USA > Virginia > Some prominent Virginia families, Volume II > Part 47
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Croft," Stratford-on-Avon. This old Elizabethan seat of the Mason family is the present residence of Marie Corelli, the well- known novelist. The last of the Mason name who lived there died about forty years ago.
Capt. George Mason, progenitor of the Mason family of Vir- ginia, was a royalist in the contest between King Charles and the Parliament. Hc commanded a troop of horse in the royal army at the disastrous battle of Worcester, in 1651, when the power of King Charles I was crushed and destroyed by the army of Cromwell.
Capt. George Mason, after the defeat, escaped from the battle- field, and, with the assistance of some friendly peasants, made his way, disguised, to his home, and then, having been joined by some of his family, friends, and fellow-refugees, he boarded the good ship "Assurance" and in due time was landed in Norfolk, Virginia. He was accompanied by his cousin, Col. Gerard Fowke, who, also, was an officer in King Charles' army, in which he was Colonel of Cavalry. He also held the position of Gentleman of the Bed Chamber to King Charles I. Col. Gerard Fowke died in Virginia subsequent to 1672, surviving his son Gerard.
Capt. George Mason brought to Virginia with him his wife, Mary, his brother, William, and a nephew who removed to Boston, Mass., married there, and was the progenitor of a large number of descendants. There were seventeen persons in Capt. Mason's party of colonists on the "Assurance," because, in 1655, as "Captain George Mason," he located lands in Westmoreland County as having brought eighteen persons into the colony as settlers.
Capt. George Mason became a leading citizen of Westmore- land County, and in 1661, when a new county was cut from it, Capt. Mason's influence caused it to be named Stafford, after his English home.
His home on the Potomac was called Accokeek. It was situated ncar Paspitansey, the residence of the Indian King Wabangano- chee, and which was afterwards the location of Gunston Hall, and therc lived the Gunston branch of the Mason family of Vir- gonia. Capt. Chandler Fowke died there in 1745, and not in Maryland.
Capt. George Mason was Sheriff of Stafford County in 1670, at which time he was known as Maj. George Mason. He was
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made County Lieutenant and commander of its militia in 1675, which position carried with it the title and authority of Colonel. He was engaged in the Indian warfare that led to Bacon's Re- bellion in 1676. He represented his county in the House of Bur- gesses in what went by the name of the "Bacon Assembly" of 1676. That he was conspicuous in the wars with the Indians is shown by the acts of 1675, 1679, and 1684, when he was engaged in defending the frontier. In Bacon's Rebellion he espouscd the side of the people in the House of Burgesses.
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Col. George Mason dicd at Accokeek, Stafford County, Va., in 1686, and was buried there.
Col. George2 Mason (George1), the second of the name, was b. in Accokeck, Stafford County, Va., in 1670. He was the son of George and Mary Mason, of England.
He was appointed Justice of the Peace of Stafford County in 1689, and served as such until 1699. In 1692 he was made Sheriff of Stafford County. In 1699-1700 he was appointed County Lieutenant and Colonel of Militia by Governor Nicholson. His letter of appointment is still extant and bears the scal of the Governor in perfect preservation, showing a heart pierced with two arrows and surmounted by a crown.
Col. George Mason, like his father, was a soldier by taste and profession. An order was issued from Jamestown, July 10, 1700, to "Lieutenant Colonel George Mason, commander-in-chief of militia," requiring him to detail a force of "twelve men and two officers to serve as rangers in the county for its greater security."
In 1694 Col. George2 Mason sold the estate of his father, Col. George1 Mason, at "Accokeek," on the Potomac. He reserved only, in the act of sale, the tomb of his father and the lot on which it stands, which was to remain the property of the said George2 Mason and his heirs forever.
