Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/317

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AIATHER


MATHER


ed. , 1862) ; A Relation of Troubles of New England from tlie Indians {IQ77 , new ed., 1864); Cometo- graphia, or a Discourse, Concerning Comets (1683); Remarkable Providences (1684, new ed., 1856); Several Papers Relating to the State of New Eng- land (1690); Dying Pastor's Legacy (1722). He died in Boston, Mass., Aug. 23, 1723.

MATHER, Margaret, actress, was born in Til- bury, Canada, Oct. 21, 1859 ; daughter of John and Ann (Mather) Finlayson. Her father was a Scotch ship-carpenter, and on removing to Detroit, Mich., kept a sailors' bourding-house, and Mar- garet is said to have sold newspapers in the streets. In 1871 she went to New York to visit an elder sister, and while there she attended the public school and began to study for the stage. In 1877 she was engaged by a travelling com- pany under the name of Miss Bloomer, and in 1878 by George Edgar, to appear as Lady Cordelia in " King Lear," at Providence, R.I. This part was beyond her ability, but the trial determined James J. Hill to educate her for the stage, and she adopted the name of her mother's family for professional use. On Aug. 28, 1882, she n)ade her debut as a star under Mr. Hill's management, appearing as Juliet at McVicker's theatre, Cliicago, 111. She toured for two seasons, and added Pauline, in " The Lady of Lyons ; " Leah, in " Leah the Forsaken " ; Juliana, in " The Honeymoon," and Rosalind, in " As You Like It," to her repertory. She returned in 1885, to New York where her manager leased the Union Square theatre for the season of 1885-86 and starred her in a sumptuous production of " Romeo and Juliet." In 1886 she appeared at the Union Square theatre as Leah and Juliana. She starred in a series of road engagements, and was married, much against her manager's wishes, on Feb. 15, 1887, to Emil Haberkorn, leader of the orchestra at the Union Square theatre, from whom she was subsequently divorced. She continued her pro- fessional tours under a new manager, but met with much less success. She appeared as Peg Woffington at Niblo's Garden, New York, Jan. 1, 1889 ; opened the Columbus theatre, New York, with a performance of "Romeo and Juliet," Oct. 11, 1890, and subsequently gave her initial performance of Imogen, in "Cymbeline," at the same house. She produced an adaptation of Jules Barbier's " Jeanne d'Arc," at the Fifth Avenue theatre. New York, Dec. 8, 1890, but did not meet the public demand, and the piece was discontinued and she retired from the stage, Dec. 10, 1892, having married Gustav Pabst, son of a wealthy brewer, July 26, 1892. She obtained a divorce from Mr. Pabst in October, 1896, and re- turned to professional life, appearing as Imogen, in " Cymbeline," at Wallack's theatre, in 1897. She died iu Charlestown, W. Va., April 7, 1898.


MATHER, Richard, clergyman, was born in Lowton, Winwick parish, Lancashire, England, in 1596 ; son of Thomas and Marguerite Mather, and grandson of John Mather. He received a liberal education and taught at Toxteth Park, near Liverpool, England, 1611-15, meanwhile studying for the ministry, and in 1815 he entered Brasenose college, Oxford. In 1620 he returned to Toxteth and was ordained by Bishop Morton of Chester. He was twice married, first, in 1624, to Katharine, daughter of Edmund Holt of Bury, and secondly, in 1656, to Sarah Story, widow of the Rev. Jolin Cotton. He ministered in Toxteth until 1683, when complaints were en- tered against him for non-conformity, and in August, 1633, he was suspended. By the inter- cession of friends his suspension was removed shortly after, but in 1634 it was again inflicted, and in May, 1635, he joined the company of pil- grims and embarked at Bristol for New England. He arrived at Boston in August, 1635. He formed a new church at Dorchester, Mass., and was chosen its pastor in 1636. Upon the downfall of the hierarchy in England, he was solicited to re- turn to his former charge, but he refused. In 1639 he was chosen to answer the thirty -two ques- tions propounded by the general court relating to church government. He was a member of the synod of 1648 and drew up the Cambridge plat- form of discipline, which was adopted. During his residence in New England he was a member of every synod convened and was moderator of a synod at the time of his death. He was one of the three ministers selected to prepare a New England version of the Psalms (1646), and he is the author of : Discourse on the Church Covenant (1639) and Treatise on Justification. He died in Dorcliester, Mass., April 22, 1669.

MATHER, Richard Henry, educator, was born in Binghamton, N.Y., Feb. 12, 1835 ; son of Henry and Frances (Whiting) Mather ; grand- son of Capt. Sylvester Mather of Lyme, Conn., and a descendant of Richard Mather, 1635. He was graduated from Amherst college, A.B., 1857, A.M., 1860; studied philology at Berlin, Ger- many, 1857-59 ; was a teacher at Williston semi- nary, 1858-59 ; instructor in Greek at Amherst, 1859-62 ; associate professor of Greek language and literature, 1862-68 ; professor of Greek and German language, 1868-79 ; and professor of Greek language and literature, 1879-90. He lectured on sculpture, 1879-88 and visited Europe to select casts, engravings and photographs for the art museum at Williston Hall. This museum contains the second finest collection of casts in the United States and was largely composed of Professor Mather's selections. He went abroad in 1888 and prepared a course of lectures on Greek life. He received the honorary degree of