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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!
From the Deacon to Stephen…Tracing the ownership of the Homestead from 1840 to 1905.
We recently found transcriptions of the wills of Deacon Mather, Rana Mather, Phebe Mather, and Joseph Wakeman Mather along with summaries...
Donn Smith
Feb 8, 20232 min read
Where does time go?Rediscovering Joseph Wakeman Mather’s pocket watch.
An appraisal of items in the Homestead was conducted prior to the establish- ment of the Mather Homestead Foundation. In that process,...
Donn Smith
Feb 8, 20231 min read
Flower baskets, two cats, and a cockatoo.A pause to look at the doorstops in the Mather Homestead.
Tours of the Homestead always include the highboy in the dining room and perhaps the gateleg table in the Keeping Room or the canopy bed...
Donn Smith
Feb 8, 20231 min read
Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust…A brief look at early generation Mather gravesites.
From Deacon Joseph Mather to Stephen Mather and his daughter Bertha Mather McPherson, burials have been at the Mather Cemetery which lies...
Donn Smith
Feb 8, 20232 min read
The Treasurer, the Mayflower, and a horse and cow. The dazzling distaff genealogy of Stephen Tyng M
From Reverend Richard Mather (1596-1669) to Stephen Mather, the “Mather” line spans nine generations. But that, quite literally, is...
Donn Smith
Feb 8, 20232 min read
“She rests at last beneath the starry skies…”. The Mather Cemetery and the children of Deacon Mather
A visit to the Homestead should include a walk or drive by The Mather Cemetery (private, not part of the Mather Homestead property),...
Donn Smith
Feb 6, 20232 min read
A Tree Grows in Darien. Does it still?
Nine months after Stephen T. Mather’s death, the National Life Conservation Society organized a Tree Planting at the Mather Homestead in...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
To debut or not debut, that was the question.
On a bookshelf at the far end of the Keeping Room is a hardcover copy of Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a Darien...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20232 min read
Party like it’s 1778…175th Anniversary Celebration at the Mather Homestead September 12, 1953
In the Mather attic is a scrapbook simply titled “175 Reunion Data.” Within the scrapbook, a wealth of materials offer us a glimpse at...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
A rare book and the legacy of Moses Mather
The bookshelf at the end of the Keeping Room holds a small hardbound book, “A Systematic View of Divinity; or The Ruin and Recovery of...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
The lineage of Hannah Smith Scott, Mother of Sarah Scott, wife of Deacon Joseph Mather
In past blogs we’ve looked at Stephen T. Mather’ wife’s family (Roots and Seeds). We looked at Joseph Wakeman Mather’s wife’s family...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20232 min read
The Rockefeller Letters. Correspondence from John D. Rockefeller Jr.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. was a champion and great benefactor of the National Parks and was an advocate for parks in the Eastern United...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20232 min read
And all before frequent flyer miles…Stephen T. Mather and the Pan Pacific Conference
In April 1927, the First Pan Pacific Conference on Education, Rehabilitation, Reclamation, and Recreation was held in Honolulu, Hawaii. ...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
Party like it’s 1778…The Sequel. 200th Anniversary Celebration at the Mather Homestead June 17, 1978
Having found the materials relating to the 175th Anniversary in the Homestead attic, it seemed impossible to think that there was not a...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
Another one for “the books”. An appreciation of John Roberts Hoole
An earlier blog (The Tie That Binds) looked at the life of Edward Walker, Stephen Mather’s maternal grandfather. Edward Walker emigrated...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20232 min read
A book of flowers…an artist and her cousin Shirley Amy Turner and Stephen T. Mather
On the top shelf of a bookcase at the end of the Keeping Room is a small book with a label: “S.T.M. from S. Turner Sigma Chi Kamp July 4,...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20232 min read
The Sutcliffe Letters “You are in a far and distant land…”
In a cardboard box in the Homestead attic, there is an envelope upon which is simply written “Sutcliffe Letters.” Within are eight...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20233 min read
“…What slave should be held any longer…? Deacon Joseph Mather and The Abolitionist Debate.
In a small metal box in an oriental chest in the Mather attic are eight handwritten pages setting forth an argument to be delivered at a...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
“…born 16 September 1811 at half past nine in the morning…”The revelations of three family Bibles i
By far, the most famous Bible at the Homestead is the 1793 Bible of Deacon Joseph Mather. But it is not the only Bible. In the attic...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20232 min read
“Mystery Books?” Perhaps not.7 strangers in the second floor bookcase.
On the second floor landing near the bedroom with the Delft tiles is a plain 6-shelf wooden bookcase. It holds approximately 120 books,...
Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20233 min read
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