Richard Nelson Mason (26 June 1876 – 22 November 1940) was a prominent American educator and businessperson in

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Mason was a great-great-grandson of

Founding Father of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the war for independence from Great Britai ...

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 ...

and his wife Ann Eilbeck.

Early life

Richard Nelson Mason was born in Culpeper, Virginia on 26 June 1876. Mason was the only son of

Beverley Randolph Mason Beverley Randolph Mason (1 September 1834–22 April 1910) was an American military officer and educator who was the founder and principal of the Gunston Hall School for young women in Washington, D.C. Mason was a great-grandson of George Mas ...

and his wife Elizabeth Harrison Nelson. Mason was named after his grandfather, Dr.

Richard Chichester Mason Richard Chichester Mason (7 May 1793 – 22 July 1869) was an American planter, physician and politician in Fairfax County, Virginia, which he twice represented in the Virginia House of Delegates. Mason also practiced medicine in Alexandria, Vir ...

. Mason's parents began a school for the education of himself, his sisters, and his parents' friends' children. Mason and his siblings were first raised an educated at a residence at 3017 O Street, N.W. in Georgetown. Mason's parents named the school Gunston Hall school for Mason's great-great-grandfather George Mason. As Gunston Hall School grew, it became an institution of higher learning for girls and young ladies.

Marriage and children

Mason married Blanche Andrews on 31 October 1925. He and Blanche had one daughter: *Elizabeth Nelson Mason Nial (born 27 November 1935) :∞ Thomas Lewis Nial (1955)

Education career

National Museum of American Jewish Military History

Mason was an educator at and later become the business manager of the Gunston Hall School after it moved to its final location at 1906 Florida Avenue, N.W. near 19th and T Streets. Mason's management maintained the school's tradition and continued its high ranking among private schools for young ladies in the United States.

Later life

Mason was elected into the

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. A non-profit corporation, it has described its purpose ...

on 27 May 1915, due to his descent from his great-grandfather, Robert Randolph (1759–1825). Randolph served as an ensign (1775), lieutenant (14 June 1777), and captain in Baylor's Dragoons, Virginia Troops, and aide-de-camp to General

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...

. Following the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, Randolph became a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

. Mason continued his role as business manager of the Gunston Hall School until his death. Mason died on 22 November 1940 at Garfield Hospital in

He was interred on 25 November 1940 at Ivy Hill Cemetery in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

, Virginia. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Gunston Hall School closed and was re-opened on

Mason Neck, Virginia Mason Neck is a peninsula jutting into the Potomac River to the south of Washington, D.C., in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is surrounded by Belmont Bay to the west, the Potomac River to the south and east, Gunston Cove to the northeast, and Poh ...

by Mason's four sisters in 1962.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Richard Nelson 1876 births 1940 deaths American educators American Episcopalians American people of English descent American school administrators Burials at Ivy Hill Cemetery (Alexandria, Virginia) Businesspeople from Virginia Businesspeople from Washington, D.C. Mason family People from Culpeper, Virginia Members of the Sons of the American Revolution Washington, D.C., Democrats People from Dupont Circle