James Mason (d. circa 1667) was a Virginia planter, real estate investor and politician who represented Surry County in the House of Burgesses in 1654–55, although his half-brother Colonel

Lemuel Mason Colonel Lemuel Mason (c. 1628 – 1702) was an early Virginia planter, politician, justice of the peace, and militia colonel, who represented Lower Norfolk County in the House of Burgesses intermittently over three decades. Early and family l ...

would serve multiple terms representing Lower Norfolk County and later Norfolk County.

Early and family life

Mason was a son of ancient planter Lt. Francis Mason of Lower Norfolk County, Virginia, probably with this first wife Mary. Although sources long disagreed as to the relationship between the Surry County and Norfolk area Mason families, he had a brother, Francis Mason Jr. (who may have died as a youth) as well as a younger half brother (by his father's second wife)

Career

By 1647, Mason had patented 450 acres in Isle of Wight County, and beginning in 1652 began acquiring land in neighboring Surry County. He was living in Surry County by 1652, when he served on a coroner's jury. Surry County voters elected Mason whose plantation was called "Mathewes Mount," as one of their representatives in the House of Burgesses.Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) p. 32

Personal life

James Mason married the widow Elizabeth Aston Binns, daughter of Lt.Col. Walter Aston of Westover plantation. They had a son, Francis Mason (b. 1647)

Death and legacy

James Mason last served on the Surry County court on May 14, 1660, and died sometime after April of May 1665. In May 1668 his 21-year-old son Francis referred to him as deceased.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, James (burgess) House of Burgesses members 17th-century American politicians People from Surry County, Virginia