From the Beginning      January 2, 1804-- May 1, 1804

  View a typed version of original act of Virginia Assembly creating Mason County.  all misspellings in typed version appear in original. The only exception is "s" is used in the typed version in places where "f" was used as "s" as customary at the time.  View copy of original Act of Va. Gen. Assy. creating Mason County. (jpg)

View 1916 WV Blue Book page about Mason County  (pdf)  (says Mason County named for Stevens Thomson Mason not George Mason as is commonly assumed)

View copy of original petition to create Mason County with signatures (pdf)

(the last signature on the petition, Walter Newman Jr., operated the Mansion House/tavern in 1796, now Tu-Endie-Wei Park)

  Commentary on Rivers by Thomas Jefferson (from Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia")

MASON, Stevens Thomson, (father of Armistead Thomson Mason), a Senator from Virginia; born in Chappawamsic, Stafford County, Va., December 29, 1760; attended William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Va.; studied law; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Dumfries, Prince William County, Va.; served in the Revolutionary Army as an aide to General George Washington at Yorktown; brigadier general in the Virginia Militia; member, State house of delegates 1783, 1794; member, State senate 1787-1790; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1788; elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James Monroe; reelected in 1797 and again in 1803 as a Democratic Republican, and served from November 18, 1794, until his death in Philadelphia, Pa., May 10, 1803; interment in the family burying ground at “Raspberry Plain” in Loudoun County, Va.

from Congressional Bioguide

Senate Years of Service: 1794-1803              Party: Democratic Republican

other information

Stevens Thomson Mason, senator, born in Stafford county, Virginia, in 1760; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 10 May, 1803, was educated at William and Mary college. He served as a volunteer aid to General Washington at the siege of Yorktown, and was afterward a general of militia. He was a member of the house of delegates, sat in the State constitutional convention in 1788, and was then elected to the United States senate, where he served from 7 December, 1795, till 10 May, 1803. Much comment was caused by his action regarding the Jay treaty. John Jay had been sent to England in 1794 to negotiate a treaty that should settle all existing differences between the United States and Great Britain. In June, 1795, it was laid before the senate, and its provisions were fiercely discussed for a fortnight in secret session, when it was ratified by barely a constitutional majority, 20 to 10. The senate then removed the seal of secrecy from its proceedings, but forbade any publication of the treaty itself. Enough of its character, however, had been revealed to cause it to be violently attacked by the press, when Mason caused first a full abstract and afterward a perfect copy of it to be published in the Philadelphia "Aurora." For this action he was extolled by the Republicans (the Democrats of that day), but bitterly assailed by the Federalists.  The popular clamor was so great against the treaty that its supporters were threatened with mob violence in the large cities, Alexander Hamilton being assaulted at an open-air meeting in New York. "These are hard arguments," he is said to have exclaimed after a stone struck him on the head. Mason was a warm personal friend of Thomas Jefferson, and always his staunch political ally. He enjoyed great personal popularity, and as an orator his exceptional command of wit and sarcasm gained him a wide reputation.

Stevens Thomson Mason  was a Colonel in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a member of the Virginia state legislature and a Republican U.S. Senator from Virginia (1794-1803). Mason was born at Chappawamsic in Stafford County, Virginia and attended William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Dumfries, Virginia in Prince William County, Virginia. He served in the Continental Army as an aide to General George Washington at the Battle of Yorktown and was a brigadier general in the Virginia Militia. He was a member of the Virginia State House of Delegates in 1783 and 1794, a member of the Virginia State Senate 1787-1790, and a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1788.

In 1794, Mason was elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James Monroe. He was reelected in 1797 and again in 1803, serving from November 18, 1794, until his death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is interred in the family burying ground at "Raspberry Plain" in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Mason's father, Thomson Mason (1730-1785), was chief justice of the Virginia supreme court and brother of George Mason (1725-1792), who took part of the Constitutional Convention. His son, Armistead Thompson Mason (1787-1819), was a U.S. Senator from Virginia. His grandson, Stevens Thomson Mason, was the first governor of the state of Michigan.