Early Settlers - Mather Family – Brown’s Grove Cemetery, Burdett, Pawnee County, Kansas

Nathaniel Mather, his wife, Harriett, and their 10 children boarded a train in New York and traveled to Larned, Kansas in the spring of 1877. From there, they traveled by wagon to Brown’s Grove Township. The children ranged in age from three months to age 25. The three oldest daughters were married and settled near their parents.

Nathaniel Oliver Mather was born in the state of New York in 1829. He was the oldest of three children. Harriet Amelia Hunter was also born in New York seven years after her husband. The two were married on July 3, 1851. Their first four children were all daughters. Jeanette and Mary married John and Thomas Bindley. Edith married Edward Seely. They all came west with Nathaniel and Harriet.

Upon their arrival, the family lived in a dugout and then a sod house. Mr. Mather was able to purchase land in the northwest part of Pawnee County. The home Nathaniel built for his family was known as “Woodbine Cottage”. A blacksmith shop was built where Nathaniel worked his trade.

Throughout the years, the family braved all of Mother Nature’s misfortunes and prospered. Harriet passed away in 1904 and is buried in Brown Grove Cemetery. Nathaniel followed her in death two years later. Nine of their 10 children are also buried there.

Note: Nathaniel O. Mather is a direct descendant of Cotton Mather (1663-1728). Cotton was a Puritan minister and an important figure in colonial America. His grandfather, Robert Mather, was born in England in 1596. He came to American in 1635 and settled in the colony of Massachusetts where he died in 1669.

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