Two waistcoats of belonging to Joseph Mather (1789-1864) Carefully wrapped and stored in a chest of drawers in the attic were two...

Professor Joseph Lawrence Sax (1936-2014) widely known as the “father of environmental law” was author of the first environmental law based on the public trust doctrine. However, on one occasion, his writings fell afoul of Stephen Mather’s daughter, Bertha Mather McPherson. Bertha Mather McPherson did far more than simply save and assemble materials related to her father. She was an ardent champion of his reputation and challenger to any misrepresent-ation of his character

Although much of Stephen Tyng Mather’s correspondence is now at the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, we are fortunate to have a few...

A closet shelf on the western side of the Homestead attic holds a simple red cardboard box. Within the box is a flaxen sheet accompanied by this note: May 7th 1985 Dear Bertha and Ted, The years slip by so fast. It’s three years since my house in Maryland was sold and I put a few things aside including this flaxen sheet which Mother left with me some years ago. Her note is attached to th

When letters and printed materials were removed from the attic and sorted, one letter defied categorizing. It did not relate to the...

In the far reaches of the Homestead basement, a keen-eyed observer recently noticed a carved circle in which the following had been...

On June 27th 1864, at St. George’s Church in New York City, the Reverend Stephen Tyng married Stephen Mather’s parents. At that time, Bertha Jemima Walker was 20 years old. Joseph Wakeman Mather was 44. Within a year the couple moved to San Francisco and Stephen was born there on July 4th 1867. A second son, Josie, was born January 18th 1869. At the age of 26 Bertha was committed to the Stockton State Hospital for “the evidence of insanity is she desires to destroy hers

The Homestead preserves and presents not merely a single moment in time, but captures and reflects the lives and pursuits of six...

We know much about Stephen Mather’s time in the borax business and certainly his time in the Interior Department and the National Park...

The Poems of Fanny deGroot Hastings Whoever takes the Christmas Star To be his chosen guide Shall come where Heaven’s treasures are And in content abide. Christmas is not a day apart But innocence and love refound; And these when nourished in the heart Remain the year around. This was Fanny deGroot Hastings’ Christmas 1964 poem. In the Homestead are eight cards from the years 1955, 57, 58, 60-64. On the back of the 1963 card, Fanny penned a note to Bertha thanking her for

“Christmas Stories About Santa Claus” On the shelf at the far end of the Keeping Room are two copies of “Christmas Stories About Santa...

In the Homestead attic, a large manila envelope contains “Material Relative to Stephen Tyng Mather High School…” Among the materials...

Correspondence with Bertha Mather McPherson We have found several letters from 1953-1986 from Horace Albright to Stephen Mather’s daughter, Bertha. Horace Albright (1890-1987) was the first Assistant Director of the National Park Service under Stephen Mather and became Director following Stephen Mather’s resignation in 1929. The letters reveal not only Albright’s life-long loyalty to Stephen Mather but his reluctance, if not opposition, to change in the National Park Servi

Horace M. Albright was Assistant Director of the National Park Service under Stephen Mather and became Director himself in 1929. He kept up a lifelong correspondence with Stephen’s daughter, Bertha (Betty) Mather McPherson. Many of these letters have remained in the Homestead attic. In 1986, he wrote… “My dear Betty: Thank you for your letter, and your comment on the Glacier Park sawmill episode…I fully understand your feeling about…the book, for I was surprised that

As we saw in the last blog (Kissing Cousins) the opportunity for meeting your match was constrained by the limitations of transportation...

Kissing Cousins: A genealogical look at four early Mather family marriages. When Darien was founded in 1820, the estimated population was...

Within a trunk at the rear of the attic in the Homestead is a small blue box. In the box is a handwritten note from Bertha Mather...

In the classic movie Secondhand Lions, the uncles leave a very short will: “The kid gets it all. Just plant us in the damn garden with...

In 2017, The National Parks Service History Collection prepared a Finding Aid, titled “Stephen Tyng Mather Film Collection 1920-1929...

6 letters of Bertha C. Mather to J.W. Mather The guide provided to docents states that Stephen Mather’s father, Joseph Wakeman Mather...