John Thomson Mason, Jr. (May 9, 1815 – March 28, 1873) was a U.S. Congressman

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, representing the sixth district from 1841 to 1843.

Early life and education

Born at the Montpelier

Montpelier (Clear Spring, Maryland)

Montpelier is a late 18th-century Federal-style mansion in Clear Spring in Washington County, Maryland, United States. Montpelier was the residence of John Thomson Mason , a prominent American jurist and Attorney General of Maryland in 1806...

 estate near Hagerstown, Maryland

Hagerstown, Maryland

Hagerstown is a city in northwestern Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Washington County, and, by many definitions, the largest city in a region known as Western Maryland. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2010 census was 39,662, and the population of the...

, Mason was educated by a private tutor and graduated from Princeton College in 1836. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Hagerstown in 1838.

Political career

Mason later served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates

Maryland House of Delegates

The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland, and is composed of 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The House chamber is located in the state capitol building on State Circle in Annapolis...

 in 1838 and 1839, and was elected as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 to the Twenty-seventh Congress

27th United States Congress

The Twenty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1841 to March 3, 1843, during the one-month...

, serving one term from March 4, 1841 to March 3, 1843. He was a judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals

Maryland Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals of Maryland is the supreme court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief judge and six associate judges, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital, Annapolis...

 from 1851 to 1857, and afterwards a collector of customs at Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, Maryland, from 1857 to 1861. He moved to Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

, and served as Secretary of State of Maryland

Secretary of State of Maryland

The Secretary of State of Maryland is charged with the administrative and record-keeping functions of the State Government of the U.S. state of Maryland. The Secretary of State also holds custody of the Seal of Maryland. Unlike in many states, the Secretary of State is not an elective office, but...

 from 1872 until his death in 1873.

Death and interment

Mason died on March 28, 1873 in Elkton

Elkton, Maryland

The town of Elkton is the county seat of Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 11,893 as of the 2000 census and 14,842 according to current July 2008 census estimates. It is the county seat of Cecil County...

, Maryland at age 57. He is interred in Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown, Maryland.

Marriage and children

Mason married Margaret Augusta Cowan in Alleghany City, Pennsylvania on December 14, 1842. The couple had four children:

• Louise Gilmer Mason Terry (February 12, 1844–September 26, 1921)
• William Temple Thomson Mason (December 12, 1845–April 5, 1847)
• Elizabeth Mason Porter (born March 28, 1848)
• John Thomson Mason (born January 3, 1850)

Relations

John Thomson Mason, Jr. was a grandnephew of George Mason

George Mason

George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...

 (1725–1792); grandson of Thomson Mason

Thomson Mason

Thomson Mason was a prominent Virginia lawyer, jurist, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Mason was a younger brother of George Mason IV, United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S...

 (1733–1785); nephew of Stevens Thomson Mason

Stevens Thomson Mason (Virginia)

Stevens Thomson Mason was a Colonel in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a member of the Virginia state legislature and a Republican U.S. Senator from Virginia .-Early life and military career:...

 (1760–1803); son of John Thomson Mason

John Thomson Mason

John Thomson Mason, Jr. was a U.S. Congressman from Maryland, representing the sixth district from 1841 to 1843.-Early life and education:...

 (1765–1824) and Elizabeth Beltzhoover Mason (1781–1836); second cousin of Thomson Francis Mason

Thomson Francis Mason

Thomson Francis Mason was a prominent jurist, lawyer, councilman, judge, and the mayor of Alexandria, District of Columbia between 1827 and 1830.-Early life and education:...

 (1785–1838); first cousin of Armistead Thomson Mason

Armistead Thomson Mason

Armistead Thomson Mason , the son of Stevens Thomson Mason, was a U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1816 to 1817.-Early life and education:...

 (1787–1819), John Thomson Mason

John Thomson Mason (1787–1850)

John Thomson Mason was an American lawyer, United States marshal, Secretary of Michigan Territory from 1830 through 1831, land agent, and an important figure in the Texas Revolution.-Early life and education:...

 (1787–1850), and James Murray Mason (1798–1871); and first cousin once removed of Stevens Thomson Mason

Stevens T. Mason

Stevens Thomson Mason , also known as Stevens T. Mason, Tom Mason, The Boy Governor, and lesser known nicknames Young Hotspur and The Stripling, was the territorial governor of the Michigan Territory, and later the first Governor of the state of Michigan. Mason guided the Michigan Territory into...

(1811–1843).