Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/312

 MASON

MASON

MASON, Rufu5 Osgood, physician and au- thor, was born in Sullivan, N.H., Jan. 22, 1830 ; son of Rufus and Prudence (Woods) Mason ; grandson of Bela and Sally (Norcross) Mason, and a descendant in the seventh generation from Capt. Hugh and Hester Mason, who sailed from Ipswich, England, in April, 1634, and settled in Watertown, Mass., where Capt. Hugh was select- man, deputy to the general assembly, member of the council of war, and captain of militia, which he led against the Manhattoes in 1664, and in the Sudbury fight in King Philip's war. Rufus Os- good Mason was prepared for college at Thetford, Vt., academy ; was graduated at Dartmouth, A.B., 1854. A.M., 1868, and studied at Union Theological seminary, 1854-55. He was graduated M.D. (valedictorian) from the Ck)llege of Physi- cians and Surgeons, New York city, 1859 ; was acting assistant surgeon, U.S.N., on board the steamer Santiago de Cuba, 1861-64 ; took up the practice of medicine in New York city in 1864, and was attending physician, Northwestern dispensary, 1864-69. He was married, July 3, 1871, to Marian Isabel Goodwin of New York city, and secondly to Charlotte Van der Veer Quick of Princeton, N.J. He was elected a member of the New York County Medical society in 1877 ; of the Academy of Medicine, New York, 1889, and of the Society for Psychical Research, 1891. He is the author of: books — Sketches and Impr easiona (1S87); Telepathy and the Sublinienal Self (1897); Hypnotism and Sug- gestion in Tlxerapeutics, Education and Reform (1901); pamphlets — Duplex Personality, its Rela- Hon to Hypnotism and to Lucidity (1895); Edu- cational Uses of Hypnotism (1896); Alternating Personalities, their Origin and Medico-Legal Aspect (1896) ; Tlie New Therapeutics {\sm), and contributions to various periodicals. He died in New York city. May 11, 1903.

MASON, Samson, representative, was born in Fort Ann, N.Y., July 24, 1793 ; son of Haile and Hannah (Pierce) Mason; grandson of Samson (2d) and Hannali Haile (Hale) Mason, and a descendant of Samson (1st) and Mary (Butter- worth) Mason. Samson Mason (1st) was a '•Dragoon in Cromwell's Ironsides," came to Dorchester, Mass., in 1649, removed to Rehoboth in 1657, and was the founder of Swansea, Mass. He received his education in the public and law school at Onondaga, N.Y., was admitted to the bar and settled in practice in Springfield, Ohio, in 1819. He was prosecuting attorney for Clark county in 1822 ; a member of the state senate, 1829-31, and chairman of the committee that revised the statutes of the state in 1830, and was a candidate for presidential elector on the Clay ticket in 1832. He was a Whig representative from the tenth Ohio district inth(t24th, 25th, 26th

and 27th congresses, 1835-43 ; a representative in the Ohio legislature, 1845-46 ; U.S. attorney for Ohio during Fillmore's administration, 1850-53 ; a state senator, 1S63-64 ; and a delegate to tlie Ohio constitutional convention of 1850-51. He served as captain, colonel, brigadier-genei^al and major-general in the state militia. He was mar- ried to Minerva, daughter of Dr. William Need- ham of Springfield, Ohio. Of their children, Rodney, born Oct. 20, 1824, was a colonel in the civil war and became a resident of Springfield, Ohio ; Emily, born Nov. 15, 1827, married Judge Daniel Haynes of Dayton, Ohio, and Gen. Edwin Cooley (q.v.) died in 1898. Gen. Samson Mason died in Springfield, Ohio, Feb. 1, 1869.

MASON, Stevens Thomson, senator, was born in Stafford county, Va., in 1760 ; son of Judge Thomson Mason and grandson of George and Ann (Thomson) Mason. He was a student at the College of William and Mary ; served as a volunteer aide to General Washington at York- town and became a brigadier-general in the Vir- ginia militia. He was a representative in the house of delegates and a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1788. In May, 1794, on the resignation of Senator James Monroe to accept the, mission to France, Mr. Mason was elected to complete the term expiring March 3, 1797, and he was elected for a full term expiring March 3, 1803. In the senate he opposed the adoption of the Jay treaty and gave a full copy of the treaty to the Philadelphia Aurora, where it was first published. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., May 10, 1803.

MASON, Stevens Thomson, governor of Michigan, was born in Loudoun county, Va., in 1811 ; son of Gen. John Thomson Miison and grandson of Stevens Thomson Mason (q.v.). He removed with his father to Kentucky about 1813 and received a liberal education. President Jackson appointed him secretary of Michigan Territory as successor to his father, who had served from Sept. 24, 1830, to May 27, 1831, and he served from Aug. 1, 1831, to Sept. 17,1831. During the illness of Governor George B. Porter, Mason was acting governor periodically until Feb. 7, 1834, and became governor of the territory ex officio on the death of Governor Porter, July 6, 1834. On Nov. 5, 1834, President Jackson appointed Henry D. Gilpin governor, but the senate rejected the appointment and Charles Shaler was appointed secretary, Aug. 29, 1835, but he declined, and John S. Horner was ap- pointed secretary and acting governor, Sept. 8, 1835. On the organization of Michigan as a state in 1835, Mason was elected the first governor and was re-elected, serving till Jan. 7, 1840, when he removed to New York city, where he practised law until his death there, Jan. 4, 1843.