Male

April 18, 1799

October 3, 1859

Greensville County, VA

Southampton County, VA
Richmond, VA

Mary Fort Mason (August 9, 1821)

John Young Mason was born at "Homestead," the family plantation. His parents were Edmunds Mason, the Clerk of the Court of Greensville, VA for twenty years, and his wife Frances Ann Young. He began his legal studies in 1816 by studying with Judge Griffin Stith of Jerusalem, VA. However, in early August of that year, Mason became very ill and took a trip to the southern part of the state. Mason later wrote that he met many lovely girls there who cured him of his afflictions. He returned to study with Judge Stith in December of 1816, but Stith died only six months later.

His father wanted to send him away for further legal education, but was concerned about student "riots" at William & Mary in February of 1817. Therefore, he went to study at the Litchfield Law School where he was one ...of fourty three students from fourteen states.

After completing his studies he returned to VA. In 1821, he married Mary Anne Fort at "Fortsville," her family home which was a 2,119 acre plantation in Southampton County, VA. The couple then resided at her plantation because her mother was an invalid and Mary Anne was an only child.

In 1823, Mason was assigned by Greensville County Court to represent "Scipio," a slave accused of breaking into a store and taking merchandise, money, and bonds. The court paid him $25 to represent Scipio and he skillfully won an acquittal in the case. Mason then began a prominent as well as varied career in both state and federal government. Mason was elected to the Virginia House of Representatives in 1823 and served one term. He later sucessfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1831 and held his seat until 1837. While in congress he introduced a bill recognizing the independence of Texas. He then was appointed Judge for the U.S. Eastern District of VA. Several years later he became Secretary of the Navy from 1844 to 1849.

In 1849 he retired from politics and resumed his legal practice in Richmond, VA. That same year he became the President of the James River and Kanawha Canal Project. During this time, Mason also served as the Vice President of the Virginia Historical Society. He attended the Virginia Constitutional Convention in 1850 as a presiding member.

Despite his apparent retirement from politics, President Franklin Pierce appointed him the U.S. Minister to France in 1853. He was reappointed to this post by President James Buchanan in 1857. Mason held his post until his death two years later in Paris, France.
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"Exclusive of the great benefit arising from attending the lectures, (which are really the most masterly production) we enjoy a decided advantage over any place which, I have ever visited, in the situation of our Chambers. They are perfectly retired. Each student has a room to lodge & study in, along, & is never liable to interruptions -- insomuch that there are many young Gentlemen in the office who read & write 14 hours of the 24."

"The situation of the place is beautiful & romantic. It stands on the top of a hill, commanding an extensive prospect, of which are some of the finest & best-cultivated farms I ever saw -- which are finely contrasted by two lakes of considerable size, on which the Gentlemen have more sport in skating when the snow will permit them."

John Young Mason to his father, January 28, 1818 (Virginia Historical Society)

1817

Attended the "old field school" taught by his neighbor James Heath until the age of ten, and then studied at the Academy in Chapel Hill in 1816 before attending the University of North Carolina in 1816.

Lawyer; Political Office

February 8, 1819

Jacksonian

U.S. Representative (VA) 1831-1837
Judge for the U.S. Eastern District of VA (VA) 1837
Secretary of the Navy 1844-1845, 1846-1849
Attorney General 1845
U.S. Minister to France (France) 1853-1859

Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in 1835 and 1836.

State Representative (VA) 1823-1827
State Senator (VA) 1827-1831
Judge of the General Court (VA) 1837

Delegate to the 1829 VA Constitutional Convention

Houghton, Josiah. "LLS Law Notebook 1817-1818." Litchfield Law School Collection, Series 1, Subseries 1, Litchfield Historical Society. Available online at https://archive.org/stream/35102011793091#page/n11/mode/2up.

Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849.

Williams, Frances Leigh. "The Heritage and Preparation of A Statesman, John Young Mason, 1799-1859." The Virginia Magazine vol. 75, no. 3 (July, 1967).