| DANIEL MASON |
| at South West Point |
From Roots of Roane County, TN by Snyder E. Roberts, page 49-51
The Mason name in VA was synonymous with wealth and leadership. Col. GEORGE MASON (1725-1792) was the best known of the Masons in VA. George Washington was his closest friend and neighbor. His famour home "Gunston Hall" overlooks the Potomac River only a few miles from Mount Vernon. Col. George Mason is best known as the author of the Bill of Rights, or the first ten Amendments to the US Constitution. He married ANN EILBECK by whom he had nine children.
DANIEL and NATHANIEL MASON who were probably brothers, were the first of that name in Roane County. Their relationship to Col. George Mason has not been proven, but according to Goodspeed's History of East Tennessee "Daniel (1770-80--1839) came to Fort South West Point as a young man from the Potomac River in either VA or MD. Nathaniel Mason married (7-9-1901) PHOEBE BRASHEARS, daughter of Robert Samuel Brashears. Daniel Mason married (3-6-1797) Phoebe's sister, MARY "POLLY" BRASHEARS, who was the well-to-do young widow of ROBERT GILLILAND who had bought in 1794 (Knox Book C, p.22) 640 acres on the north side of Clinch River from Reed and Swaggerty.
It is not know in what capacity Daniel Mason served at South West Point. He also served in the War of 1812. Daniel and Mary followed agricultural pursuits within the limits of Roane Couty. The Roane 1818 Tax List shows Daniel Mason with two slaves and 433 acres of land located on White Oak Creek (near White Wing Bridge and Melton Hill Dam). Also, the Roane County Deed Index shows that Daniel and his son, THOMAS J. MASON, engaged in extensive land conveyances to require approximately eight pages in the Index. Goodspeeds states that Daniel and Mary were the parents of six children, three girls and three boys. These children are as follows:
- Lettice Mason m (1813) ALFRED HAGGARD [belived to be brother to Rev. Gray Haggard who m. Jane Gilliland]
- Mary "Polly" Mason m (1816) ALEXANDER MASON
- indexnce Mason m (1813) GEORGE RAMSEY
- Elijah Mason m (1835) MARY GARDNER
- John B. Mason (1804-1881) is buried in Loudon County, TN
- Thomas Jefferson Mason (1806-1892) will be discussed below.
Mary "Polly" Mason died in 1819, and Daniel Mason married secondly (5-20-1819) MARTHA "PATSY" HICKS. Daniel and Martha had children as follows:
- Rebecca Mason m (1839) NEELAND J. COX
- Elizabeth Ann Mason m (1841) THOMAS J. JONES
- Jane Mason
- Clememtine Mason was an invilid in1850, but recovered and was a teacher in MO in 1857
- Susan Mason
- Maria Matilda Mason
- Robert T. Mason
- Jason M. Mason
- Nathaniel E. Mason
- Phillip J. Mason
- Daniel Marion Mason
One unverified report is to the effect that Daniel Mason made a trip to MO about 1835 to help in the settlement of the estate of his brother, Samuel. Jr. This report is significant because, if confirmed, it would mean that Daniel's father was Samuel Mason, SR. The report also indicates that Daniel Mason died in MO, but records in Roane County indicate that he died in Roane in August of 1839. Unfortunately, the Roane probabe records in listing the children of Daniel and Martha (2nd wife) used no commas, hence the above listing could be in slight error.
After Daniel's death in 1839, his widow, Martha, experienced the usual difficulties of a widow with a house full of children. She got permission from the Court to sell her husband's estate in Roane in order to have money for the purchase of land in MO. In August of 1857 she wrote from Greene County, MO, to her step-son, Thomas J. Mason, in Roane County telling him that they were all in reasonably good health, and that she was trying to give all the children a good education as requested by her late husband. She mentioned specifically that Clementine was a good scholar who had completed arithmatic, grammar, philosophy, botany, and chemistry, etc. and could teach English. Marth's young son, Robert Tunnell Mason, adds a poetic post script to the letter: "Robert T. Mason's hand and pen when this you see, Remember me though many miles between us be."
Thomas Jefferson Mason was born in Roane County, 1 Dec 1806 and died in Loudon County, 16 Apr 1892. He was the youngest of the three sons of Daniel and Mary Brashears Mason, and the only one living by 1887. Thomas J. married (1845) ELIZABETH SCOTT KERR (1816-1890), a native of Sullivan County. Goodspeed's gives essentially the following account of Thomas J.'s career. "Thomas Jefferson Mason remained at home until about 18 years of age. Then he began flat-boating on the TN and MS Rivers which he continued to do for about 25 years; part of the time for himself, and part as a hired hand for other parties. During this period, he spent 20 months in the U.S. Army as a Lieutenant assisting in the removal of the Cherokee Indians.
After quitting the river trade, he purchased in 1852 three tracts of land in present Loudon County from Rebecca Tunnell, Kaziah Huff and Daniel Tunnell (Roane Book L, p. 421) on which he settled. (The building of a brick mansion was interrupted by Civil War actions. Federal troops occupied the Mason property and used 240,000 brick on the mansion site for the building of a fortification nearby. In 1865, Thomas J. completed the building but used termite-defying heart-pine to construct "Mason Place." The homeplace has become a Loudon County landmark, and is presently [1981] the home of Edmund Preston McQueen II, a great-grandson of Jhomas J. Mason.)
Thomas J. Mason was elected to the State Legislature in 1865 and served until 1869. In 1876, he was elected Trustee of Loudon County, but resigned after about one year. He received a commission from Governor Hawkins to serve as a railroad tax assessor for the eastern division of TN. He served in that capacity for two years. Thomas J. and Elizabeth K. Mason had the following children:
- Mary Jane Mason (1846-1888) was a graduate of the Athens University and taught school in Chattanooga. She married Mr. Presnell
- Alexander Daniel Mason (1847-1854)
- Infant daughter (1850-11851)
- James Samuel Mason (1852-1868)
- Elizabeth E. Mason (1855-1933) graduated from Mary Sharp College at Winchester, TN. Married Edmund Preston McQueen (1851-1909), a prominent Attorney in Loudon.
- Martha Ellen Mason (1857-1919) was a graduate of Mary Sharp College
- Thomas Jefferson Mason, Jr. (1863-1889) was a graduate of the Univ. of TN
A part of the Thomas J. Mason, Sr's family were members of the Cuberland Presybeterian Church, and a part belonged to the Methodist Church."
Much credit is due Edmund P. McQueen II for providing material used in this article. He is a generally admired man who was official Historian for Loudon County and a Past President of East TN Historical Society.
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