Donn's Blog - Hidden Treasures
Docent Donn Smith has been poking around the Mather Homestead and he has found treasures abound! Check out his blogs which document his findings including artifacts from 250 years of American life including a bible from 1743, a girl's dress from the 1860's, Stephen Mather's camera, and more.
Thank you Donn Smith for your research and blogs!
What Have They Talked About for 65 Years? - Monday, July 29th
Roots and Seeds - Wednesday, July 31st
If Wishes Were... - Monday, August 5th
Have You Seen This Man? - Wednesday, August 14th
She Wore Blue... - Monday, August 19th
Great-grandson of a Preacher Man - Monday, August 26th
In the Days Before Fortnite... - Monday, September 2nd
What Comes Up Must Come Down... - Monday, September 9th
A Look Back to That Middle Name... - Monday, September 30th
50 Years Ago This Year... - Monday, October 7th
Sometimes a Map Leads to a Chest... - Monday, October 14th
A Tie That Binds - Monday, October 21st
Was it really sheepskin? - Wednesday, March 18th
Rana's Shawl - Thursday, March 19th
A Second Cousin, A Notable First - Monday, March 23rd
Another Second Cousin, A Noble First - Winona Caroline Martin- Wednesday, March 25th
The Fabrics (and Follies) of Their Lives - Tuesday, March 31st
The Diary of Michael Floy, Jr.
Lights, Camera - Monday, April 13th
From Field to Dreams - Wednesday, April 15th
Ten Stamps, One Special Delivery - Tuesday, April 22nd
Ahhh, Wilderness... - Friday, May 1st
The Iceman Cometh - Monday, May 4th
There Are Moments That Words Don't Reach - Friday, May 8th
The Ted Mack Family Hour - Wednesday, May 13th
Saturday in the Park with Eleanor - Friday, May 15th
The Getty…the Whitney…and the Mather Attic - March 25, 2020
Here comes the bride…breakfast to follow - March 25, 2020
The Lineage of Happy Osborn Wakeman Mather - March 25, 2020
The Mather “Mother” Matter - March 25, 2020
The Last Woman Standing - April 15, 2020
To debut or not debut, that was the question - April 15, 2020
A Tree Grows in Darien - Does it Still? - April 15, 2020
Party like it's 1778 ... 175th Anniversary Celebration at the Mather Homestead, September 12, 1953
A rare book and the legacy of Moses Mather
The lineage of Hannah Smith Scott, Mother of Sarah Scott, wife of Deacon Joseph Mather
The Rockefeller Letters
And all before frequent flyer miles ... Stephen T. Mather and the Pan Pacific Conference
Party like it's 1778 ... the Sequel. 200th Anniversary Celebration at the Mather Homestead. June 17, 1978
Another one for "the books" - an appreciation of John Roberts Hoole - October 20, 2020
A book of flowers ... an artist and her cousin - October 20, 2020
Dear Uncle Joe ... I suppose you will be looking for me at home tonight but - October 20, 2020
The Sutcliffe Letters - October 23 ,2020
What slave should be held any longer? - October 23, 2020
The Revelations of three family Bibles in the Homestead Attic - October 27, 2020
Rabbit or Boar, and wait, there's more! - October 27, 2020
"Mystery Books?" Perhaps not. 7 strangers in the second floor bookcase - November 12, 2020
The Under-glass Menagerie. The Height of Fashion: Victorian Parlor Domes - November 13, 2020
"...prominent in his devotion to the cause of human freedom ..." an appreciation of James Floy, D.D. - November 14, 2020
More than words alone ... treasures from the golden age of illustration - November 14, 2020
"Dear Father" - Excerpts of letters from Stephen Mather to Josephen Wakeman Mather - December 17, 2020
Wheels and deals ... and a steal too? Joseph W. Mather's horse and carriage correspondence - January 11, 2021
The Man who Be, and Was, King - January 16, 2021
Chateau du Mather - January 28, 2021
It's a stormy, dreary day - January 28, 2021
My Darling Wife ..." a Letter from Stephen Mather to Jeanie Floy Mather - February 13, 2021
Dr. Hosack Has Departed this Life ... the Mather Connection to David Hosack
March 23, 2021
Putting Faces to Names.... Three Faces of Mather Family Photographs
March 23, 2021
"In twenty-five words or less ..." a selection of inscriptions from books in the Homestead
April 21, 2021
“She rests at last beneath the starry skies…” The Mather Cemetery and the children of Deacon Mather - April 27, 2021
