John Thomson Mason (15 March 1765 – 10 December 1824) was an American lawyer and

Attorney General of Maryland The Attorney General of the State of Maryland is the chief legal officer of the State of Maryland in the United States and is elected by the people every four years with no term limits. To run for the office a person must be a citizen of and qual ...

in 1806.

Early life

Mason was born on 15 March 1765 at Chopawamsic in

Stafford County, Virginia Stafford County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is a suburb outside of Washington D.C. It is approximately south of D.C. It is part of the Northern Virginia region, and the D.C area. It is one of the fastest growing, and highest ...

. He was the third child and youngest son of

Thomson Mason Thomson Mason (14 August 173326 February 1785) was an American lawyer, planter and jurist. A younger brother of George Mason IV, United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention, Thomson Mason wo ...

and his wife Mary King Barnes.

Education

Early career

Mason operated a plantation in what was then

Washington County, Maryland Washington County is located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 154,705. Its county seat is Hagerstown. Washington County was the first county in the United States to be named for the ...

near Elizabethtown (now Hagerstown using enslaved labor.The Library of Virginia has a slave importation certificate recorded in Frederick County, Maryland on 3 March 1794 https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma990005037370205756&context=L&vid=01LVA_INST:01LVA&lang=en&search_scope=MyInstitution_noAER&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=LibraryCatalog&query=any,contains,mason,%20thomson&offset=0 Admitted to the Maryland bar, he attained high rank, but twice declined the office of

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

when it was offered by

Presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

and

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

. Mason ran for one of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

's seats in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, but lost. He then served as

in 1806. He was also one of six judges appointed to a newly restructured court of appeals by Governor

Robert Bowie Robert Bowie (March 1750 – January 8, 1818) served as the 11th Governor of the state of Maryland in the United States, from 1803 to 1806, and from 1811 to 1812. He was the third child born to Captain William Bowie and Margaret Sprigg, at M ...

on January 19, 1806, but declined the appointment.

John Thomas Scharf John Thomas Scharf (May 1, 1843 – February 28, 1898) was an American historian, author, journalist, antiquarian, politician, lawyer and Confederate States of America soldier and sailor. He is best known for his published historical works. ...

,
Judges of the Court of Appeals
, ''History of Maryland from the Earliest Period to the Present Day'' (1879), p. 773.

Marriages and children

Mason married Elizabeth Beltzhoover in 1797. He and Elizabeth had seven children: *Mary Barnes Mason Winter (c. 1800–11 May 1844) *Elizabeth Ann Armistead Thomson Mason Wharton (4 April 1803–20 January 1857) *Abram Barnes Mason Barnes (21 October 1807–10 April 1863) *Melchior Beltzhoover Mason (born 3 October 1812) * John Thomson Mason, Jr. (9 May 1815–28 March 1873) *Thomson Mason (15 July 1818–1848) *Virginia Wallace Mason (16 April 1820–6 October 1858)

Later life

Mason died on 10 December 1824 at the age of 59. Mason was interred at his Montpelier estate in Clear Spring, Maryland.

Relations

John Thomson Mason was a nephew of

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...

(1725–1792); son of

(1733–1785); brother of

Stevens Thomson Mason Stevens Thomson Mason (October 27, 1811 – January 4, 1843) was an American politician who served as the first governor of Michigan from 1835 to 1840. Coming to political prominence at an early age, Mason was appointed his territory's ...

(1760–1803); half-brother of

William Temple Thomson Mason William Temple Thomson Mason (July 24, 1782 – 1862) was a prominent Virginia farmer and businessman. Early life William Temple Thomson Mason was born on July 24, 1782, at Raspberry Plain. "Temple", as his family called him, was Thomson Mason' ...

(1782–1862); first cousin of

George Mason V George Mason V (April 30, 1753December 5, 1796) was an American planter, businessman, and militia officer. Mason was the eldest son of United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention, George Ma ...

(1753–1796); first cousin once removed of

Thomson Francis Mason Thomson Francis Mason (1785 – 21 December 1838) was an American lawyer, planter and politician who served as the mayor of Alexandria (then in the District of Columbia, but now Virginia) between 1827 and 1830, and as a justice of the peace for m ...

(1785–1838), George Mason VI (1786–1834),

Richard Barnes Mason Richard Barnes Mason (January 16, 1797July 25, 1850) was an American military officer who was a career officer in the United States Army and the fifth military governor of California before it became a state. He came from a politically prominen ...

(1797–1850), and

James Murray Mason James Murray Mason (November 3, 1798April 28, 1871) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as senator from Virginia, having previously represented Frederick County, Virginia, in the Virginia House of Delegates. A grandson of George Ma ...

(1798–1871); uncle of

Armistead Thomson Mason Armistead Thomson Mason (August 4, 1787February 6, 1819), the son of Stevens Thomson Mason, was a U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1816 to 1817. Mason was also the second-youngest person to ever serve in the US Senate, at the age of 28 and 5 months ...

(1787–1819) and

John Thomson Mason John Thomson Mason (15 March 1765 – 10 December 1824) was an American lawyer and Attorney General of Maryland in 1806. Early life Mason was born on 15 March 1765 at Chopawamsic in Stafford County, Virginia. He was the third child and you ...

(1787–1850); father of

John Thomson Mason Jr. John Thomson Mason Jr. (May 9, 1815 – March 28, 1873) was a U.S. Congressman from Maryland, representing the sixth district from 1841 to 1843. Early life and education Born at the Montpelier estate near Hagerstown, Maryland, Mason was ed ...

(1815–1873); and great uncle of

(1811–1843).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, John Thomson 01 1765 births 1824 deaths 18th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century American Episcopalians American people of English descent American planters American slave owners British North American Anglicans Maryland Attorneys General Maryland lawyers Mason family People from Stafford County, Virginia United States Attorneys for the District of Columbia