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The Guest Chamber, the second floor back bedroom in the 1927 wing, is not always included in a tour.  Its most immediate, and sometimes only noted, feature are the early 18 th c. Dutch Delft fireplace tiles.   To the right of the fireplace is a painting representing the capture of the Rev. Dr. Moses Mather by the British in 1781.  But, who painted it?   Thanks to a note from Bertha, we know it was Rhoda Warren Wolfe Prins (1902-1969), a children’s fashion illustrator, who at one time lived in Wilton. She married Bejamin Kimberly Prins, a fellow illustrator, in 1925. Miss Rhoda Wolfe, Brooklyn Eagle , Feb 9, 1925 On the East wall of the same room, are two small 19 th c. miniatures.  The appraiser of the Homestead’s contents was unable to identify the couple. So, who were they? At last, we know. In a recently discovered note Bertha prepared for a Homestead tour, they were “Edward and Sophia Walker, when young, same persons as portrayed in Dining room.” Edward and Sophia were the parents of Bertha Jemima Walker Mather, who was the mother of Stephen Mather and his brother Josie.

On November 12th, guests at this fall’s third Scholar’s Lecture will learn about area Revolutionary houses, more about the Homestead, and much more about Bertha Mather McPherson.   Bertha was an ardent champion and cheerleader for her home.  She preserved existing antiques and added scores of period-appropriate pieces.  And she quite literally, threw open the doors to those who were interested in the Homestead.   Thanks to her, the Homestead graced the cover of the 1960-1961 Darien/New Canaan Telephone Directory.   (Anyone remember phone directories?)  She also made sure that the Homestead was a regular stop on both house and garden tours.  And of course, led the successful effort to have the Homestead added to the list of Registered National Historic Landmarks.   In the archives we have Bertha’s typed note for the guides of one tour.  Included were such insights as…   “OLD KITCHEN…Fireplace- bee hive Bake oven (do not say Dutch oven)…”   “DINING ROOM…Originally the Parlor, for funerals, weddings and minister’s calls…”   “SOUTHWEST CHAMBER…Curtains-Crewel embroidery by Bertha McPherson, carrying out motifs of 1772 American crewel embroidery framed over bed…”

Two of Deacon Mather’s daughters lived into their nineties.  His granddaughter, Emily Selleck Waterbury lived to be 99, but it was her daughter, Betsey Ann Waterbury Seeley who set the record for longevity among the Deacon’s descendants, living past her 100 th birthday (20 Sep 1835-16 Jun 1936).   Betsey was born during Andrew Jackson’s second term and died dur-ing Frankin Roosevelt’s first.  She saw the United States grow from 24 states to 48.  She was born only twenty years after the end of the War of 1812 and passed away just five years before the start of World War Two.  But it was the American Civil War that forever changed her life.   On 19 September 1858, Betsy married Albert Oscar Seeley.  He enlisted from Darien on 9 August 1862.  Corporal Seeley was captured at Gettysburg and paroled seven weeks later.  He was captured again in May 1964 in Welaka Florida and served time in the notorious Andersonville prison camp.  He was paroled in Dec 1864 and died in Annapolis 9 January 1865.  Darien death records cite “Soldier Starved at Andersonville” as the cause of his death.   Betsy and Albert had two sons.  Albert only lived to age seven.  His brother William Wyx Seeley lived to 98. “Mrs. Seeley had been in excellent health during her long life and retained her faculties and interest in life almost to the end…”   Mount Vernon Argus June 27, 1936 -

