Thomson Francis Mason
Encyclopedia
Thomson Francis Mason was a prominent jurist
, lawyer
, councilman, judge
, and the mayor of Alexandria
, District of Columbia
(now Virginia
) between 1827 and 1830.
's Gunston Hall
plantation
in Fairfax County
, Virginia. He was the second eldest child and eldest son of General Thomson Mason
(1759–1820) and his wife Sarah McCarty Chichester. Mason was primarily raised at Hollin Hall
, his father's plantation.
On 24 October 1805, Mason entered the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University
) as a member of the junior class. That same year, he joined the American Whig-Cliosophic Society
. Mason graduated from Princeton with honors and subsequently stayed to study law. He graduated from law school in 1807 and returned to Virginia.
which was then located in Alexandria County of the District of Columbia. Mason served as Justice of the Peace in Alexandra three times. Mason played an important role during the 1820s
in the fight to retrocede Alexandria County from the District of Columbia to Virginia. Because of this, he became increasingly involved in Alexandria's political activities. Mason served as mayor of Alexandria between 1827 and 1830. He was elected to the office four times. Six months before his death in 1838, President Martin Van Buren
appointed Mason as the first judge of the newly organized Criminal Court of the District of Columbia.
Mason was also involved in several of Alexandria's transportation infrastructure projects. He served as president of and attorney for the Middle Turnpike Company for eleven years until his resignation on 16 July 1838 to accept President Van Buren's judicial appointment. The Middle Turnpike, now known as the Leesburg Pike (Virginia State Route 7
), was completed shortly after his death. As Alexandria's mayor and as chairman of the Alexandria Committee, Mason was involved with the construction of the Alexandria branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
. The Alexandria Canal was later completed in 1843.
, Virginia on 19 November 1817. He and Elizabeth had nine children:
Thomson and Betsey's five daughters and three sons attended various schools in Alexandria, where they learned music, drawing, and French
in addition to reading and writing. The couple were friends with members of the Lee family
and other landed gentry. Thomson and Betsey entertained lavishly at their Colross
and Huntley
estates.
(1793–1869) and Hunting Creek farm for Mason. On his Hunting Creek tract, Mason constructed his secondary home known as Huntley
between 1820 and 1825. Huntley never served as a permanent residence for Mason who owned a number of houses in Alexandria including Colross
, his chief homestead.
Mason died on 21 December 1838 in Alexandria at the age of 53. Originally interred at Colross graveyard in Alexandria, Mason's remains were reinterred at Christ Church
Episcopal Cemetery, also in Alexandria. Twenty years after Mason's death, his widow Betsey attempted to sell Huntley and its accompanying Hunting Creek farm in 1859. When she was unable to sell the property, Betsey transferred ownership on 7 November 1859 to her sons John "Frank" Francis Mason and Arthur "Pen" Pendleton Mason. In 1989, Huntley was acquired by the Fairfax County Park Authority
and it is currently boarded and fenced until restoration funds are made available.
(1725–1792); nephew of George Mason V
(1753–1796); grandnephew of Thomson Mason
(1733–1785); son of Thomson Mason
(1759–1820) and Sarah McCarty Chichester Mason; first cousin once removed of Stevens Thomson Mason
(1760–1803) and John Thomson Mason
(1765–1824); second cousin of Armistead Thomson Mason
(1787–1819), John Thomson Mason
(1787–1850), and John Thomson Mason, Jr. (1815–1873); first cousin of George Mason VI
(1786–1834), Richard Barnes Mason
(1797–1850), and James Murray Mason (1798–1871); second cousin once removed of Stevens Thomson Mason
(1811–1843); and first cousin thrice removed of Charles O'Conor Goolrick
.
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
, lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, councilman, judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, and the mayor of 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...
, 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....
(now 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...
) between 1827 and 1830.
Early life and education
Mason was born in 1785 at his grandfather George MasonGeorge Mason
George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...
