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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!
One more look at the Will of Phebe Mather … two bequests of interest - and intrigue!
In an earlier blog we looked at the wills of both Rana and Phebe, the unmarried daughters of Deacon Mather. The wills confirmed Ann...
Mather Homestead Foundation
Oct 8, 20232 min read
The Last Will and Testament of Sarah Scott Mather. Remembering a mother who remembered her daughters
On October 7, 1842, a little less than a year before her death, Sarah, the widow of Deacon Mather, signed her will. It is transcribed...
Mather Homestead Foundation
Sep 27, 20231 min read
Bats in the attic! (No, not that kind.)
On many tours of the Homestead, docents often point out the juxtaposition of a 1793 Bible and stereo speakers from the 1950s, both on the...
Mather Homestead Foundation
Sep 21, 20231 min read
Bertha Mather McPherson, Architect, Darien CT. Appreciating a designing and pioneering woman.
The Mather Homestead site tells us that Stephen Mather’s daughter, Bertha, graduated from Vassar in 1928 and the Cam-bridge School of...
Mather Homestead Foundation
May 21, 20232 min read
"You will please to send me some money…” The Margaret Williamson Henderson Letters
Visitors to the Homestead parlor will notice a portrait above the fireplaceA note from Edward McPherson, Stephen Mather’s son-in-law,...
Mather Homestead Foundation
May 7, 20232 min read
“Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.” Stephen Mather, two cousins, and 98 acres.
During tours, visitors are told that when Stephen Mather’s father, Joseph Wakeman Mather, died he left the land to Stephen and to Bertha...
Mather Homestead Foundation
Apr 6, 20231 min read
The sword in the attic…and a boy’s curiosity. What a search revealed—and a question unanswered.
Recently, on a weekday tour, a young boy and his mother were escorted to the Homestead attic. Much of the memorabilia, letters, and...
Mather Homestead Foundation
Apr 6, 20231 min read
A revealing look at the Will of Timothy Mather (1681-1755)
What we learn from the last wishes of Deacon Mather’s grandfather. Timothy Mather, the father of Moses Mather, died in Lyme Connecticut...
Mather Homestead Foundation
Mar 17, 20231 min read
The Many Deeds of Deacon Joseph Mather: The Growth of the Homestead from 1783 to 1827
On tours we often tell visitors that Deacon Mather built the house on land that was inherited by his mother, Hannah Bell. Until now...
Mather Homestead Foundation
Feb 20, 20232 min read
Tea for two, or nine, or maybe once for twelve.The tea set and silver of Rana Mather.
If you look at the Darien map from 1867, you will see in the upper area the home of the “Misses Mather.” In 1840, Deacon Mather left...
Donn Smith
Feb 9, 20231 min read
The well…the Tories…and Jesse Raymond’s £10 State Notes.
In tours of the Homestead, guides unfailingly tell visitors about the March 1781 raid on the Homestead when a party of Tories descended...
Donn Smith
Feb 9, 20231 min read
Here’s my card…a treasury of Stephen Mather’s business and calling cards.
In a pocket of an accordion folder found in the Mather Homestead safe, we discovered Stephen Mather’s business cards from his time at the...
Donn Smith
Feb 9, 20231 min read
“You say tomato, I say…”The dedication of Stephen Mather High School, Chicago, Illinois
In the Homestead attic, a large manila envelope contains “Material Relative to Stephen Tyng Mather High School…” Among the materials...
Donn Smith
Feb 9, 20232 min read
“My darling wife…”A Letter from Stephen Mather to Jeanie Floy Mather
In a large trunk in the recesses of the Homestead attic is an envelope marked: “Letters Concerning Wedding and Wedding Trip of S.T.M &...
Donn Smith
Feb 9, 20231 min read
More than words alone…Treasures from the golden age of illustration.
And not just Treasure Island, but of course that’s there. In the book-case on the second floor of the Mather Homestead are six hardcover...
Donn Smith
Feb 8, 20231 min read
Where there’s a will…The contested estate of Stephen Mather’s maternal grandfather
Edward Walker was a prosperous bookbinder in New York City (See “The Tie That Binds” blog). Edward was the father of Stephen’s mother,...
Donn Smith
Feb 8, 20233 min read
The price of success…The two wills of Stephen Tyng Mather’s mother-in-law.
Stephen Mather’s mother-in-law, Sarah Hoole Floy was widowed in 1895. In 1916, Henry, one of her two sons, died. When she wrote her...
Donn Smith
Feb 8, 20231 min read
Oh to be in England…A letter to Family written from Bristol in 1858.
A recent blog looked at a letter mailed from Paris in 1869. Recently discovered is a letter mailed from Bristol England on August 27,...
Donn Smith
Feb 8, 20233 min read
Hey, we’re still here…Not to forget the chests and trunks in the Homestead attic.
In blogs we’ve often featured items discovered in the chests and trunks found throughout the three rooms of the Mather Homestead attic. ...
Donn Smith
Feb 8, 20231 min read
Safekeeping indeed! A first look at documentsin the Mather Homestead basement safe.
Recently we opened a safe in the Homestead basement. Its contents will fuel several blogs. We begin with added information on the...
Donn Smith
Feb 8, 20231 min read
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