Col. George2 Mason owned large estates at the time of his death in 1716. He married three times :
First, married (prior to 1694) Mary, daughter of Col. Girard Fowkc, the second of that name in Virginia, and his wife Ann, daughter of Capt. Adam Thoroughgood and his wife Sarah Offley and widow of Col. Job Chandler. Ann Thoroughgood adminis- tered on her first husband, Col. Job Chandler's estate, October 30, 1669. (Scc records Charles County, Md.) The children were :
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1. George3 Mason (George2, George1).
2. French Mason.
3. Nicholas Mason.
4. Elizabeth Mason.
5. Lympha Rosa Enfield Mason. Married, first, John Din- widdie; second, Col. Jeremiah Bronaugh.
Margaret Mason Bronaugh was b. 1770. Married Mr. Robert Hereford of Virginia. She was daughter of Dr. John Bronaugh, who married Ann Carter of Cleves. Dr. John Bronaugh was son of Jeremiah Bronaugh, who became the second husband of Lympha Rosa Enfield Mason, widow of John Dinwiddie, and daughter of Col. George Mason, grandfather of Col. George Mason, of Gunston Hall.
In the old Truro Parish vestry book we find :
At a vestry held for Truro Parish, this 19th day of August, 1736, there were present Jeremiah Bronaugh, church warden; Denis MeCarty, Augus- tine Washington, Robert Osborn, John Thurman, William Godfrey, James Baxter and Thomas Lewis, vestrymen.
Mr. Charles Green being recommended to this vestry by Captain Augus- tine Washington as a person qualified to officiate as a minister in this parish, as soon as he shall receive orders from His Graee the Bishop of London to qualify himself for the same, it, therefore,
Ordered by this vestry, that as soon as the said Green has qualified himself as aforesaid he be received and entertained as minister of the said parish, and the said vestry do humbly recommend said Chas. Green to the Right Honorable Thomas, Lord Fairfax, for his letters of recommendation and presentation to His Grace, the aforesaid Lord Bishop of London, to qualify himself as aforesaid.
This Rev. Charles Green served the Falls Church, or, as then ealled, the "Upper" or "New" ehureh, in Truro Parish, as rector for many years. Augustine Washington named was the father of Gen. George Washington.
The second wife of Col. George2 Mason was Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. John Waugh, by whom he had three daughters :
1. Catherine3 Mason. Married John Mercer.
2. Anne3 Mason. Married Thomas, third son of Col. Wm. Fitzhugh.
3. Mary3 Mason. Married George, of "Marmion," fourth son of Col. William Fitzhugh, the colonist. (Fitzhugh, Chapter XVI.)
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Anne3 Mason had no children. Mary3 Mason had many descendants.
The third wife of Col. George2 Mason was Sarah (surname and parents unknown), by whom he had three children :
1. Frances3 Mason.
2. Thomas3 Mason.
3. Sarah3 Mason.
Col. George3 Mason (George2, George1), son of George2 Mason and Mary Fowkc, was born 1690, and died in Charles County, Md., 1735. He was Justice of the Peace and Sheriff of Stafford County in 1713, and, like his father and grandfather, was County Lieutenant and Commander-in-Chief of the Militia of the County (Stafford), receiving his commission from Governor Spottswood in 1719. His position enabled him to extend courtesies to the Seotch merchants and their agents in Virginia who were becoming interested in the settlement and trade of the colony. Col Mason3 was made Burgess and Guild Brother of the City of Glasgow in 1720.
He represented Stafford County in the Virginia Assembly in 1718-23-26. The county originally embraced all that part of the Northern Neck north of Westmoreland County. Col. Mason owned estates on both banks of the Potomae, in Virginia and in Mary- land, and it was while living on one of his estates in Charles County, Maryland, that he was drowned while erossing the river.
Col. George Mason was one of the fifty gentlemen adventurers who accompanied Governor Spottswood in 1716 on his famous expedition aeross the Blue Ridge Mountains, and by "drinking the health of His Majesty on the summit of Mount George" he became qualified to receive at the hands of the order the title of "Knight of the Golden Horseshoe," and to wear a gold horseshoe in token of the same.