If you’ve watched The Gilded Age, you know the social stigma associated with divorce in that era.  In circles of less scrutiny, it was not uncommon for women to declare that they were widowed and omit mention of a marital separation of dissolution.  For genealogists, this expediency often comes to light when reviewing census records.   In researching more limbs of Deacon Joseph Mather’s family tree, just such an instance appears. Moses Selleck was a great-grandson of Deacon Mather His grandmother was Hannah Mather Selleck, his mother was Polly Selleck, his father was Lewis Selleck. (Yes, a Selleck married a Selleck—small dating pool in 1823!)   Born 9 October 1838, Moses married Sarah Raymond on Christmas Day 1860.  The 1870 census shows Moses and Sarah in Brooklyn with two boys, Wilber and J. Howard, and Sarah’s father Philander Raymond. Moses’ occupation is a carpenter.  We don’t have another census for Moses until 1900 when he is living in Huntington, Long Island with his wife Elizabeth (Richardson) and his occupation is house carpenter.  The same information appears on the 1910 census.   For Sarah, on the 1880 census, she is living in Brooklyn, with the two boys, and her mother, Matilda.  Her occupation is “keeping confectionary” and she is “widowed.”  In the 1900 census, she is in San Francisco, living with her brother, “widowed” and indicates that one of her sons has passed away. (Howard died in 1890 and is buried in Norwalk Union Cemetery.)  By 1910 she is living as a lodger on Folsom Street in San Francisco, and remains “widowed.”   Elizabeth Richardson Selleck died in 1912.  Moses died on 30 Jan 1917, and the “widow” Sarah outlived them both, passing away in January 1924.

By 1929, as Director of the National Parks Service, Stephen Mather was respon-sible for 25 National Parks comprising 7.6 million acres, hosting 2,600,000 visitors a year—and all on a federal operating appropriation of only $2.2 million dollars.  Professionally he had to wear many hats; sartorially he did so as well!   At the Homestead, cosseted in its own case, is Stephen’s top hat. The hat was by The Williams Company, Southern Building, Washington DC, and has the initials STM in the hat lining. Unfortunately, we have no photographs of Stephen in    the top hat, but we do have him with a wide assortment of headwear—from       a flat cap to a mortarboard…a fedora to a tricorne…and more.

Farquhar spent three years at the Harvard Crimson and twenty years as editor of the Sierra Club Bulletin.  He climbed all the 14,000 foot peaks in the Sierra Nevada and formed his own successful accounting firm.  Beyond that, Francis Farquhar was also a close friend, traveling companion, and staunch ally to Stephen Mather.   Having served as accountant for the National Park Service from 1919 to 1922, Farquhar was intimate with Stephen’s personal financial contributions to the growth of the national parks.  In an interview at Berkeley in 1960, Farquhar shared the six-figure size of that largesse. And as written in the Sierra Club Bulletin in February 1975, Farquhar’s  “San Francisco apartment was the unofficial western headquarters of the National Park Service.”   In the Homestead archives we have several letters from Farquhar.  A few excerpts…   From a November 22, 1928 letter to Stephen: “…Wasn’t the election a knockout!...In California, we not only carried the state for Hoover by a big majority, but made the State Park movement an assured success by an emphatic vote in favor of the bonds…”   From a December 11, 1928 letter to Stephen: “…At the [Sierra Club] Directors meeting there was also a resolution passed that the secretary send you a word of cheer from the members of the Board individually…The Directors [then] devoted their attention to two big projects…While we are not going to burden you with any strenuous activities, we do look to you for the inspiration that you have always given us…”   From a letter that may have been the impetus to having Stephen’s papers at Berkeley, on March 22, 1924, Farquhar wrote to Bertha Mather: “Dear Betty, I enclose the programs of the Charter Day exercises at the University last Saturday and have a suggestion to make – and that is, that you gather together all material of this sort relating to your father…I believe it would be a source of great interest to you and many others both now and later on…” Francis and Mary Farquhar on a Sierra Club outing in the 1930s.

