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Attempting to learn about the men and women who wrote to Stephen Mather in the late 1920s, we find that his circle of friends and acquaintances was both large and diverse.  As example…   The Architect:  GILBERT STANLEY UNDERWOOD 1890-1861 Known for his  National Park  lodges, Underwood received his B.A. from  Yale  in 1920 and a M.A. from  Harvard  in 1923. Underwood designed lodges for  Zion National Park ,  Bryce Canyon National Park , and the North Rim of the  Grand Canyon National Park . In addition, Underwood was contracted to design  Yosemite National Park 's  The Ahwahnee , probably his greatest triumph in the Rustic style. Underwood also designed stations for the Union Pacific, and went on to design more than 20 post offices, two major federal buildings, and the U.S. State Department Building. From 1947 to 1949, he was appointed as federal supervisory architect.   The Zoologist:  THEODORE SHERMAN PALMER  1868-1955 American zoologist.  1889, he joined the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the  United States Department of Agriculture . He was a member of the 1891  Death Valley Expedition  and its leader for its first 3 months. He was Assistant Chief of the Department from 1896 to 1902, and then from 1910 to 1914. He became interested in the legislation affecting wildlife, leading a branch of the organization to deal with it from 1902 to 1910 and from 1914 to 1916. He wrote the preliminary draft of the treaty for protection of birds migrating between  Canada  and the United States (1916), and was Chairman of the Committee which prepared the first regulations under the  Migratory Bird Treaty Act .   The Churchman :  JAMES EDWARD FREEMAN 1866-1943  Third bishop of the  Episcopal Diocese of Washington , serving from 1923 to 1943. During his episcopacy, he led a national campaign to raise funds for the construction of the  Washington National Cathedral . He also officiated at memorial services for  Warren G. Harding ,  Woodrow Wilson , and  William Howard Taft .     The Playboy:   LORILLARD SUFFERN TAILER 1897-1979 Son of Lord Lorillard of the British-American tobacco family.  The New York Times, in reporting his first marriage wrote: “He is a well-known polo player and is a member of various clubs, including the Union and the Newport Country Club…”  On reporting of his impending divorce The Times added, “millionaire society leader on two continents.”  He did take a post as assistant deputy administrator of the NRA (National Recovery Administration.       The Tennis Court:     WOLMAR FILIP BOSTROM 1878-1956 Swedish diplomat and  tennis  player.  He competed at the 1908 and 1912 Olympics in singles and men's doubles and won a bronze medal in the doubles in 1908, finishing fifth in three other events.  Bostrom served as the Swedish Minister in Washington for nineteen years 1928-1947.     The Supreme Court: HARLAN FISKE STONE 1872-1946 American attorney and jurist who served as an  associate justice  of the  U.S. Supreme Court  from 1925 to 1941 and then as the 12th  chief justice of the United States  from 1941 until his death in 1946. He also served as the  U.S. Attorney General  from 1924 to 1925 under President  Calvin Coolidge ,

In February 1929, Stephen Mather received a note from Norman Macleod, thanking Mather for his “kindness and courtesy.”   Macleod was Custodian of the Petrified Forest National Monument, the equivalent to Superin-tendent at a National Park.    At that point and in charge of a national monument, Macleod was only twenty-two years old.   Macleod’s son, Norman Jr., would later say, “My dad burned the candle at both ends with a blowtorch in the middle.”   Indeed, if you looked up  “peripatetic” in the dictionary, you’d probably find a picture of Macleod.   Not only was he monument custodian from February 1928 to July 1929, “Mr. Macleod…[crossed] the Atlantic 12 times before he was six, once aboard the Lusitania …While a foreign correspondent for the Federated Press, he traveled through England, France, Germany, Holland, and the Soviet Union. Some of his other jobs included: ranger in Glacier National Park, checker for the United States Bureau of Public Roads… work on cattle and sheep ranches in the west, and acting in movies…”    His lasting fame however was as a poet, novelist, editor and educator.  An editor at various magazines and journals, including  Pembroke Magazine,  Macleod was instrumental in establishing the Poetry Center at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. He taught at numerous institutions, including San Francisco State College, the University of Baghdad in Iraq, and Pembroke State University. He had long friendships with poets such as  William Carlos Williams  and  W.S. Graham , both of whom dedicated poems to him. In 1973, Macleod was awarded the Horace Gregory Award for his work as a poet, an editor, and a teacher.   His time at the Petrified Forest did give inspiration for one of his more famous poems, Coniferous , printed here in its entirety. Norman Macleod 1906-1985

