SAMUEL E MATHER (1812–1878)
Masonic photo taken in 1852
Samuel E. Mather, state legislator and prominent businessman, was born on October 8, 1812, in Northumberland (formerly Northumbria-upon-Tyne), England, son of Andrew Mather. Samuel married Sarah Parker Smith on August 28, 1846, in San Augustine, Texas, and they moved to Williamson County and settled on the North San Gabriel River in 1849. He built a gristmill on the river, where the town Gabriel Mills was soon developed in the mid-1850s. A major flood in 1854 destroyed his mill, but Samuel was undeterred, and by 1856 he had rebuilt, adding a church and school to the area. In 1858 he was the postmaster for Gabriel Mills. Samuel Mather was a Mason (Past Grand Master) and a founding member of the Mount Horeb Lodge No. 137, A.F. & A.M., in Mahomet, Burnet County, Texas. Mather served as a Texas state representative in the Ninth Legislature from 1861 to 1862.
Samuel Mather died in Hays County in the vicinity of the future community of Kyle on May 17, 1878, and was buried there two days later.
[The above captioning derived from The Handbook of Texas Online.]