In an earlier blog we looked at various locations in the National Parks that had been named in honor of the Park Services’ first director.  His name has also been given to at least three schools.   The Oldest Stephen Tyng Mather High School, Chicago IL.  The home of The Rangers, Mather High School was dedicated in 1959 and today remains a vibrant part of the Chicago Public School system.   From the school’s website: “With students representing over 140 nations and speaking more than 60 home languages, Mather is one of the most diverse high schools in Chicago. This diversity enriches learning and prepares every student to thrive in a connected world.”  At the school’s dedication, Stephen McPherson, Stephen Mather’s grandson, delivered a welcoming speech, a copy of which is in the Mather archives.  The Newest Stephen T. Mather Building Arts & Craftsmanship High School, New York, NY.  The school was founded in 2013 in partnership with the National Park Service.  From the School’s website: “Through our unique partnership with the National Park Service (NPS), and myriad others, we are able to offer real, hands-on education in the building and landscaping trades, with an emphasis on high-quality craftsmanship and the specialized building arts while also providing you with a solid college- and career-ready foundation integrated with the trades and aligned with the Common Core Standards.” The Gone—but Not Forgotten. Mather Junior High School, Darien CT. Situated in the building that is now the Darien Town Hall, from 1960 to 1983, Mather was Darien’s second junior high.  The closing ceremony took place on June 12, 1983.  A program from the closing is in the Homestead Archives.  In December 1983, the Mather plaque was transferred from the junior high to the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.

Without question, the holidays were a time of celebration at the Homestead.  Nestled on an upper shelf in the Keeping Room is a collection of well-read books that capture the spirit and impart the message of the Christmas season.   Among the books are a richly-illustrated depiction of An Edwardian Christmas …a small volume, Christmas Stories about Santa Claus , coauthored by Jane Mather’s uncle, Henry Floy… The Romance of a Christmas Card by Kate Douglas Wiggin, the author of Rebecca  of Sunnybrook Farm …and The Legend of the Christmas Rose by Selma Lagerlӧf, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature.   And, of course, no collection of Christmas reading would be complete without A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  In the Homestead archives we have a pocket-sized version from 1897, inscribed: Jane Mather Christmas 1899.       And remember, you and your family are invited to celebrate the Christmas season at the Homestead on December 20 th ! Saturday, December 20th Family Fun presented by the Junior Board.  Crafts, cookie decorating, live music, and a visit from St. Nick, Plus, festive bevs & sweet treats.

The Homestead was built around a central chimney serving three fireplaces, the largest of which is in the Keeping Room.   This fireplace, with its beehive oven, was at the center of daily household activities.  On the hearth of that fireplace are three items immediately familiar to colonial men and women, but less known today.   A Carriage Foot Warmer.   Popular in the 18 th century, the foot warmer was a metal box with a hinged door within a wooden frame with a wire handle or bail. The metal box contained a tray to hold the embers or charcoal. Holes could be found both in the wood or metal to allow for ventilation to release the warmth from the coals.   Foot warmers were used in various settings, most notably in carriages, sleighs, churches, and meeting houses.   Wrought Iron Rotary Bread Toaster.   Long-handled, the toaster could be placed close to the fire without danger. The toast arm rotates to facilitate toasting on both sides of two slices of bread.  You have to imagine that in a household as large as the Deacon’s, the family had either a lot of patience, or more than one toaster!   A Betty Lamp.   In the 18th century, betty lamps were a readily available lighting source. The name of the lamp is from the German word besser, meaning better. The Betty lamp differs from earlier oil/grease lamps in that it uses an internal wick holder to eliminate fuel drip common with older lamp designs.

