His paternal uncle, Samuel Atherton (1815–1895),[6][7] is credited to having greatly improved the financial standing of the family, having established himself in business as a retail dealer in boots and shoes, first entering into partnership with Caleb Stetson, then admitting his two younger brothers, James (1819–1879) [8] and William, as partners in 1852.

Atherton studied at the Boston Latin School and attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, graduating in 1889.

He returned with his mother and brother, sailing from New York, this time to Liverpool in 1898, prior to onward travel to France and Germany for his musical studies.

[21] During August 1918 he worked with Louis Kronberg, a Boston artist on a Greek Harvest Festival, in honor of Demeter in a natural amphitheater in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

[24] This position afforded him access to people of influence and was respected by his close friend from his Boston days, the French born American Carl Engel, who for a time was the Head the Library of Congress Music Division.

Atherton served as the interim head of the music division of the Library of Congress of the United States (1929 to 1942), which had been established in 1896 within the Thomas Jefferson Building in 1897.

Particularly influential was Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge and Gertrude Clarke Whittall, who donated many highly collectible musical instruments during the 1930s.

Both women had the financial resources, social standing, and commitment to greatly expand the library's footprint; as well as help preserve musical heritage for the enjoyment of future generations.

Florence was a Boston music teacher and composer who married George Frederick Spalding of Newton, Massachusetts in 1885.

[34] He composed music to the poems of the author Charlotte Perkins Gilman, with their correspondence being preserved within the Schlesinger Collection of Harvard University.

[35][36][37] Atherton died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Ventnor City, New Jersey, aged 72, on March 8, 1944.