A pioneer industrialist, Mather arrived in Toledo in 1910 after enjoying industrial and business successes in Cleveland and Canton. He established the Mather Spring Company in 1911 to build innovative leaf springs for automobiles. Henry Ford incorporated Mather’s springs into the Model T and Willys Overland Company was also a big buyer.  His son, Henry, joined the company and later succeeded his father. Together, they built a larger plant on North Detroit Avenue to build auto stabilizers.  

Mather became a large shareholder of the Willys-Overland Company and director of the former Toledo Trust Co. He built his grande river view estate, known as Belle Alliance, on East River Road in 1926 and 1927. Mather named his estate after his birthplace, Belle Alliance Plantation, in St James, LA.