “a farmer and an investor”.
In his final years he made the decision to leave his 175-acre family Centennial Farm to the Township of Tompkins to be used for a possible building site for a new Town Hall and fire station, with the balance to be developed into recreational facilities, including ball fields, soccer fields, nature trails, a township museum and other public activities. This 175-acre Centennial Farm is said to be the largest acreage ever donated to any Township in the State of Michigan.
The Tompkins Historical Society, and the people of the Township, gratefully acknowledge his generous contributions to the public interest.
Today the Tompkins Historical Society has restored the family home into a museum open to the public for tours and special events. Improvements continue on the property to restore buildings, develop nature trails and recently the addition of a pavilion, log cabin, barn, museum addition, school house, and working wind mill.
Today, the objectives of T.C.H.S are to encourage historical study and research, to preserve historical material connected with Tompkins Township and Tompkins Center, and to house such material where it may be adequately displayed and accessible.
