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The Ships SAMUEL MATHER by Rev. Peter J. Van der Linden r The man for whom some six vessels have been named was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 31, 1851. His father was Samuel Livingston Mather —- for whom the schooner S. L. Mather, built in Vermillion in 1870, was named -- a man who came west in 1843 to sell the family's investment in the Connecticut Land Company's Western Reserve. Instead, after hearing reports of the discovery of iron ore in Lake Superior, the elder Mather stayed and, in 1850, was one of a group of Cleveland businessmen who organized the Cleveland Iron Mining Company. Samuel Mather learned the business working for his father. In October 1881, Samuel Mather married Flora Amelia Stone, daughter of Amasa Stone, who had built the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. Along with Colonel James Pickands and Jay C. Morse, he founded in 1883 the partnership of Pickands Mather & Co., dealers in pig iron and iron ore. Shortly afterwards, his younger half brother, William Gwinn Mather, became vice-president of the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, which merged with the Iron Cliffs Company in 1890 to form today's Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company. Samuel Mather carried on as a partner in Pickands Mather & Co., until he died on October 18, 1931. The firm has been in- strumental in developing the iron ore region of Lake Superior and has operated many ships in the transportation of this ore to the blast furnaces of the lower lakes. We present here a pictorial history of the vessels which have carried Samuel Mather's name through the past several decades to stir up memories of the glorious past and evoke the blessing of God on the ship that bears his name today. This article begins a series that we hope will enlighten readers who often have confused vessels which have carried the same name in different seasons, and in a few cases at the same time. SAMUEL MATHER (2) Dowling Collection ” Steel whaleback (US 116484) built in 1892 by American Steel Barge Co., Superior (Hull #120): 308 x 38 x 24; 1,713 gross tons. Renamed b) CLIFTON. Foundered on lake Huron on September 21, 1924.