The Mather Lineage

The Mather family has included many brilliant men. (See Lineage of Rev. Richard Mather, by Horace E. Mather, pp. 539, Hartford, 1890.)  Dr. Increase Mather', son of Rev. Richard Mather, and his sons, Dr. Cotton Mather and Rev. Nathaniel Mather (See A Colonial Boyhood, Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 88 (1901), p. 651.), are so well known as to require no treatment here. The English home of the family was in Lawton, Winwick Parish, Lancashire, England, where it is of record that Thomas, the father, and John, the grandfather, of the American ancestor resided. The family arms as preserved in the family of the early 11lathers of Boston are described thus:

Arms: -Ermine on a fesse wavy Azure, three lions rampant, Or.
Crest: -A lion sedant, Or.

This coat of arms is found in MS.: "Promptuarium Armorum," and is there recorded as the arms of William Mather of Salop, 1602. The motto is sometimes given "Sunt Fortia Pectora Nobis," and sometimes "Virtus Vera Nobilitas Est."

Although the ancestor of the family settled at Dorchester, his grandsons removed to Connecticut and founded the Windsor, Lyme, and Suffield branches of the Mather family. All the Mathers now living are descended from Timothy Mather' of Dorchester, the "Farmer Mather," the other lines having ended at the death of Samuel Mather, the grandson of Dr. Cotton Mather. Many persons claim decent from Dr. Cotton Mather, but they are in error, though some are descended from Mathers who bore the name of Cotton.

Rev. Richard¹, the American ancestor of the Mathers, was born in Lowton, Winwick Parish, Lancashire, England, in 1596. He married (1) Catherine, daughter of Edmund Holt of Bury, England, from whom this branch of the family is descended, on Sept. 29, 1624. They came to America from Bristol, reaching Boston on Aug. 17, 1635, and settling at Dorchester. The wife Catherine, who bore all the children of Rev. Richard Mather, died in 1655, and he married (2) the widow of Rev. John Cotton. All his sons who came to mature age, five in number, were ministers, with the exception of Timothy, the "Farmer." Timothy's brother, Increase, was the president of Harvard College and a great man in the colony. Richard' died April 22, 1669.

Timothy², second son of Rev. Richard¹ and Catherine, was born in Liverpool, England, in 1628, and died in Dorchester, Mass., Jan. 14, 1684. He married (1) Elizabeth, the daughter of Maj. Gen. Humphrey Atherton of Dorchester, who bore all his children, five sons and one daughter. In March 1678-9, he married (2) Elizabeth, daughter of Amiel Weeks.

Atherton³, youngest son of Timothy² and Catherine, was born in Dorchester, Oct. 4, 1663, and died in Suffield, Conn., Nov. 9, 1734. He married (1) _____; (2) Rebecca Stoughton, daughter of Thomas Stoughton on Sept. 20, 1694; and (3) Mary Lamb of Roxbury, Mass. on October 24, 1705. He removed to Suffield in 1712 and founded the Suffield branch of the Mather family. He represented the town of Suffield in Boston for four years in the General Court. He was a cousin of Dr. Cotton Mather. He had five sons and three daughters.

William⁴, oldest son of Atherton³ and Rebecca, was born in Windsor, Ct., March 2, 1698, and died in Suffield, Ct., in 1747. He married Silence Buttolph, daughter of David Buttolph of Simsbury, Ct., on Nov. 7, 1721 and had six sons and one daughter.

Timothy⁵, oldest son of William⁴ and Silence, was born in Greenwich, N. J., Aug. 4, 1722, and lived in Suffield, Ct. On Oct. 25, 1748, he married (1) Hannah Fuller, who died April 7, 1757. By her, he had two sons and two daughters. On March 6, 1760, he married widow Lucy Kellogg, by whom he had three sons.

Timothy⁶, second son (fourth child) of Timothy⁵ and Hannah, was born in Suffield, Ct., March 2, 1757, and died March 8, 1818. In 1779, he married Hannah, daughter of Dea. John Church, who died in Oct. 1827. He lived in Marlboro, Vt., and had six sons and four daughters.

Hannah⁷, second daughter (second child) of Timothy⁶ and Hannah, was born in Marlboro, Vt., July 1, 1781. She lived at Leyden, N. Y., and died March 9, 1680. On Jan. 1, 1799, she married Rev. Ruel Kimball, who died Oct. 1, 1847. They had six sons and five daughters.

Continuation. - The Kimball Lineage

• Sources:

  • Lineage of Rev. Richard Mather, p. 27.

Mather Genealogy

• Mather Researchers
• Mather Surname
• Free Mather Genealogy
   
• A memoir of the Rev. Cotton Mather, D.D.
• Abstracts of the wills of the Mather family
• Genealogy of the Mather family
• The Mather family