Murray Mason was an American military officer. Mason was a grandson of George Mason

George Mason

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

, author of the Virginia Bill of Rights and Founding Father of the United States

Founding Fathers of the United States

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...

.

Early life

Mason and his twin brother, Maynadier Mason (died April 1865), were born on 4 January 1808 in Georgetown

Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Georgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...

, District of Columbia

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

. Mason was a son of prominent businessman John Mason

John Mason (1766–1849)

John Mason was an early American merchant, banker, planter. As a son of George Mason, a Founding Father of the United States, Mason was a scion of the prominent Mason political family.-Early life and education:...

 and his wife Anna Maria Murray. His older brother was James Murray Mason, a United States Representative and United States Senator from Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

.

Military career

Prior to 1861, Mason was employed by the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 and served as a captain

Captain (naval)

Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....

. Between 1861 and 1865, Mason served as a lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in the Confederate States Navy

Confederate States Navy

The Confederate States Navy was the naval branch of the Confederate States armed forces established by an act of the Confederate Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American Civil War...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Marriage and children

Mason married Clara Cecilia Forsyth, daughter of John Forsyth

John Forsyth (politician)

John Forsyth, Sr. was a 19th-century American politician from Georgia.Forsyth was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia. His father Robert Forsyth was the first U.S. Marshal to be killed in the line of duty in 1794. He was an attorney who graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1799...

, 13th United States Secretary of State

United States Secretary of State

The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...

, on 7 December 1837. Mason and his wife had four children:

• Fanny Forsyth Mason (1838–7 March 1907)
• Clara Forsyth Mason McGuire (1840–7 November 1877)
• Virginia Mason Bower (1842–12 May 1926)
• Anna Maria Mason Davis (1842–1928)

The Mason family resided at their Chestnut Hill estate in Fairfax County

Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

, Virginia.

Death

Mason died on 11 January 1875 in Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

, Virginia at age 67. His body was interred at Christ Church Cemetery

Christ Church (Alexandria, Virginia)

Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, is an Episcopal church built from 1767 to 1773 by John Carlyle.The church was designed by James Wren in the colonial style, and frequented by such notables as George Washington, Robert E. Lee, and Philip Richard Fendall I...

 in Alexandria.

Ancestry