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
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Roots and Seeds - Wednesday, July 31st
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If Wishes Were... - Monday, August 5th
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Have You Seen This Man? - Wednesday, August 14th
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She Wore Blue... - Monday, August 19th
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Great-grandson of a Preacher Man - Monday, August 26th
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In the Days Before Fortnite... - Monday, September 2nd
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What Comes Up Must Come Down... - Monday, September 9th
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A Look Back to That Middle Name... - Monday, September 30th
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50 Years Ago This Year... - Monday, October 7th
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Sometimes a Map Leads to a Chest... - Monday, October 14th
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A Tie That Binds - Monday, October 21st
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Was it really sheepskin? - Wednesday, March 18th
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Rana's Shawl - Thursday, March 19th
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A Second Cousin, A Notable First - Monday, March 23rd
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Another Second Cousin, A Noble First - Winona Caroline Martin- Wednesday, March 25th
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The Fabrics (and Follies) of Their Lives - Tuesday, March 31st
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The Diary of Michael Floy, Jr.
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Lights, Camera - Monday, April 13th
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From Field to Dreams - Wednesday, April 15th
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Ten Stamps, One Special Delivery - Tuesday, April 22nd
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Ahhh, Wilderness... - Friday, May 1st
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The Iceman Cometh - Monday, May 4th
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There Are Moments That Words Don't Reach - Friday, May 8th
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The Ted Mack Family Hour - Wednesday, May 13th
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Saturday in the Park with Eleanor - Friday, May 15th
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The Getty…the Whitney…and the Mather Attic - March 25, 2020
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Here comes the bride…breakfast to follow - March 25, 2020
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The Lineage of Happy Osborn Wakeman Mather - March 25, 2020
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The Mather “Mother” Matter - March 25, 2020
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The Last Woman Standing - April 15, 2020
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To debut or not debut, that was the question - April 15, 2020
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A Tree Grows in Darien - Does it Still? - April 15, 2020
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Party like it's 1778 ... 175th Anniversary Celebration at the Mather Homestead, September 12, 1953
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A rare book and the legacy of Moses Mather
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The lineage of Hannah Smith Scott, Mother of Sarah Scott, wife of Deacon Joseph Mather
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The Rockefeller Letters
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And all before frequent flyer miles ... Stephen T. Mather and the Pan Pacific Conference
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Party like it's 1778 ... the Sequel.  200th Anniversary Celebration at the Mather Homestead.  June 17, 1978
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Another one for "the books" - an appreciation of John Roberts Hoole - October 20, 2020
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A book of flowers ... an artist and her cousin - October 20, 2020
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Dear Uncle Joe ... I suppose you will be looking for me at home tonight but - October 20, 2020
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The Sutcliffe Letters - October 23 ,2020
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What slave should be held any longer? - October 23, 2020
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The Revelations of three family Bibles in the Homestead Attic - October 27, 2020
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Rabbit or Boar, and wait, there's more! - October 27, 2020
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"Mystery Books?"  Perhaps not.  7 strangers in the second floor bookcase - November 12, 2020
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The Under-glass Menagerie.  The Height of Fashion:  Victorian Parlor Domes - November 13, 2020
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"...prominent in his devotion to the cause of human freedom ..." an appreciation of James Floy, D.D. - November 14, 2020
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More than words alone ... treasures from the golden age of illustration - November 14, 2020
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"Dear Father" - Excerpts of letters from Stephen Mather to Josephen Wakeman Mather - December 17, 2020
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Wheels and deals ... and a steal too?  Joseph W. Mather's horse and carriage correspondence - January 11, 2021
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The Man who Be, and Was, King - January 16, 2021
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Chateau du Mather - January 28, 2021
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It's a stormy, dreary day - January 28, 2021
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My Darling Wife ..." a Letter from Stephen Mather to Jeanie Floy Mather - February 13, 2021
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Dr. Hosack Has Departed this Life ... the Mather Connection to David Hosack
March 23, 2021
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Putting Faces to Names.... Three Faces of Mather Family Photographs
March 23, 2021
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"In twenty-five words or less ..." a selection of inscriptions from books in the Homestead 
April 21, 2021
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“She rests at last beneath the starry skies…” The Mather Cemetery and the children of Deacon Mather - April 27, 2021
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“I make the following bequests…”  A brief look at the Last Will and Testament of Stephen T. Mather - May 6, 2021
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Click here for Darien Times article on Hidden Treasures