MATHER, SAMUEL LIVINGSTON (22 Aug. 1882-10 Sept. 1960), was an industrialist and a member of one of Cleveland's most prominent families. Principally associated with the CLEVELAND CLIFFS IRON CO., he also served on the boards of many companies including Otis Steel, and Bessemer Limestone & Cement Co., and was active in philanthropy.
Born in Cleveland to SAMUEL and FLORA STONE MATHER, he graduated from UNIVERSITY SCHOOL in 1901, and received his A.B. from Yale in 1905. Mather immediately went to work for Cleveland-Cliffs at the iron ore mining department in Ishpeming, Michigan. Mather returned to Cleveland to work in the main office, becoming assistant secretary of mining operations, 1908, secretary, 1914, and vice president in charge of operations, 1926, the office he held until his retirement in 1947.
An active philanthropist, Mather contributed heavily to his alma mater, and to the Holden Arboretum in Geauga County, Ohio. He was a trustee of WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, the Home For Aged Women, and the HORACE KELLEY ART FOUNDATION.
In 1953 he founded the S. LIVINGSTON MATHER CHARITABLE TRUST to support educational, health, and welfare programs. In 1955 he was the principal donor to the State of Ohio of over 400 wooded acres north of Chardon, known as Big Creek Reservation.
Mather lived in Mentor. He married twice. In 1906 he married Grace Fleming Harmon with whom he had four children: Samuel Harman, Grace Flora Hosmer, Elizabeth Harman McMillan, and Samuel Livingston. Grace died in 1931. In 1932 he married Alice Nightengale Keith. They had no children. An Episcopalian, he is buried in LAKE VIEW CEMETERY.
Finding aid for the S. Livingston Mather Family Papers, WRHS.