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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
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,...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20233 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...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 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...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20232 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...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20233 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,...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
The Under-glass Menagerie. The Height of Fashion: Victorian Parlor Domes
As a matter of taste, perhaps the two Victorian Parlor Domes in the Homestead attic should stay in the attic. However, as curiosities and...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
The Last Woman Standing. An Appreciation of Betsey Mather Bell Lockwood
Deacon Joseph Mather, who built the Homestead in 1778, had, with his wife Sarah Scott, eleven children. One died in infancy, the other...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20231 min read
The Getty…the Whitney…and the Mather Attic. Herbert W. Gleason, American photographer
In 2017 The Huntington Library acquired a unique 10-volume edition of “The Life and Writings of John Muir” that incorporates 260 original...
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Donn Smith
Feb 5, 20232 min read
The Mather “Mother” Matter
Southeast of the Homestead, across Brookside Avenue, is the Mather Cemetery. Stephen Mather’s father, Joseph Wakeman Mather is buried...
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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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