Among the letters Stephen Mather received from well-wishers in 1928 was one postmarked Santa Catalina Island from Jordan Lawrence Mott 3d.   A name now nearly-forgotten, Lawrence Mott created national headlines in 1912.  Born to privilege in 1881, Lawrence Mott graduated from Harvard in 1905 and subsequently joined a series of newspapers in New York where he became known as the ‘millionaire reporter.’  In 1901 he married Caroline Pitkin.  He professed to find journalism “far too dull.”  Apparently, he felt the same about life with Caroline.  Mott met an already-married light opera singer, Frances Hewitt Bowne.  In 1912, the couple, each still married, eloped to Europe on a freighter.  It was reported that Lawrence disguised himself as a purser and Frances disguised herself as a cabin boy.   Lawrence’s father sent a friend, Hector Fuller, in pursuit of the couple with orders to bring Lawrence home.  Fuller missed them by hours in Gibraltar and finally caught up with them in Hong Kong.  It was there that Lawrence refused to return and was subsequently disinherited.   Settling on Santa Catalina, Lawrence and Frances married in 1928 after each had obtained a divorce.   Frances continued to perform while Lawrence spent his days boating, running KFWO, the local radio station, and authoring a series of successful novels of outdoor life, becoming friends with both Jack London and Zane Grey.   Much of Mott’s time later on was spent campaigning for conservation of wildlife and natural resources. He pioneered fishing for  steelhead  on the  North Umpqua River ,  Oregon , and a section of the  North Umpqua Trail  bears his name. He established a fishing camp near  Steamboat Creek , where he died of  leukemia in 1931, with Frances by his side.    In his letter to Stephen, Mott suggests…”Mabbe-so we might ‘git together’ next September or October, and have a whirl?”  That trip would not come to pass, but certainly, each in his own way, did lead lives that were a whirl.

Established in 1890, The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN), a federal body operating under the Secretary of the Interior Department, “provides Service-wide guidance and coordination on naming geographic features in national parks.”   According to BGN principles: “The person being honored should have had either some direct or long-term association with the feature, or have made a significant contribution to the area, community, or State in which it is located.”   As we’ve begun to look at the Mather letters archived at Berkeley, we’ve already found six individuals whose association with the National Parks resulted in the BGN naming a feature within a Park to commemorate their contribution.    William Bertrand Acker (1859-1935) Acker was the Chief Clerk of the Interior Department.  Acker Peak (10,988 feet), a  summit  in  Yosemite National Park , was named for Acker.     Acker Peak Horace Albright (1890-1987)  Albright served as superintendent of  Yellowstone National Park  from 1919 to 1929 and worked to make it a model for park management. On January 12, 1929, Albright succeeded Mather as the second director of the NPS and held the post until August 9, 1933.  Albright Peak  (10,557 feet) in Grand Teton National Park is named in his honor.  Albright Peak Arno Berthold Cammerer ( 1883-1941) The third director of the U.S.  National Park Service . After the project to found  Great Smoky Mountains National Park  proved expensive, Cammerer secured a promise from  John D. Rockefeller Jr. , to match $5 million in the acquisition of  Shenandoah National Park  lands Mount Cammerer   on the northeastern fringe of the  Great Smoky Mountains honors Cammerer.    Mount Cammerer Col. David C. Chapman (1876-1944) American soldier,  politician , and business leader from  Knoxville, Tennessee  who led the effort to establish the  Great Smoky Mountains National Park  in the 1920s and 1930s.  Mount Chapman  in the park is named in his honor.     Mount Chapman George Bucknam Dorr (1853-1944) Known as the father of Acadia National Park, spent most of his adult life bringing the park into being, caring for the park, and expanding it.  He donated scores of parcels of his own land and persuaded others to donate land or gift funds.  Named after Dorr,  Dorr Mountain  is one of the more popular and yet overlooked mountains on Acadia.   Dorr Mountain Richard Tranter Evans (1881-1966) U.S. Geological Survey  senior topographic engineer from 1899 to 1951, who surveyed and mapped this area of the Grand Canyon in 1904.   Evans He drew the first topographic maps of  Pikes Peak , the Grand Canyon, and  Salt Lake City . He was the acting superintendent of  Zion National Park  from 1925 to 1926, and superintendent of  Hawaii National Park  from 1927 to 1928.  Evans Butte  is a 6,379-foot-elevation summit located in the  Grand Canyon National Park.   Evans Butte

