Thomson Mason (4 March 1759 – 11 March 1820) was an American planter, soldier and politician who represented

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria and ...

in both chambers of the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

. He was one of the sons 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 ...

, an American patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the

U.S. Constitutional Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention f ...

Early life and education

Mason was born on 4 March 1759 at

Gunston Hall Gunston Hall is an 18th-century Georgian mansion near the Potomac River in Mason Neck, Virginia, United States. Built between 1755 and 1759 as the main residence and headquarters of a plantation, the house was the home of the United State ...

, Virginia. Mason was the fifth child and fourth eldest son of George Mason and his wife Ann Eilbeck, who died when he was an infant. He shared the same name as his uncle

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 ...

, his father's younger brother who became a prominent lawyer, politician and judge until his death in 1785, and also owned and operated plantations using enslaved labor, mostly in

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun C ...

. Meanwhile, as appropriate to their class, tutors at Gunston Hall educated Thomson Mason and his brother John Mason and cousin John Thomson Mason. In 1781, Mason served as a

militiaman A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

in 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 ...

Marriage and children

Mason married Sarah McCarty Chichester of Newington in 1784. The couple had eight children: *Mary Thomson Mason Ball (died April 1837) *

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 ...

(1785–21 December 1838) *Ann Eilbeck Mason Dawson (1787–1845) *Elizabeth Thomson Mason (1789–2 September 1821) *George William Mason (4 May 1791–11 June 1855) *Sarah Chichester Mason (1792–1820) *

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 ...

(7 May 1793–22 July 1869) *John Mason (1797–26 October 1820)

Planter

Through deeds of gift in 1781 and 1786, Mason's father passed to him ownership of four tracts totaling , together with slaves. While his brother George was in Europe trying to recover his health, Thomson operated his plantations, thus gaining experience using enslaved labor. In 1787, this Thomson Mason owned eight enslaved adults and 14 enslaved children near his father's main residence at Gunston Hall, and an additional two enslaved adults and three children in the other Fairfax County district near his brother George's residence. Mason and his wife Sarah constructed their residence Hollin Hall by 1788. However, fire destroyed that building in 1824, after this man's death. In 1916, industrialist Harley Wilson built an elegant new Hollin Hall in its vicinity.

Political career

Thomson Mason represented Fairfax County in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. Voters in Fairfax and neighboring Prince William County elected him to the Virginia Senate in 1800 and re-elected him to another four year term, and he ended his legislative career in the Virginia House of Delegates with a single term in 1808.Leonard, p. 252

Later life

Mason died on 11 March 1820 in Fairfax County, Virginia at age 61.

Relations

Thomson Mason (1759–1820) was: *a son of George Mason (1725–1792) *father of

(1785–1838) *nephew of

(1733–1785) *first cousin 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),

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 ...

(1765–1824), and William Temple Thomson Mason (1782–1862) *uncle of George Mason VI (1786–1834) and

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 The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is on ...

(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) *first cousin once removed 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 month ...

(1787–1819),

(1787–1850), and John Thomson Mason, Jr. (1815–1873), and *first cousin twice removed of

(1811–1843).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Thomson 1759 births 1820 deaths 18th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century American Episcopalians American people of English descent American planters American slave owners British North American Anglicans Businesspeople from Virginia Members of the Virginia House of Delegates George Mason Mason family People from Fairfax County, Virginia Virginia militiamen in the American Revolution