| John Mason | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Mason 4 April 1766 Mattawoman, Charles County, Province of Maryland |
| Died | 19 March 1849 (aged 82) Virginia, United States |
| Resting place | Christ Church Cemetery, Alexandria, Virginia |
| Residence | Analostan Island, District of Columbia Clermont, Alexandria, Virginia |
| Nationality | British, American |
| Ethnicity | European American |
| Citizenship | Kingdom of Great Britain United States |
| Occupation | merchant, banker, planter |
| Religion | Anglican, Episcopalian |
| Spouse | Anna Maria Murray |
| Children | John Mason, Jr. James Murray Mason Sarah Maria Mason Cooper Virginia Mason Catherine Eilbeck Mason Jamison Eilbeck Mason Murray Mason Maynadier Mason Anna Maria Mason Lee Joel Barlow Mason |
| Parents | George Mason IV Ann Eilbeck |
John Mason (4 April 1766–19 March 1849)[1][2][3][4] was an early American merchant, banker, planter. As a son of George Mason, a Founding Father of the United States, Mason was a scion of the prominent Mason political family.
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Mason was born on 4 April 1766 at Mattawoman plantation, the estate of his maternal grandparents William Eilbeck and Sarah Edgar Eilbeck.[2][4] He was eighth child and fifth-eldest son of George Mason IV and his wife Ann Eilbeck.[1][4] Like his brothers, Mason was tutored at his father's estate, Gunston Hall, in Fairfax County, Virginia.[2] His tutors were Scotsmen Mr. Davidson and Mr. Constable.[2] After the American Revolutionary War, Mason, his brother Thomas, and a cousin, studied with Reverend Buchnan, rector of Aquia and Pohick churches, who resided on Passapatanzy Creek.[2]
Mason completed his formal education in mathematics with another Scotsman, Mr. Hunter, in Calvert County, Maryland.[2] He was then apprenticed to a Quaker merchant William Hartshorne of the firm of Harper & Hartshorne in Alexandria, Virginia.[2] Mason accompanied his father George Mason to the Philadelphia Convention, but returned to continue his apprenticeship with Hartshorne before the Convention ended.[2] Mason remained with Hartshorne until Spring 1788 when he then entered into a partnership with merchants James and Joseph Fenwick of Maryland.[2]
On 22 June 1788, Mason travelled to Bordeaux, France to conduct business for Fenwick & Mason firm there.[2][5] Despite the onset of the French Revolution, Mason remained in France until 1791 and only then left due to his ill health.[2] The Bordeaux branch of Fenwick & Mason continued to thrive, but was liquidated in 1793 because of the encroaching threat of war in Europe.[2] Declining prices of tobacco were also partly to blame for the firm's Bordeaux closure.[2]
By Spring 1792, Mason had established a branch of Fenwick & Mason in Georgetown.[2] As the firm expanded, it became involved in a variety of other lucrative ventures including bankinging, international commerce, the organization of foundries, and navigation and turnpike companies.[2] Fenwick & Mason also became involved in the flour and wheat trade in addition to its tobacco operations.[2]
Mason also served on the board of directors of the Bank of Columbia and became its president in 1798.[2] Around this same time, Mason purchased large tracts of land in the Federal City.[2] His involvement with government service was enhanced through his 1807 appointment as Superintendent of the Indian Trade.[2][6] Mason held this position until 1816.[6] Mason also served as a brigadier general in the District of Columbia militia.[2] He was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson to be the first Commander of the District of Columbia militia in 1802.[3] Through this role, Mason became commissioner general of prisoners during the War of 1812. In 1817, he became the president of the Potomac Company.[2] His nephew Thomson Francis Mason was later chairman of the Alexandria Canal further downstream.
Mason acquired Henry Foxall's Foxhall Cannon Foundry in Georgetown in 1815.[7] Mason continued to operate the foundry until his death in 1849.[7] For five years after Mason's death, the foundry remained part of the Mason estate with Mason's son Maynadier Mason as its superintendent.[7]
Mason married Anna Maria Murray, daughter of James Murray and his wife Sarah Ennalls Maynadier, in Annapolis, Maryland on 10 February 1796.[1][2][4] The couple had ten children:[1][2][4]
Following Mason's marriage to Anna Maria Murray in 1796, he settled in Georgetown on property located at the corner of present-day 25th and L Streets and Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest.[2] Mason also built a summer residence on Analostan Island (now Theodore Roosevelt Island) on the Potomac River, which became the scene of many elegant social activities in the District of Columbia.[2] Analostan Island had been acquired by George Mason in 1724.[8] Mason inherited the Island from his father upon his death in 1792 and owned it until 1833.[9] The island was famous for its gardens, which were designed and installed by English gardener David Hepburn.[2] Mason continued the operation of the ferry which crossed the Potomac River from Georgetown to the Virginia.[2] After suffering a series of financial setbacks, Mason was forced to give up Analostan Island, and in 1833, the family moved to Clermont in the Cameron Run valley in Fairfax County, Virginia.[2] Mason and his family had already vacated the island in 1831 when a causeway stagnated the water in the Potomac River.[9]
Mason died on 19 March 1849 at age 82.[1][2][4] His body was interred after 19 March 1849 at Christ Church Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia.[1][2][4]
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