's Gunston Hall
Gunston Hall
Gunston Hall is an 18th-century Georgian mansion near the Potomac River in Mason Neck, Virginia, United States of America. The house was the home of the United States Founding Father George Mason. It was located at the center of a 5500 acre plantation...
plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
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. He was the second eldest child and eldest son of General Thomson Mason
Thomson Mason (1759–1820)
Thomson Mason was a prominent entrepreneur, planter, civil servant, and justice. Mason was the son of George Mason, an American patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention....
(1759–1820) and his wife Sarah McCarty Chichester. Mason was primarily raised at Hollin Hall
Hollin Hall
Hollin Hall is an 18th century plantation home on Little Hunting Creek three miles southwest of Alexandria in Fairfax County, Virginia. George Mason, a United States founding father, gave Hollin Hall to his third son, Thomson Mason, through deeds of gift in 1781 and 1786. The land, as given,...
, his father's plantation.
On 24 October 1805, Mason entered the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
) as a member of the junior class. That same year, he joined the American Whig-Cliosophic Society
American Whig-Cliosophic Society
The American Whig–Cliosophic Society is a political, literary, and debating society at Princeton University and the oldest debate union in the United States...
. Mason graduated from Princeton with honors and subsequently stayed to study law. He graduated from law school in 1807 and returned to Virginia.
Career
Upon his return to Virginia, Mason began practicing law in Fairfax County. In 1812, he set up his law practice in AlexandriaAlexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
which was then located in Alexandria County of the District of Columbia. Mason served as Justice of the Peace in Alexandra three times. Mason played an important role during the 1820s
1820s
The 1820s decade ran from January 1, 1820, to December 31, 1829.- East Asia :* February 14, 1820 – Minh Mang starts to rule in Vietnam.* Java War * 1828 Siamese-Lao War: Siam invades and sacks Vientiane....
in the fight to retrocede Alexandria County from the District of Columbia to Virginia. Because of this, he became increasingly involved in Alexandria's political activities. Mason served as mayor of Alexandria between 1827 and 1830. He was elected to the office four times. Six months before his death in 1838, President Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
appointed Mason as the first judge of the newly organized Criminal Court of the District of Columbia.
Mason was also involved in several of Alexandria's transportation infrastructure projects. He served as president of and attorney for the Middle Turnpike Company for eleven years until his resignation on 16 July 1838 to accept President Van Buren's judicial appointment. The Middle Turnpike, now known as the Leesburg Pike (Virginia State Route 7
Virginia State Route 7
State Route 7 is a major primary state highway and busy commuter route in Northern Virginia, United States. It travels southeast from downtown Winchester to State Route 400 in downtown Alexandria...
), was completed shortly after his death. As Alexandria's mayor and as chairman of the Alexandria Committee, Mason was involved with the construction of the Alexandria branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal, and occasionally referred to as the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River in Maryland from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington, D.C. The total length of the canal is about . The elevation change of...
. The Alexandria Canal was later completed in 1843.
Marriage and children
Mason married Elizabeth "Betsey" Clapham Price of LeesburgLeesburg, Virginia
Leesburg is a historic town in, and county seat of, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States of America. Leesburg is located west-northwest of Washington, D.C. along the base of the Catoctin Mountain and adjacent to the Potomac River. Its population according the 2010 Census is 42,616...
, Virginia on 19 November 1817. He and Elizabeth had nine children:
- Ann Graham Florence Mason Rhett (died 1883)
- Arthur Mason (died 28 May 1835)
- Sarah Elizabeth Mason Campbell (1819–1907)
- Matilda Eulalia Mason Rhett (February 1821–22 February 1871)
- Thomson Francis Mason (January 1825–9 September 1841)
- John Francis Mason (28 August 1828–4 August 1897)
- Virginia Mason Davidge (1 February 1830–December 1919)
- Caroline Betty Mason (9 March 1832–1919)
- Arthur Pendleton MasonArthur Pendleton MasonArthur "Pen" Pendleton Mason was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Confederate States Army serving during the American Civil War. Mason was a scion of the prominent Mason political family of Virginia.-Early life and education:...
