Stuart Herring: Maryland's Most Prolific Field Collector

Stuart Herring of Baltimore is very likely the most active and prolific field collector of mineral specimens in the State of Maryland. Few other collectors come close to competing  with him for such a distinction.  

In the image above, the specimen he holds is ore quality black chromite coated with violet colored chromian clinochlore (aka kammererite, rhodochrome, penninite) and white talc. He collected it at Bare Hills in Baltimore County. Until he uncovered this and other similar specimens, such material had not been collected in the area for nearly a century. The find is one of Maryland's most significant in the past 50 years. 

Field collecting in Maryland has become immensely  challenging. Localities that once yielded specimens have given way to sprawl. Strictly enforced laws prohibit collecting in state parks and national parks. Other sites are on private property that effectively forbid trespassing. Most of the few quarries that formerly allowed once a year visits from properly insured mineral societies now proclaim that liability issues prevent them from doing so.

How is it that Stuart is able to devote a major portion of his time to successfully collecting mineral specimens in and near his home state?  He focuses much of his approach on rediscovering  long forgotten localities, many of them no longer believed to exist. 

Plenty has been published during the past two centuries regarding Maryland localities that at different periods were known to have yielded a variety of mineral species. Over time, most of these localities have been  built over or otherwise become inaccessible or forgotten. Most of what was written about them appeared in a variety of publications that became obscure, some  nearly impossible to obtain, until several years ago. Finally, the Internet came to the rescue. 

Minerals of Maryland by Charles Ostrander and Walter Price was one such publication that in its day, many considered  a "Bible" for such information. It named and briedly described  by county most of Maryland's known localities and listed all the mineral species  reported from each one.  The Natural History Society of Maryland, which published it in 1940, made Minerals of Maryland available on line just three  years ago.   

Nearly as recently,  Maryland Geological Survey similarly brought on line more extensive and specific information about the localities noted in Minerals of Maryland and added additional ones.  Some of the varied publications provide maps that  make finding these localities easier.

Lidar data in LAS files, especially when accessed with Arc Gis, has provided collectors with an additional tool for seeking out localities. The technology provides collectors with a description of the earth contours throughout the vicinities where the localities---if any traces of them still exist--- appear on the maps.

Such wonderful tools will only prove helpful to collectors with the knowledge to identify specific species as well as how to search for any that remain. Such knowledge combined with Stuart's extensive collecting experience and the time he has available to collect give him his edge. It helps that he earns a substantial portion of his livelihood as a mineral dealer. 

In past posts, Mineral Bliss has feautred several finds Stuart has brought to light. They are as follows:  

The  Carroll Mine in Carroll County, Maryland   

New Finds: Falls Road Corridor Near Baltimore City Line 

 The Garnets of Stony Run in Baltimore City 

Stuart  very likely has had more experience collecting at the Mineral Hill Mine in Carroll County than anyone else alive today. One of his proudest finds from the immediate vicinity of  this iron and later copper mining operation dating from the 17th Century is pictured at left. The  specimen bears silvery carrollite-siegenite with golden chalcopyrite in magnetite. The carrollite-siegenite portion measures to nearly an inch, which is  considerably larger than the vast majority of the eponymous Carroll County carrollite examples curently known to exist.  

Stuart's  most spectacular find in our opinion was the deposit of ore quality chromite with chromian clinochlore from Bare Hills in Baltimore County that he holds  in our title picture.  

A more recent find is the almandine garnet specimen at right. Stuart collected in the Sparks-Glencoe area of Baltimore County along a stream where blasting had recently taken place. The spot was adjacent to a locality that an old Maryland Geological Survey publication had cited for kyanite. Needless to say, areas where blasting or construction has recently occurred are prime sources for potential mineral finds.  

Peter Via Collection for Grand Reopening of JMU Mineral Museum

It is a special event when a sizable group of mineral collectors gathers to be the first to view a large selection of world class minerals.  Recently attracting such a crowd was the former Peter Via collection, which had recently been appraised $16,800,000. Upon his death, he had bequeathed it to the James Madison University Mineral Museum in Harrisonburg, Virginia,.

The collection had never left Mr. Via's private home in Roanoke until he died in 2018. It was the largest gift the University ever received. Because of Covid, a grand reopening event by invitation only at the museum’s new home had to be rescheduled from April, 2020 to October 29, 2021.   

The crowd poured in to the Lower Drum of JMU's modern Festival Conference and Student Center on its East Campus. With leaves approaching peak color, it was a prime time of year to be in the area. Torrential rain and westbound traffic backed up for numerous miles on I-81 West were less cooperative.  

Notwithstanding, the number of mineral aficionados that managed to attend the event was substantial. After a short walk from easy parking, guests wound their way downstairs to a large visitor-filled room where volunteers at a check- in table handed out pre-printed tags. Penned onto each was a number referring to the group with which the holder could enter the museum. Wine and a few snacks were available to everyone. Down a short hallway, a designated group stood waiting to enter the exhibit room entrance after a previous group had exited.

Unlike others who were present, this writer had by special arrangement been able to visit Mr. Via at his home in Roanoke  years before to see this amazing collection. I had photographed as many specimens as time allowed and also enjoyed an opportunity to chat with Mr. Via  in his den about his mineral collecting philosophy.

Mineral Bliss's  October 27, 2014 post, “Unbelievable but True The World Class Personal Collection of Peter Via" resulted from that visit. Subsequently, Dr. Lance Kearns, JMU's Emeritus Professor of Geology and Curator of the Museum, with his wife Cindy, a current geology professor at JMU, spent time with Mr. Via during the period when he decided to bequeath his collection to the university.

When it arrived, the world famous mineral photographer Jeff Scovil  went to work with his camera. Also involved was Wendell Wilson, the Publisher and Editor in Chief of MIneralogical Record.  He personally authored a 23 page article about the collection that appeared in that publication’s September-October 2020 edition. At present, numerous images of the specimens are available on line in association with a brief video narrated by Dr. Kearns.  

Lance and Cindy Kearns were immediately inside the museum door as guests entered. When I greeted Lance, he mentioned that Mineral Bliss’s 2014 post had prompted the discussions leading to the bequest of this amazing collection to James Madison University.

The specimens intermingle with the larger collection that Dr.. Kearns describes as "a composite of five collections." Prior to owning the Via specimens, JMU had always displayed specimens in systematic suites based on chemical composition and atomic structure. While the systematic arrangement remains largely in place, many of the Via specimens are arranged in different kinds of small groups, especially when based on visual qualities of a given species or genre. In addition to specimens on display, JMU owns 1770 catalogued specimens in storage. Some will undoubtedly be candidates for rotation into the display.

At its past locations, the James Madison University Mineral Museum was well known  and worth a stop. With the addition of the Peter Via collection it has been transformed into what Dr. Kearns describes as a "Destination Collection.”  It means that people will now be traveling to James Madison University from far and wide for the sole purpose of viewing its mineral museum. Museum hours will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 am to 3 pm.I