Mather Homestead Foundation

“DEATH OF FORMER    DIRECTOR MATHER “headlined Park Service Bulletin No. 49.  The article reported many details of the funeral service, held three days after Stephen’s death, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, New Caanan, CT.   “The fore part of the church was a bower of flowers, the tributes of loving friends and associates and a beautiful spray of roses and heather from the Washington office was among the three pieces on the coffin that went into the grave.  The Episcopal service was very...

“Mather kept his borax interests until the end, and in fact bequeathed them to his heirs…Mather’s heirs keep it alive today [1951], as the Sterling Borax Company, but for the sake of the veteran employees.  It has not paid a dividend in twenty-five years…”                                                             -Steve Mather of The National Parks, p. 277-78   The archives hold two leather-bound volumes that provide insight into the dedication of Stephen Mather and the succeeding directors...

Both Stephen Mather and Thomas Thorkildsen worked for Pacific Coast Borax.  Thorkildsen took over the Chicago office when Stephen was trans-ferred to New York.  Striking off on his own, Thorkildsen left PCB in 1897.    In 1904, Stephen left PCB and joined Thorkildsen as a partner.  In 1908 they created the Sterling Borax Company as their production unit and the Thorkildsen-Mather Company as the selling unit. In 1911, Pacific Coast Borax bought Sterling Borax Company, making both Stephen and...