Established in 1890, The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN), a federal body operating under the Secretary of the Interior Department, “provides Service-wide guidance and coordination on naming geographic features in national parks.”   According to BGN principles: “The person being honored should have had either some direct or long-term association with the feature, or have made a significant contribution to the area, community, or State in which it is located.”   As we’ve begun to look at the Mather letters archived at Berkeley, we’ve already found six individuals whose association with the National Parks resulted in the BGN naming a feature within a Park to commemorate their contribution.  William Bertrand Acker (1859-1935) Acker was the Chief Clerk of the Interior Department.  Acker Peak (10,988 feet), a  summit  in  Yosemite National Park , was named for Acker. Horace Albright (1890-1987)  Albright served as superintendent of  Yellowstone National Park  from 1919 to 1929 and worked to make it a model for park management. On January 12, 1929, Albright succeeded Mather as the second director of the NPS and held the post until August 9, 1933.  Albright Peak  (10,557 feet) in Grand Teton National Park is named in his honor.    Arno Berthold Cammerer ( 1883-1941) The third director of the U.S.  National Park Service . After the project to found  Great Smoky Mountains National Park  proved expensive, Cammerer secured a promise from  John D. Rockefeller Jr. , to match $5 million in the acquisition of  Shenandoah National Park  lands Mount Cammerer   on the northeastern fringe of the  Great Smoky Mountains honors Cammerer.  Col. David C. Chapman (1876-1944) American soldier,  politician , and business leader from  Knoxville, Tennessee  who led the effort to establish the  Great Smoky Mountains National Park  in the 1920s and 1930s.  Mount Chapman  in the park is named in his honor. George Bucknam Dorr (1853-1944) Known as the father of Acadia National Park, spent most of his adult life bringing the park into being, caring for the park, and expanding it.  He donated scores of parcels of his own land and persuaded others to donate land or gift funds.  Named after Dorr,  Dorr Mountain  is one of the more popular and yet overlooked mountains on Acadia.   Richard Tranter Evans (1881-1966) U.S. Geological Survey  senior topographic engineer from 1899 to 1951, who surveyed and mapped this area of the Grand Canyon in 1904.   Evans He drew the first topographic maps of  Pikes Peak , the Grand Canyon, and  Salt Lake City . He was the acting superintendent of  Zion National Park  from 1925 to 1926, and superintendent of  Hawaii National Park  from 1927 to 1928.  Evans Butte  is a 6,379-foot-elevation summit located in the  Grand Canyon National Park.

We all know about the Mather plaques that can be found in so many of our National Parks.  But beyond that, the National Park Service has honored Stephen Mather by naming geo-graphical features within several Parks after their first director.  Here are just four:   Mather Pass  is a high  mountain pass , at an elevation of 12,068 feet in  California's   Sierra Nevada   mountain range . It lies within far eastern  Fresno County , inside  Kings Canyon National Park  and the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness   Mount Mather  is a 12,096-foot mountain in the Alaska Range, in  Denali National Park and Preserve . Mount Mather lies to the northeast of  Denali , overlooking  Brooks Glacier . The mountain itself is covered by glaciers. Mount Mather was named in 1947.   Stephen Mather Wilderness  is a 634,614 acres wilderness area  honoring  Stephen Mather . It is located within   North Cascades National Park ,  Lake Chelan National Recreation Area , and  Ross Lake National Recreation Area  in the  North Cascade Range  of  Washington .   Mather Point offers the first glimpse of a world wonder for many visitors to the Grand Canyon National Park . On a clear day you can see 30+ miles to the east and 60+ miles to the west. Looking down into the canyon you can see the Colorado River, Phantom Ranch, and numerous trails. Mather Pass Mount Mather Stephen Mather Wilderness Mather Point

In an earlier blog we looked at Deacon Mather’s efforts to secure his Revolutionary War pension.  It was not until 1902 that the Bureau of Pensions confirmed his service, noting that Sarah, the Deacon’s wife, was pensioned as his widow.   In that letter we learn that Deacon Mather served nearly two years (23 months) between 1775 and 1781 and that he was engaged in the successful six-week siege of Fort St. John on the Richelieu River in Canada.   As part of a program marking the 250th Anniversary of the founding of the United States, The Sons of the American Revolution have established an initiative to plant 250 Liberty Trees across the nation.  These trees are symbolic of the original Liberty Tree elm which was a rallying point for early revolutionaries in Boston.   With a tentative date of this coming May 17th one of those trees will be planted at the Mather Homestead with a plaque reading:    LIBERTY TREE                         Planted by the Roger Sherman Branch                             of the CTSSAR in honor of                           DEACON JOSEPH MATHER                                Commissioned officer in the                               War of the Revolution                                 1775-1781                           Engaged in the Siege of                                      Fort St. John                                   Dedicated May 17, 2025

