William Gwinn Mather (September 22, 1857 – April 5, 1951) was an American industrialist. Mather was born in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and attended

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

for his undergraduate and MA degrees. Mather headed the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company for 50 years from 1890 through 1940. During his tenure he consolidated several mining operations and diversified into iron-ore industries and steel operations. The company's flagship

bulk freighter A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, econ ...

was named in his honor, and today serves as a

maritime museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the milita ...

in Cleveland, Ohio.

Gwinn Estate

Mather is also known for the palatial estate he built outside of Cleveland and the gardens designed by Charles A. Platt,

Ellen Biddle Shipman Ellen Biddle Shipman (November 5, 1869 – March 27, 1950) was an American landscape architect known for her formal gardens and lush planting style. Along with Beatrix Farrand and Marian Cruger Coffin, she dictated the style of the time and stron ...

, and

Warren H. Manning Warren Henry Manning (November 7, 1860–February 5, 1938) was an American landscape designer and promoter of the informal and naturalistic "wild garden" approach to garden design. In his designs, Manning emphasized pre-existing flora through a ...

. The gardens, named for Mather's mother

Elizabeth Lucy Gwinn Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (s ...

, include a mixture of formal and "wild" gardens and extensive statuary and fountains designed by significant sculptors including

Paul Manship Paul Howard Manship (December 24, 1885 – January 28, 1966) was an American sculptor. He consistently created mythological pieces in a classical style, and was a major force in the Art Deco movement. He is well known for his large public com ...

Gwinn Michigan

In 1901, Mather purchased land in Marquette County, Michigan for his company's operations. He had

design a residential community to support his operations. On June 24, 2002,

Gwinn, Michigan Gwinn is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Marquette County, Michigan, Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes and has no legal status as an incorporated mun ...

was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as the "Gwinn Model Town Historic District, Forsyth Township, Marquette County, Michigan".

References

Harvard Business School biography
Accessed May 31, 2007 * 1857 births 1951 deaths Businesspeople from Cleveland Burials at Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni {{US-business-bio-1850s-stub 19th-century American businesspeople

Gwinn Estate

Gwinn Michigan

See also

References