“I make the following bequests…” A brief look at the Last Will and Testament of Stephen T. Mather - May 6, 2021
When the 4th of July was Flag Day too! A Birthday Celebration for Stephen Mather - July 27, 2021
Kissing Cousins: A genealogical look at four early Mather family marriages - August 11, 2021
All in the Families: A genealogical look at four more Mather family marriages - August 11, 2021
“How was your birthday?” “It was a blast!” A look at the Many Glacier Sawmill “episode”. September 19, 2021
The Horace Albright Letters, correspondence with Bertha Mather McPherson, September 29, 2021
“You say tomato, I say…” The dedication of Stephen Mather High School, Chicago, Illinois, October 22, 2021
A Yule Blog from the Mather Bookshelf, "Christmas Stories about Santa Claus," December 15, 2021
Another Yule Blog from the Mather Bookshelf, "The Poems of Fanny deGroot Hastings," December 16, 2021
In the days before Kindle ... Three centuries of books and four selected first editions," December 20, 2021
Stephen T. Mather, cub reporter, Stephen Mather, the New York Sun, and James G. Blaine, December 20, 2021
Whose garden was this? It must have been lovely ..., January 4, 2022
Enigmas in the attic…two 175-year old documents, January 24, 2022
Vests of interest: the latest attic discovery, January 25, 2022
Under the watchful eye… Bertha Mather McPherson upbraids Professor Joseph Lawrence Sax, January 29, 2022
"... to take up my new duties at Washington ..." Letters from Stephen Mather to George C. Purdy, January 30, 2022
Travels of the Little Lost Sheet - How a woven heirloom made its way back to the Mather Homestead, March 13, 2022
The French Connection - An 1869 Letter from Samuel McPherson to his brother Theodore, March 13, 2022
“Come down and see my etchings…” A discovery on the Homestead basement floor. April 5, 2022
“…and bequeath my watch, piano and books to my son Stephen Tyng Mather…”, April 7, 2022
From silk hats to horse manure… The voluminous paid bill files of Joseph Wakeman Mather, April 11, 2022
Where there’s a will… The contested estate of Stephen Mather’s maternal grandfather. April 23, 2022
The price of success…The two wills of Stephen Tyng Mather’s mother-in-law, May 6, 2022
Oh to be in England… A letter to Family written from Bristol in 1858, May 19, 2022
Hey, we’re still here… Not to forget the chests and trunks in the Homestead attic, May 24, 2022
Safekeeping indeed! A first look at documents in the Mather Homestead basement safe. July 30, 2022
Here’s my card…a treasury of Stephen Mather’s business and calling cards. August 1, 2022
The well…the Tories…and Jesse Raymond’s £10 State Notes, August 2, 2022
So, what’s for dessert? The evening dinner when the ceiling came crashing down, August 4, 2022
“No man was earlier in his seat at church than he…” More about Joseph Mather Jr., Stephen Mather’s grandfather, August 24, 2022
Bad enough Loyalists raid your house… Deacon Mather and his pursuit of a Revolutionary War Pension, August 24, 2022
“What shall we name the baby?” From family suggestions to a 21st birthday letter from dad. August 25, 2022
Where does time go? Rediscovering Joseph Wakeman Mather’s pocket watch. September 1, 2022
Ah, had the Deacon lived another 182 years…A look at the Last Will and the estate of Deacon Joseph Mather. September 4, 2022
From the Deacon to Stephen…Tracing the ownership of the Homestead from 1840 to 1905. September 5, 2022
Make that 71…the latest Mather Plaque—Ours! “…There will never come an end to the good that he has done.” September 15, 2022
“…a simple little celebration of the event…”. Stephen Mather and the 150th Anniversary of the Homestead, September 16, 2022
Montague, a 1926 Franklin, Walter Stewart, and more: Interesting discoveries you won't find at the Stephen Mather Exhibit, October 4, 2022
Tea for two, or nine, or maybe once for twelve. The Tea Set and Silver of Rana Mather, October 15, 2022
“...gaily and profusely decorated with flags and bunting…” the 100th anniversary of the Mather Homestead, October 19, 2022 -- # 100!!!!
The portrait on the wall…and the silver in the safe. The presence and presents of Michael Floy in the Mather Homestead. October 20, 2022
Flower baskets, two cats, and a cockatoo. A pause to look at the doorstops in the Mather Homestead. November 22, 2022