In the midst of shaking the Mather family tree for Civil War participants, we were confronted with a most unexpected, offbeat, somewhat whimsical, and apparently, Wikipedia-worthy individual.   William Street Hutchings was the son of Jane Street and John Hutchings, and the grandson of Clara Mather and Samuel Street.   William was born in Manhattan in 1832.   This from Wikipedia…   William Street Hutchings , (January 7, 1832 - August 25, 1911) also known as  Professor Hutchings  and the  Lightning Calculator , was a 19th-century  math   prodigy  and  mental calculator  who  P. T. Barnum  first billed as the "Boy Lightning Calculator". He later worked as a  sideshow   barker  and wrote a book called  The Lightning Calculator…”   As the Brooklyn Eagle reported with William’s obituary in 1911… “Professor William Street Hutchings, "the lightning calculator," for fifty years famous in the show world of the United States, died yesterday, at his home, 8 Bulfinch Street, Boston, aged 80 years. He was born on Forsyth Street, Manhattan, January 7, 1832, his father being a grocer. He first practiced law, then became an actor and afterward a farmer. In 1860 he went into Barnum's Museum as a lightning calculator, remaining until the museum burned down the second time. He then went on the road and in 1872 gave a private entertainment to President Grant, in the White House. In 1883, he went with Austin & Stone's museum in Boston, and was with them at his death. He claimed to have given 30,000 lectures to 80,000,000 people.”

We have recently found two more great-grandsons of Deacon Joseph Mather who served in Union Regiments.   Assistant Surgeon Nathan Selleck Roberts was the son of Nathan Roberts and Sally Richards and the grandson of Sarah Mather and Noyes Richards.  Nathan enlisted August 21, 1861 in Co. D of the 7th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry.   From the National Cyclopedia, we learn that “…in the summer of 1863 he was examined by a Board of Army Surgeons, commisioned assistant surgeon, and in that capacity participated in the military operations in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, notably the capture of Hilton Head…and the capture of Fort Pulaski.  He was the first medical officer to enter the city of Charleston …was made post surgeon…and organized a large general hospital…   …At the close of the war he completed his lecture course and was graduated from the N.Y. College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1867.  He soon thereafter commenced practice as a specialist in diseases of the ear, nose, and throat.” Dr. Roberts died in 1926 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery, Westfield, NJ.     Private George Dingee was the son of John Dingee and Charlotte Richards and also the grandson of Sarah Mather and Noyes Richards.  George served with Co C of the 28th Regt Conn. Vols. The 28th Regt. was at Port Hudson, Louisiana until August 7th, 1863 and they mustered out on August 28th, 1863.  George died 27 days later at the age of 22 years 6 months and 17 days. He is buried beside his parents in the Rowayton Union Cemetery.

We are all familiar with the Mathers’ commitment to America’s fight for independence during the Revolutionary War.  But, recently, the question was raised about Deacon Joseph Mather’s descendants’ participation in the Civil War.   Focused on Deacon Mather’s eldest son, Moses, we find that he was grandfather to seven men who served the Union cause.   Moses and his wife, Sally Bishop, had twelve children.  Among the children of eldest four, were those seven soldiers.   First Sergeant George Messenger Mather.  The son of George Mather and Mary Whitney, George enlisted September 9, 1862 in Co. C 28th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry.  Nov. 6th was appointed Sergeant and discharged at New Haven, August 28, 1863 having assisted in the siege and reduction of Port Hudson.   First Lieutenant Joseph E. Morehouse.  The son of Lydia Mather and Henry Morehouse, Joseph enlisted July 18, 1862 in the 17th Regiment Conn. Vol. Inf.  He was promoted from Sergeant, Co. B to 2nd Lt., Oct. 26, 1863; promoted to 1st Lt., Co. F Mar. 5,1864; to Captain June 29, 1865 (not mustered.)   Private Alfred Morehouse.  The son of Lydia Mather and Henry Morehouse, Alfred enlisted July 26, 1862 in Co. B, 17th Regiment Connecticut Vol. Infantry.  Alfred mustered out July 1865 having participated in battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.   First Lieutenant William Marcus Whitney.  The son of Rosanna Mather and C.E. Whitney, William enlisted September 6, 1862.  He was commissioned an officer in Company C, Connecticut 28th Infantry Regiment on 15 Nov 1862 and mustered out on 28 Aug 1863 at New Haven, CT.   Corporal George Albert Whitney.  The son of Rosanna Mather and C.E. Whitney, George was a Corporal, Co. B, 17th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry.  Enlisted from Darien, July 26, 1862, Mustered in as Private. Promoted to Corporal. Feb. 28, 1865. Mustered out July 19, 1865. Participated in Battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.     First Lieutenant Horace Whitney.  The son of Rosanna Mather and C.E. Whitney, Horace enlisted August 12, 1862 as a Corporal in 17th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, Co. H.   He was promoted May 15, 1863 to Sergeant.  Horace was captured July 2, 1863, Battle of Gettysburg, PA and paroled August 25, 1863.  He was promoted August 28, 1864 to 1st Sergeant and promoted July 15, 1865 to 1st Lieutenant (not mustered)  Horace was mustered out: July 19, 1865 Hilton Head, S.C.  He  also served with 3rd Connecticut Volunteers before 17th Connecticut.

