Nathaniel Mather, his wife, Harriett, and their ten children boarded a train in New York and traveled to Larned, Kansas, in the spring of 1877. From there, they traveled by wagon to Browns Grove Township. The three oldest daughters, Jannett, Annice, and Mary, had married in New York. Jannette and Mary married the Bindley brothers, John and Thomas. Edith married Edward Seely. The remaining children ranged in age from three months to eighteen, including a set of twins, Edith and Edward.

Nathaniel Oliver Mather was born in the state of New York in 1829. His soon-to-be wife, Harriet Amelia Hunter, was also born in New York seven years after her husband. The two were married on July 3, 1851, in Chautauqua, New York, where all ten of their children were born.

Upon arriving in Pawnee County, Nathaniel, Harriet, and the remaining seven children spent the first summer in a dugout on the bank of the Pawnee River. They moved to their homestead southwest of Browns Grove and lived in a sod house that fall. A few years later, Nathaniel purchased land in northwest Pawnee County and built a home for his family called "Woodbine Cottage." In addition, Nathaniel added a small greenhouse for Harriet and a blacksmith shop for himself.

The family braved Mother Nature's misfortunes and prospered over the years. Harriet passed away in 1904, and Nathaniel followed two years later. They are buried in Browns Grove with nine of their ten children.

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 America in 1635 and settled in the colony of Massachusetts, where he died in 1669.

Their Children –
The twins, Edith (1859-1942) and Edward (1859-1893), were born on December 11, 1893. Edith married Edward Seely on February 1, 1880, and two girls were born. Edward married Lucy Mayes in 1877, and they raised one son. Edward was a fireman for the Santa Fe Railroad, and tragically, he died in Dennison, Texas, in 1893.

The second son of Nathaniel and Harriet was Elmer (1862-1921). He was fifteen when his family came to Pawnee County. On January 1, 1888, Elmer married Maude Deaton, and they raised four children.
Instead of following the masses in planting and harvesting wheat, Elmer raised cattle, alfalfa, and sugar beets. He died of stomach cancer in 1921. He also pioneered the use of irrigation in the county.
Ellen (1865-1948) married Clarence N. Rucker in 1886. Her in-laws were Richard and Emma Rucker, also early pioneers of Burdett.

Charles (1869-1943) came to Pawnee County at age eight. Edith Diamond and Charles were wed in 1897 and raised three sons.

Sybil (1873-1955) never married but spent much time with her nieces and nephews.
The last of the Mather children, Guy (1877-1945), was three months old when the family came to Pawnee County. He taught in a country school before marrying Della Jane Notestine in 1904. Their children were Richard and Harriet.