On June 20, 1862, Bertha Jemima Walker, the youngest daughter of Edward and Sophia Walker, received her diploma from the Misses Bucknall’s finishing school “Of Amiable Deportment and Excellent Scholarship.”   Two years later, on June 27, 1864, at the age of twenty, she was married to Joseph Wakman Mather, who had turned forty-four earlier that year.   Almost immediately thereafter, the couple left for San Francisco, far from Bertha’s lifelong home, friends and family.  Three years later, on July 4, 1867, Stephen was born, followed by his brother Josie, two years later in 1869.     Then in June of 1870, Bertha J. Mather was committed to the Stockton State Hospital.  She was “Age 26 years; native of New York; married; has 2 children, the youngest 16 months old…”     The report went on “The evidence of insanity is she desires to destroy herself… that she ought to die—that her children are in great danger…made threats to kill her husband and children; is suicidal…cause of insanity unknown…”   It wasn’t until a hundred years later that postpartum depression was recognized as a distinct medical condition.   Consider just two of the symptoms the Mayo Clinic defines as postpartum depression: “Thoughts of harming yourself or your baby…Recurring thoughts of death or suicide.”   Discharged on June 30, 1873, Bertha returned to her father’s home in New York.  For the rest of her life, Bertha resided in the New York area, receiving a monthly stipend from Joseph Mather which she acknowledged with courtesy and regularity. Bertha Jemima Walker Mather died August 19, 1899 and is buried in the Mather Cemetery. Bertha Mather with Stephen, 1868

Tours often speak of Joseph Mather’s purchase of the Homestead from his cousin, Ann Lockwood.  Or how Stephen followed his father’s footsteps when he went to work for Pacific Coast Borax.  But often overlooked is that Joseph Wakeman Mather was also…   A Grammar School Principal.  In the late 1850s, J. W. Mather was principal of Grammar School No. 20 as well as Treasurer of the New York Teachers’ Association.  A 1859 newspaper article wrote: “The large new first class school edifice, No. 20 on Chrystie Street…will be opened …today, Sept. 7…designed by Mr. Thomas R. Johnson, the architect… many valuable suggestions were made by the Principal of the school,  Mr. Mather, based on his practical experience…”   A Celebrated First Tenor.   Joining with three friends, Joseph Wakeman Mather formed the Fremont & Dayton Glee Club.  They sang at various events during the Fremont/Dayton Presidential campaign of 1856 and again during the first Lincoln campaign.   From time to time the group regathered, and as late as 1899, accounts spoke of Mr. Mather’s still-strong voice.     A Political Office-Seeker.  Although we know little about the campaign itself, we do have fragments of a poster printed for his campaign for State Senator in California’s 12 th Senatorial district.    A Gentleman Farmer.  We know that Joseph Wakeman Mather supervised the growing of many crops on the Homestead and took pride in the results. From a letter published in the Norwalk Hour March 20, 1897, he wrote: “For the benefit of those contemplating raising Indian corn during the coming season…I raised last year on a field of one and seven-eighths acres 310 bushels of the ear…It is observed that the proportion of corn to the cob is much larger than that usually accepted…the percentage of cobs [usually] being 20%, while that of mine was a trifle over 14%

Often, visitors to the Homestead parlor are told that the painting of Bertha Jemima Walker was originally much larger and included her sisters as well.  According to legend, the painting was divided to give each sister her own portrait. Although a story on the Homestead website suggests there could have been as many as five sisters in the painting, the common belief is that there were three.       Research into both English and American records reveals that, when the canvas was painted, Bertha had only two living sisters, Elizabeth Mary and Sophia Ann.  Further research points to Bertha having had four other sisters and five brothers—12 children born to Edward Walker and his wife, Sophia Shedel.  All 12 children were born within a twenty-year period, nine within the first eleven years of the Walker’s marriage!  Two sons and three daughters lived to adulthood.  Bertha was the youngest of the twelve.   In fact, there were two Sophia Anns.  The first, born in England in 1832 most likely died of whooping cough in 1835, shortly after the Walker’s arrival in the United States.  The second Sophia Ann was born in October 1842, married, and died in 1918.  Elizabeth Mary was born in 1835 and died in September 1922.  At least two of her daughters were guests at the Homestead. Walker Children - Photograph from late 1850s-early 1860s - Seated L-R: Joseph, Elizabeth Mary, James Edward, Standing L-R: Sophia Ann, Bertha Jemima