Among Stephen Mather correspondence at the Bancroft Library is a note from Edna Pinkley at the Casa Grande Ruins wishing Stephen better health.   Who was Edna Pinkley?  According to the National Park Service’s Women Who Were There feature, “Edna Townsley Pinkley moved to the Casa Grande ruins when she married Frank “Boss” Pinkley in 1906... As his partner, she… contributed to the running of the monument without pay…She took on a formal role when she was appointed custodian in 1914.  In 1927, Mrs. Pinkley wrote  Casa Grande: The Greatest Valley Pueblo in Arizona.  She also wrote poems about life at the ruins…She died of a cerebral hemorrhage at their home in the monument on November 13, 1929, aged 48. Her passing was noted in several newspapers, one of which called her the ‘poet of the ruins.’”   Recently, upon finding an NPS entry for a “Jean McWhirt Pinkley,” it was easy to assume that she was Frank and Edna’s daughter, but no.  She was their daughter-in-law.   Again, according to NPS historians…”Jean McWhirt Pinkley was an archeologist and interpreter who worked for the National Park Service her entire career. She steered Mesa Verde National Park to implement a rich and complex interpretive program before leading critical archeological and stabilization work at Pecos National Monument. Jean married Addison Pinkley, the son of Frank "Boss" Pinkley of the Southwestern National Monuments, in 1942. In 1943, Addison was killed when Japanese forces destroyed his submarine. Returning to Mesa Verde, where she worked for the next 26 years, Jean was selected over a number of men to become Chief of the Interpretive Division. Her responsibilities covered all aspects of park interpretation, including advising the Superintendent, supervising research about the park, operating museums, creating exhibits and visitor programs, and excavation and stabilization of Mesa Verde's ruins… In recognition of her outstanding career and her success as a woman in the Federal Service, the First Lady, Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, invited Jean to lunch at the White House on March 22, 1966. She was the only Federal career woman present, and was honored along with about a dozen other women from other professions in the U.S. and foreign countries. In October, 1967, Jean was given the Department of the Interior's Meritorious Award "in recognition of outstanding professional archaeological services and contributions to interpretive programs of the National Park Service."

Alphabetically, the first item in the Bancroft collection is a Western Union Holiday Greeting from Franklin Pierce Adams.  Fittingly, almost as the final item, is an identical Western Union Holiday Greeting, this from Christian Brevoort Zabriskie. [Both telegrams shown below]   In a letter sent to Stephen later in 1929, Zabriskie writes… Dear Stephen: You are always doing some graceful or lovely act.  Your telegram to me that you had flowers from both of us placed on the car which was conveying our dear old friend Governor Spry, back to Salt Lake, was greatly appreciated by me…You cannot imagine how pleased I was at your action and your kind thoughtfulness in including me…”  [William Spry was the third governor of the state of Utah.]   Who was Christian Zabriskie?  Like Stephen, he was a borax man.  As the National Park Service site explains ”…in 1885…F.M. Smith hired him [Zabriskie] to supervise several hundred Chinese workers at the Columbus Marsh area of the Pacific Coast Borax Company near Candelaria…He ultimately became vice president and general manager of the company and served in that capacity for thirty-six years until his retirement in 1933. During this time the Pacific Coast Borax Company had phased out most of its borax operations in the Candelaria vicinity and had moved further production into the Death Valley area…All this occurred long before 1933, when the area became Death Valley National Monument, but  Zabriskie Point  remains to honor a man who devoted many years of service to the Pacific Coast Borax Company.”   If Zabriskie Point sounds familiar, you are either an exceptional geo- grapher or a devoted fan of obscure movies of the 1960s and 1970s.   In 1970, Michelangelo Antonioni directed Zabriskie Point which was widely jeered by audiences, failed at the box office, but interestingly, included Harrison Ford in an uncredited role as an arrested student demonstrator.