Col. George3 Mason married (1721) Ann, daughter of Steven Thomson, Attorney General of Virginia during several years of Queen's Anne's reign, and granddaughter of Sir William Thomson, of London. Three of their children reached maturity :
1. George Mason (George8, George2, George1), of Gunston Hall, Stafford Co., Va.
2. Thomson4 Mason, b. 1732; d. 1785.
3. Mary4 Thomson Mason.
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George Mason (George3, George2, George1), of Gunston Hall, son of Col. George Mason and Ann Thomson, born at Doeg's (afterwards Mason's) Neek, Fairfax County, Va., in 1725; died there October 7, 1792. After his marriage to Ann, daughter of Col. William Ellbrick, he built "Gunston Hall," on the Potomac, where "Paspitansey," the residenec of the Indian King, Waban- ganoehee, formerly stood. Gunston Hall continued in possession of the Mason family until after the civil war of 1861-5.
George Mason, of Gunston, was preeminently a patriot of the American Revolution. His settlement was in Truro Parish, which included Mount Vernon estate, on the Potomae, and he became the intimate friend of Washington, his neighbor and fellow- parishioner. Being an intelligent student of history as well as versed in international law, and having, in addition to his legal attainments, liberal sentiments, fine powers of reasoning and sound judgment, Mason was a valuable adviser to the future leader of the Revolution.
George Mason, of Gunston, drafted the non-importation reso- lutions which Washington presented to the Virginia Assembly, and procured their adoption in 1769. One of these resolutions pledged the Virginia planters to purchase no slaves imported after November 1st of that year. These resolutions were unanimously adopted.
In support of the political rights of his state, Mason printed a pamphlet entitled, "Extracts from the Virginia Charters, with Some Remarks Upon Them," and at a "meeting of the people," in Fairfax County, July 18, 1774, he presented a series of twenty- four resolutions on the questions at issue between Great Britain and her colonies, which were approved by the Virginia convention in August, 1774, and substantially reaffirmed by the Continental Congress in October of the same year.
In 1775 he was a member of the Virginia convention. He de- elined an election to the constitutional congress, which was pressed upon him, withdrawing in favor of Francis Lightfoot Lce, and reluctantly consented to serve as a member of the Committee of Safety, which, for a time, exercised supreme powers of govern- ment for mutual protection. In May, 1776, he drafted the cele- brated "Declaraton of Rights" and "Plan of Government," which were adopted June 12th and 29th. In the revision of the statutes
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of Virginia his liberal sentiments were conspieuous, and his talent in debate elieitcd universal admiration. He was a member of the Continental Congress of 1777, and of the Convention for form- ing the Federal Constitution in 1787. In the latter body Mason took a conspicuous part, proposing that the selection of President should be by direet popular vote, and for a single period of seven ycars. He opposed the postponement of the repeal of the slave- trade laws, and the counting of slaves as a basis for representa- tion, and the establishment of a property qualifieation for suffragc. Notwithstanding Mason's efforts several features, which he con- sidered dangerous and tending to establish autocraey and aristoc- racy, were incorporated in the constitution, which in eonsequenee he afterwards refused to sign; and having been elected to a membership of the Virginia convention ealled to ratify the new constitution, he united with Patrick Henry in demanding its re- jection unless some twenty amendments should first be madc. Several of these amendments were afterwards substantially em- bodied and adopted by the several states, and now form part of the constitution.
George Mason, of Gunston, was elected one of the first sena- tors from Virginia to the United States Congress, but deelined the post and spent the remainder of his life in retirement, en- joying the pleasures of a country gentleman in hunting, fishing and congenial studics. He dicd October 7, 1792, and was buried at Gunston Hall.
His statuc is one of the group which surrounds that of Wash- ington in front of the State capitol at Richmond. (See his life by Kate Mason Rowland, 2 Vols., N. Y., 1892.)
