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FRESH OFF THE PRESS!
Docent Donn Smith has been busy poking around the attic of the Mather Homestead and he's found treasures abound! Check out his blogs which document his findings including artifacts from 250 years of American life - a bible from 1743, a girl's dress from the 1860's, Stephen Mather's camera, a love letter written by Stephen Mather to his wife ❤️ and more. Oh the stories they tell!
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20232 min read
The Lineage of Happy Osborn Wakeman MatherA Genealogical Look at Stephen Mather’s Grandmother
We all have family trees. In the case of Happy Osborn Wakeman Mather, it is more like a forest. Happy was the second wife of Joseph...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
Here comes the bride…breakfast to follow. The Wedding of Stephen Mather and Jane Thacker Floy.
As recorded in the New York Telegram on October 12, 1893…“The marriage of Miss Jeannie Thacker Floy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Floy...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
Saturday in the Park with Eleanor
According to the National Park Service’s History eLibrary, Mather Memorial Plaques are in National Parks across the country as well as...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
Ah, Wilderness…
Among the books at the far end of the Keeping Room you will find—not surprisingly—several copies of Steve Mather of The National Parks by...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
The Ted Mack Family Hour
In a cabinet at the far end of the Keeping Room there is a record player.There are no records in the cabinet except for one still on the...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
“There are moments that words don’t reach…”
North of the center of New Canaan is a small, quiet cemetery. Within it is a simple headstone reading: “In memory of Sally, wife of...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
The Iceman Cometh
In the attic is a large chest with Oriental designs. Among the items in the chest is a file folder belonging to Joseph Wakeman Mather,...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
Ten Stamps. One Special Delivery.
You may have to be of a certain age, or an American history buff, to immediately recognize the name Harold Ickes. Ickes was responsible...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
From field to dreams…
Although we often think of the Homestead in terms of its role in the Revolutionary era and with the founding of the National Parks, the...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20232 min read
The Diary of Michael Floy, Jr.
In the attic at the Homestead is a copy of the handwritten will of Margaret Floy Washburn. (See Second Cousin. Notable First.) In the...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
The fabric (and follies) of their lives…
In the Mather Homestead attic you will find a large chest measuring 22-1/2” x 22-1/2” x 45-1/2” wide. If “dress up” is still a child’s...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
Another second cousin. A noble first.An appreciation of Winona Caroline Martin
Winona Caroline Martin was born 21 May 1882. She was the daughter of Elizabeth Floy Davis and William Allan Martin, the granddaughter...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
A second cousin. A notable first. An appreciation of Margaret Floy Washburn
Stephen Mather’s wife, Jane Thacker Floy Mather’s second cousin was Margaret Floy Washburn. Their great-grandfather, Michael Floy Sr.,...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20232 min read
Aunt Rana's Shawl
In a lidded two-drawer chest on the west wall of the attic are several wrapped items of clothing, including Jane Floy Mather’s wedding...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
It Really Was a Sheepskin!
On the west wall of the Mather Homestead attic, there is a nondescript four-drawer chest. The three lower drawers are lined with old...
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Donn Smith
Feb 1, 20232 min read
The tie that binds…An appreciation of Edward Walker
On the east wall of the dining room of the Mather Homestead hangs a portrait of Edward Walker. Edward Walker is the maternal...
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Donn Smith
Feb 1, 20231 min read
Sometimes a map leads you to a chest, and at other times…
A large metal-framed chest in the Mather Homestead attic contains an assortment of architectural plans, mortgages and deeds, builders’...
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Donn Smith
Feb 1, 20231 min read
Fifty years ago this year…Dedication of the Mather Gorge on the Potomac
At the top of the Homestead attic stairs is a moderately-sized cardboard carton. It contains an assortment of printed materials,...
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Donn Smith
Feb 1, 20232 min read
A look back to that middle name … An appreciation of Stephen Higginson Tyng
Visitors to the Homestead know that Stephen Mather’s middle name was Tyng. But who was Tyng and what was the connection? On 27 June...
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Donn Smith
Feb 1, 20231 min read
What goes up, must come down, spinnin’ wheel…
The question for anyone who has watched the CBS television series NCIS over the years must be, how do you get the boat out of the...
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