Stevens Thomson Mason (senator)

Mason was born at Chopawamsic in Stafford County, Virginia[1] and attended College of William & Mary 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 Virginia Ratification 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 18 November 1794, until his death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

While in the Senate he handed a copy of the secret Jay Treaty to Pierre Adét, French minister to the United States. Since his country was at war with Great Britain and hated the idea of a treaty of “amity” between her and the United States, Adét gave the document to Benjamin Bache, publisher of The Aurora — a newspaper — with the hope of raising just the sort of public outcry that ensued—and even, perhaps, of blocking ratification of the treaty.

He is interred in the family burying ground at Raspberry Plain in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Mason married Mary Elizabeth Armistead on May 1, 1783.[1][2] The couple had six children:[1]

• John Thomson Mason (January 8, 1787 – April 17, 1850)[1]
• Armistead Thomson Mason (1787 – February 6, 1819)[1]
• Stevens Thomson Mason (1789 – 17 November 1815)[1]
• Mary Thomson Mason (1791–1813)[1]
• Emily Rutger Mason (1793–1837)[1]
• Catherine Mason (born 1795)[1]

Stevens Thomson Mason was a nephew of George Mason (1725–1792);[1][2] son of Thomson Mason (1733–1785);[1][2] brother of John Thomson Mason (1765–1824);[1][2] half-brother of William Temple Thomson Mason (1782–1862);[1][2] first cousin of George Mason V (1753–1796);[1][2] first cousin once removed of Thomson Francis Mason (1785–1838), George Mason VI (1786–1834), Richard Barnes Mason (1797–1850), and James Murray Mason (1798–1871);[1][2] father of Armistead Thomson Mason (1787–1819) and John Thomson Mason (1787–1850);[1][2] uncle of John Thomson Mason Jr. (1815–1873);[1][2] and grandfather of Stevens Thomson Mason (1811–1843).[1][2]

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)

• United States Congress. "Stevens Thomson Mason (id: M000226)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.