President James Madison pronounced Mason to be the ablest debater he had ever known. His talents in this direction were displayed in the first legislature that was held under the new constitution of Virginia, when he brought forward a measure for the repeal of all the old disabling acts, the legalizing of all forms of religious worship, and the releasing of dissenters from the Church of England, from the payment of parish rates.
In the discussion of the question whether the House of Repre- sentatives of the United States should be ehoscn direetly by the people, he maintained that no republican form of government eould stand without popular confidenee, and that confidence could
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only be sccured by giving the people the selection of one branch of the legislature. He also spoke with great energy against the clause which prohibited the abolition of the slave trade until 1808, declaring that as it was recognized that slavery was a source of national weakness and demoralization, the general government should be given power to prevent its incrcasc.
Col. George Mason, of Gunston, is referred to by Thomas Jef- ferson as a man of the first order of wisdom, of expansive mind, profound judgment; cogent in argument, learned in constitu- tional law, and earnest for a republican form of government on democratic principles. He is described, when fifty years of age, as of commanding presence and lofty bearing, of an athletic and robust frame, a swarthy complexion, with black hair, sprinkled with grey; grave face and dark, radiant eycs.
Col. George Mason, of Gunston, changed the motto on his family coat-of-arms from its original English form, "Pro patria semper," to a more American onc, "Pro republica semper." However, his brother and other members of the family preserved the original form. George Mason quartered the Thomson arms with those of Mason. His mother, Miss Anna Thomson, was of the Yorkshire family of that namc.
Col. George Mason, of Gunston, married Ann, daughter of Col. William Ellbrick, of Maryland. She died at the age of thirty- nine years. They had children :
1. George Mason5 (George4, George3, George2, George1), a Captain in the Revolutionary Army.
2. Hon. William Thomson Mason, of "Hollins Hall." Mar- ried Sarah McCarty.
3. John Mason.
In "Boogher's Gleanings from Virginia's History," we find "Gentlemen Justices of the Peace for Loudoun County."
May, 1778-George Mason, Licutenant.
May, 1781-William T. Mason, Ensign.
Dec., 1782-William Mason, First Lieutenant.
After many years a widower, George Mason, of Gunston Hall, married a lady named Brent, of whom there was no issue.
Capt. George Mason, of Gunston, son of Col. George Mason and Ann Ellbrick, had a son who became Gen. John® Mason, of
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Analostan on Mason's Island, in the Potomae opposite Washing- ton. He married (Naney) Elizabeth Murray, of Maryland, about 1773.
Gen. John Mason6 and Naney Murray had issue :
I. James7 Murray Mason, of Analostan Island, b. Nov. 28, 1798; d. Alexandria, Va., Nov. 28, 1871.
He studied law, and in 1820 began its praetiee in Winehester, Va. In 1826 he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates and was twiee reeleeted. In 1837 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He deelined a reëleetion and returned to the praetiee of law. In 1847 he was appointed to the United States Senate to fill a vaeaney, and in 1849, and again in 1855, he was reëleeted. He took a prominent part in the Senate for several years as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Re- lations. He drafted the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. He took an early part in the seeession movement, which aetion of course dis- qualified him from further serviee as a senator. After his ex- pulsion from the Senate he was appointed by the Confederate Government Commissioner to England and Franee; and, No- vember 8, 1861, with his eolleague, John Slidell, of Louisiana, he was captured in the Bahama channel, on board the British mail steamship Trent, by Capt. Wilkes, of the United States Navy. He was eonfined at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, until January 2, 1862, when he was given up to the British government. During the remainder of the war he resided chiefly in Paris, as the repre- sentative of the Confederaey. After its elose he went to Canada, where he resided three years and then returned to Virginia.
James Murray Mason7 married Eliza Chew about 1824. They had issue :
1. Anna Mason8 (1826-1863). Married (Aug. 5, 1847) Rev. John Ambler, b. "Morven," Fauquier Co., April 8, 1821. (Ambler, Chapters VI and VII, Volume I.)