(11 December 1835–22 April 1893)
Thomson and Betsey's five daughters and three sons attended various schools in Alexandria, where they learned music, drawing, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
in addition to reading and writing. The couple were friends with members of the Lee family
Lee family
The Lee family of the United States is a historically significant Virginia and Maryland political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military. Through the past few hundred years it was believed that Colonel Richard Lee of Virginia descended...
and other landed gentry. Thomson and Betsey entertained lavishly at their Colross
Colross
Colross was an early 19th-century Mason family estate on Oronoco Street in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Colross was the Alexandria residence of Thomson Francis Mason , a grandson of George Mason...
and Huntley
Huntley (plantation)
Huntley is an early 19th-century Federal-style plantation manor in the Hybla Valley area of Fairfax County, Virginia., on a hill overlooking Huntley Meadows Park to the south. The estate is best known as the country residence of Thomson Francis Mason , grandson of George Mason of nearby Gunston Hall...
estates.
Huntley
Upon the death of his grandfather George Mason on 7 October 1792, Mason's father Thomson inherited a portion of the Gunston Hall estate. Around 1817, Mason's father Thomson divided the property into two plantations: Dogue Run farm for Mason's younger brother Richard Chichester MasonRichard Chichester Mason
Richard Chichester Mason was a prominent physician practicing in Alexandria, Virginia. Mason was a grandson of George Mason and his wife Ann Eilbeck.-Early life and education:...
(1793–1869) and Hunting Creek farm for Mason. On his Hunting Creek tract, Mason constructed his secondary home known as Huntley
Huntley (plantation)
Huntley is an early 19th-century Federal-style plantation manor in the Hybla Valley area of Fairfax County, Virginia., on a hill overlooking Huntley Meadows Park to the south. The estate is best known as the country residence of Thomson Francis Mason , grandson of George Mason of nearby Gunston Hall...
between 1820 and 1825. Huntley never served as a permanent residence for Mason who owned a number of houses in Alexandria including Colross
Colross
Colross was an early 19th-century Mason family estate on Oronoco Street in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Colross was the Alexandria residence of Thomson Francis Mason , a grandson of George Mason...
, his chief homestead.
Mason died on 21 December 1838 in Alexandria at the age of 53. Originally interred at Colross graveyard in Alexandria, Mason's remains were reinterred at Christ Church
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...
Episcopal Cemetery, also in Alexandria. Twenty years after Mason's death, his widow Betsey attempted to sell Huntley and its accompanying Hunting Creek farm in 1859. When she was unable to sell the property, Betsey transferred ownership on 7 November 1859 to her sons John "Frank" Francis Mason and Arthur "Pen" Pendleton Mason. In 1989, Huntley was acquired by the Fairfax County Park Authority
Fairfax County Park Authority
The Fairfax County Park Authority is a department of the Fairfax County, Virginia county government responsible for developing and maintaining the various parks, historical sites, and recreational areas owned or administered by Fairfax County...
and it is currently boarded and fenced until restoration funds are made available.
Relations
Thomson Francis Mason was a grandson of George MasonGeorge Mason
George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...
(1725–1792); nephew 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); grandnephew 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); son of Thomson Mason
Thomson Mason (1759–1820)
Thomson Mason was a prominent entrepreneur, planter, civil servant, and justice. Mason was the son of George Mason, an American patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention....
(1759–1820) and Sarah McCarty Chichester Mason; first cousin once removed 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) and 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); second 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 John Thomson Mason, Jr. (1815–1873); first cousin of 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); second 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); and first cousin thrice removed of Charles O'Conor Goolrick
C. O'Conor Goolrick
C. O'Conor Coolrick was a Virginia lawyer and politician whose legislative accomplishments include the establishment of a school for the training of teachers at Fredericksburg, Virginia that became the University of Mary Washington, and the establishment of modern systems for worker's compensation,...
.