Stevens Thomson Mason was a Colonel in the Continental Army

Continental Army

The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...

 during the Revolutionary War, a member of the 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...

 state legislature and a Republican

Democratic-Republican Party (United States)

The Democratic-Republican Party or Republican Party was an American political party founded in the early 1790s by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Political scientists use the former name, while historians prefer the latter one; contemporaries generally called the party the "Republicans", along...

 U.S. Senator from Virginia (1794–1803).

Early life and military career

Mason was born at Chopawamsic

Chopawamsic (plantation)

Chopawamsic was an 18th-century plantation on Chopawamsic Creek in Stafford County, Virginia. Chopawamsic was a seat of the Mason family.-History:...

 in Stafford County, Virginia

Stafford County, Virginia

Stafford County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a U.S. state, and just across the Rappahannock River from the City of Fredericksburg. As of the 2000 census, the population was 92,446, increasing to 128,961 in 2010.. Its county seat is Stafford. In 2006, and again in 2009,...

 and attended William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia

Williamsburg, Virginia

Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...

. He studied law, was admitted to the bar

Bar (law)

Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...

, and commenced practice in Dumfries, Virginia

Dumfries, Virginia

Dumfries is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,937 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Dumfries is located at ....

  in Prince William County, Virginia

Prince William County, Virginia

-National protected areas:* Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge* Manassas National Battlefield Park* Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge* Prince William Forest Park-Government and politics:...

. He served in the Continental Army as an aide to General George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 at the Battle of Yorktown and was a brigadier general in the Virginia Militia.

Political career

He was a member of the Virginia State House of Delegates in 1783 and 1794, a member of the Virginia State Senate 1787–1790, and a delegate to the Virginia Ratification Convention in 1788. In 1794, Mason was elected to the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James Monroe

James Monroe

James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...

. He was reelected in 1797 and again in 1803, serving from 18 November 1794, until his death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. He is interred in the family burying ground at Raspberry Plain

Raspberry Plain

Raspberry Plain is a historic property and former plantation in Loudoun County, Virginia, near Leesburg. Raspberry Plain was one of the principal Mason family estates of Northern Virginia.- History :...

 in Loudoun County, Virginia

Loudoun County, Virginia

Loudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...

.

Marriage and children

Mason married Mary Elizabeth Armistead on May 1, 1783. The couple had six children:

• 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:...
  
   (January 8, 1787 – April 17, 1850)
• 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 – February 6, 1819)
• Stevens Thomson Mason (1789 – 17 November 1815)
• Mary Thomson Mason (1791–1813)
• Emily Rutger Mason (1793–1837)
• Catherine Mason (born 1795)

Relations

Stevens Thomson Mason was a nephew 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); son 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); brother 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); half-brother of William Temple Thomson Mason

William Temple Thomson Mason

William Temple Thomson Mason was a prominent Virginia farmer and businessman.-Early life:William Temple Thomson Mason was born on 24 July 1782 at Raspberry Plain. "Temple", as he was known by his family, was Thomson Mason's third child and youngest son with his second wife Elizabeth Westwood Wallace...

 (1782–1862); first cousin of George Mason V

George Mason V

George Mason V of Lexington was a planter, businessman, and militia leader. Mason was the eldest son of United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention, George Mason IV....

 (1753–1796); first cousin once removed 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), George Mason VI

George Mason VI

George Mason VI was a prominent Virginia planter. Mason was the eldest son of planter and businessman George Mason V and grandson of United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S...

 (1786–1834), Richard Barnes Mason

Richard Barnes Mason

Richard Barnes Mason was a career general officer in the United States Army and the fifth military governor of California before it became a U.S. state.-Early life:...

 (1797–1850), and James Murray Mason (1798–1871); father 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) and 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); uncle of John Thomson Mason, Jr. (1815–1873); and grandfather 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).