Hon. Thomson Mason5, of "Hollins Hall," son of George Mason, of Gunston, and Ann Ellbriek, married Sarah MeCarty and had issue :
1. George Washington Mason. Married Mrs. Patton.
2. William Mason.
3. Judge Thomson F. Mason. Married Miss Priee.
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4. Elizabeth Mason. Married (her cousin) George Mason, and had issue :
1. John MeCarty Mason.
2. George Thomson Mason.
5. Dr. Richard Chichester Mason. Married Luey, daughter of Col. Robert Randolph Mason (son of William), of Fauquier County, Va., and his wife, Eliza, daughter of Charles Carter, of "Shirley," and his wife, Mary W. Carter, of Cleve. They had issue :
1. Robert I. Mason.
2. Dr. Randolph F. Mason.
3. Lueius Mason, d. young.
4. Eliza Mason.
5. Rev. Dr. Riehard Randolph Mason, d. 1884. Married Eliza- beth Van Dyke, daughter of Rt. Rev. John Johns, D. D., Bishop of Virginia, and his wife, Juliana Johnson.
6. Luey Mason.
7. Boynton T. Mason.
8. Eliza L. Mason, d. 1864.
9. Beverly Randolph Mason, C. S. A. Married Elizabeth Nelson.
10. Eva Mason. Married Robert Heth.
11. John Stevens Mason, C. S. A. Married Eliza, daughter of Robert and Jane (Carter) Beverly.
12. Rev. Landon B. Mason, C. S. A. Married (1875) Luey, daughter of Rev. John Ambler, C. S. A.
13. William Pinkney Mason, C. S. N. Married Miss MeGill.
William Thomson Mason+ (1732-1785), second son of Col. George Mason3 and Ann Thomson, and only brother of George Mason, of Gunston Hall, studied law in London and attained eminenee in its praetiee. On his return to Virginia he beeame a member of the Supreme Court of the state and also of the House of Delegates. He owned large estates in Loudoun County. He lived on his estate, "Raspberry Plain," the mansion-house of which he built.
Thomson Mason+. Married, first, a daughter of Abraham Barnes, of Tudor Hall, Leonardtown, Md., and seeond, the widow Wallace, born Miss Westwood.
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The children of Thomson Mason and Miss Barnes were as follows :
1. Steven Thomson Mason5 (1760-1803). Married Mary Elizabeth Armistead, daughter of Robert Armistead, "Serenity Hall," Louisa Co., Va.
2. Ann Thomson Mason5. Married Richard MeCarty Chi- ehester.
3. John Thomson Mason5 (1764-1824), removed to Mary- land, studied law, and rose to high rank in the pro- fession. He married Miss Betzhover. Their children were :
1. Louisa Mason®. Married Mr. Terry®, U. S. N.
2. John Thomson Mason6.
3. Elizabeth Mason6. Married Admiral Theodore Porter, U. S. N.
4. Barnes Thompson Mason5.
In William and Mary College Quarterly, Vol. XIII, No. 3, January 3, 1905, pp. 179-80-81, Miss Emily Maerae, of Orange- field, Stafford County, gives some interesting facts about the Wallaee family :
I will hereafter narrate a romantic incident, which caused Elizabeth, who was the Widow Wallace, to move to Chappawansic, Prince William County, Va.
Elizabeth Westwood's mother was a Miss Howard, of the house of Norfolk, of England. (For an account of the Howard family, see William and Mary Quarterly II, pp. 167, 168.) Elizabeth Westwood's mother or grandmother was a cousin of Ann Boleyn.
One of Elizabeth Westwood's sisters married Col. Robert Armistead, of Louisa County, Va. Their daughter Polly Armistead ( Mary E. Armis- tead) was a celebrated beauty and belle. She married Stevens Thomson Mason, of "Raspberry Plain," Loudoun Co., Va. Her oldest son, Armistead Mason, was killed in a duel by Mr. MeCarthy. Her son, Jaek (John) Mason, went to Michigan, where he was several times elected Governor. His son, John, was also elected Governor of that State. Her oldest daughter, Catherine Mason, married Mr. Barry, an eminently talented man, who was Postmaster General under General Jackson's auspiees, and wielded considerable influenee. He left one son, called Jackson. After Mr. Barry's death, his widow married Judge Hicks, of Kentucky.
Her daughter, Emily Mason, married Mr. McCarthy, whose only remain- ing son, Dr. James MeCarthy, lives in Richmond, Va.
Mrs. Gen. Chilton, Mrs. Rowland and Miss Emily Mason are the daugh- ters of the late ex-Governor Jack (John) Mason. One of Elizabetlı
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Westwood's sisters married Mr. King, of Norfolk. After his death, she married Dr. MeClurg, of Hampton. Dr. MeClurg's son married Miss Selden, of Buek Roe, near Hampton. Their daughter married Mr. Wiek- ham, of Richmond, a distinguished lawyer. William Wirt says Mr. Thomson Mason was the most distinguished lawyer that Virginia had produeed up to this time. He was brother of the statesman, George Mason, of Gunston Hall.
Now eomes the romanee :
When Elizabeth Westwood was about sixteen years of age, she made a visit to her cousins, the daughters of Governor Digges, one of the Colonial Governors, who was living at Denby, near Williamsburg, Va. Whilst there, there was a great deal of talk about an Assembly ball, which was to come off at Williamsburg, and as Elizabeth Westwood did not leave home with the expectation of attending the Assembly, she was not pre- pared, having left her party costume in Hampton, where she lived. Her cousins, the Digges family, insisted on her remaining to attend the Assembly, saying they would lend her a dress. Yielding to their impor- tunities, she decided to remain and wear her own simple white dress. Soon after the guests assembled at the ball, Mr. Thomas Mason was introdueed. He had just returned from England, where he had completed his edueation. The managers carried him around, offering to introduce him. His eyes rested on the beautiful Elizabeth Westwood, and he had neither eyes nor ears for any other being in the room. She was equally pleased with him. Miss Digges was a cousin of Mr. Mason's, and it appears that she was bent on captivating him herself. Consequently she told Mr. Mason that Elizabeth Westwood was engaged to be married, and she told the latter that he was trifling with her; and consequently when he ealled to see her the day after the ball, she deelined making her appearance. Thus were two young beings separated, to meet in maturer years.
In about six months after this date Elizabeth Westwood married James Wallace, of "Errol," situated on Baek River, and several years afterward Thomson Mason married. He lived at Chappawansie, near Dumfries. He frequently attended eourt in Williamsburg, and was often asked by James Wallaee to visit him, which he as often promised to do. On one oeeasion Mr. Wallace said to Mr. Mason: "My oft-repeated invitations have been so frequently slighted with a promise of fulfillment that I will not extend them again." Mr. Mason then told Mr. Wallace that as he had entertained peculiar sentiments of regard to his wife when she was young, he would prefer not seeing her again.
Years swept on, when Mrs. Wallaee beeame a widow and Mr. Mason a widower. Mrs. Wallace was remarkable for her benevolenee. Two Revolutionary soldiers from Stafford County, Va., who were wounded, were attended by Mrs. Wallace, she dressing their wounds. When they recovered sufficiently to leave Hampton and return to their native home, which was near Mr. Mason, they mentioned the eireumstanee to him, and remarked that he had better make the acquaintance of the beautiful young
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widow who had befriended them, and induee her to aeeept his hand in marriage. Mrs. Wallace had been a widow for several years, but there was at that period very little communication between the upper and lower eounties of the State, and that was the first intimation Mr. Mason had of Mrs. Wallace's being a widow. The next day he ordered his eoaeh and four horses, and went from Chappawansie to Errol, a distance of several hundred miles. He was received graeiously by the beautiful widow, but had to make several visits before she would eonsent to being betrothed. It was the second marriage of Elizabeth Westwood to Mr. Thomas Mason, which caused her to remove from Hampton to Prince William Co., Va.
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