William was the sixth child of eight. In addition to three sisters born in Ohio, he had two older half-brothers and two older half-sisters, all born in Northern Ireland. They grew up on the family farm in Adams Township, Guernsey County, Ohio.
William, like many patriotic Irish-Americans, apparently enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. In the 1885 Kansas State Census, William indicated he had served in H Company, 78th Ohio V.I.R. and was discharged in May 1865. However, no record of William has been found in the official regimental rosters.
The Mason and Desellem farms were just a few miles apart in Guernsey County, Ohio. William and Mary may have met at church or school. They married in January 1867, both in their late 20's.
In 1870, the William Mason family lived on a farm in Adams Township, Guernsey County. William's widowed, infirm mother Sarah lived with them. His in-laws, the John Desellem family, lived next door. Mary bore seven known children, six boys and one girl, the first six born in Ohio.
Three of Mary's sisters moved to Marion Township, Bourbon County in southeastern Kansas. The first was her older sister, Martha, widow of James Blair, who moved probably in 1863 and married the widowed miller, Peter Runkle. Before 1870, both Mary's younger sister, Elizabeth "Lizzie", with husband Joseph Mackey and two sons and her older sister, Prudence, husband David Britton and children had joined them. The three families were neighbors.
After mother Sarah died in 1878, William and Mary's family also moved west; their movements in the following few years are not completely known. By June 1880, William had moved his family to a farm in Bourbon County (northwest of Fort Scott), Kansas, and near the Britton family.
For some reason, Kansas did not suit them, and William soon moved his family to southeastern Missouri. Their last child, "Claude," was born in Dexter, Stoddard County in October 1881.
About 1873, Mary's sister "Lizzie" and her husband Joseph Mackey moved their family from Bourbon County to a farm in Sheridan Township, Cowley County, Kansas. They are found there in the 1880 U.S. Census and the 1885 Kansas Census.
Mary Mason died on a visit to her sister Lizzie in February 1885. She's buried in the Burden Cemetery.
William and the five youngest Mason children quickly moved from Missouri to Cowley County, just in time to be enumerated in the 1885 Kansas Census, taken in March. The Mason family likely were living in or just west of the village of Dexter, about five miles south of the Mackey farm. Seventeen-year-old son Robert is not shown with the family in the 1885 census, but probably soon joined his father and siblings. Son Llewelyn is also not listed; he probably died between June 1880 and March 1885.
The last known record for William is a 6 November 1886 Burden Eagle newspaper notice that he and son "R.E." were paid by the sheriff as court witnesses. No further record has been found for William. He has not been found in the 1890 U.S. Census Veteran's Schedules, the 1895 Kansas Census, nor the 1900 U.S. Census. William is not mentioned in sister Elizabeth Blair's 1911 obituary, nor in half-sister Anna Knox 1917 obituary. It's likely that William died before 1890, probably in Kansas.
William, like many patriotic Irish-Americans, apparently enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. In the 1885 Kansas State Census, William indicated he had served in H Company, 78th Ohio V.I.R. and was discharged in May 1865. However, no record of William has been found in the official regimental rosters.
The Mason and Desellem farms were just a few miles apart in Guernsey County, Ohio. William and Mary may have met at church or school. They married in January 1867, both in their late 20's.
In 1870, the William Mason family lived on a farm in Adams Township, Guernsey County. William's widowed, infirm mother Sarah lived with them. His in-laws, the John Desellem family, lived next door. Mary bore seven known children, six boys and one girl, the first six born in Ohio.
Three of Mary's sisters moved to Marion Township, Bourbon County in southeastern Kansas. The first was her older sister, Martha, widow of James Blair, who moved probably in 1863 and married the widowed miller, Peter Runkle. Before 1870, both Mary's younger sister, Elizabeth "Lizzie", with husband Joseph Mackey and two sons and her older sister, Prudence, husband David Britton and children had joined them. The three families were neighbors.
After mother Sarah died in 1878, William and Mary's family also moved west; their movements in the following few years are not completely known. By June 1880, William had moved his family to a farm in Bourbon County (northwest of Fort Scott), Kansas, and near the Britton family.
For some reason, Kansas did not suit them, and William soon moved his family to southeastern Missouri. Their last child, "Claude," was born in Dexter, Stoddard County in October 1881.
About 1873, Mary's sister "Lizzie" and her husband Joseph Mackey moved their family from Bourbon County to a farm in Sheridan Township, Cowley County, Kansas. They are found there in the 1880 U.S. Census and the 1885 Kansas Census.
Mary Mason died on a visit to her sister Lizzie in February 1885. She's buried in the Burden Cemetery.
William and the five youngest Mason children quickly moved from Missouri to Cowley County, just in time to be enumerated in the 1885 Kansas Census, taken in March. The Mason family likely were living in or just west of the village of Dexter, about five miles south of the Mackey farm. Seventeen-year-old son Robert is not shown with the family in the 1885 census, but probably soon joined his father and siblings. Son Llewelyn is also not listed; he probably died between June 1880 and March 1885.
The last known record for William is a 6 November 1886 Burden Eagle newspaper notice that he and son "R.E." were paid by the sheriff as court witnesses. No further record has been found for William. He has not been found in the 1890 U.S. Census Veteran's Schedules, the 1895 Kansas Census, nor the 1900 U.S. Census. William is not mentioned in sister Elizabeth Blair's 1911 obituary, nor in half-sister Anna Knox 1917 obituary. It's likely that William died before 1890, probably in Kansas.
William was the sixth child of eight. In addition to three sisters born in Ohio, he had two older half-brothers and two older half-sisters, all born in Northern Ireland. They grew up on the family farm in Adams Township, Guernsey County, Ohio.
William, like many patriotic Irish-Americans, apparently enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. In the 1885 Kansas State Census, William indicated he had served in H Company, 78th Ohio V.I.R. and was discharged in May 1865. However, no record of William has been found in the official regimental rosters.
The Mason and Desellem farms were just a few miles apart in Guernsey County, Ohio. William and Mary may have met at church or school. They married in January 1867, both in their late 20's.
In 1870, the William Mason family lived on a farm in Adams Township, Guernsey County. William's widowed, infirm mother Sarah lived with them. His in-laws, the John Desellem family, lived next door. Mary bore seven known children, six boys and one girl, the first six born in Ohio.
Three of Mary's sisters moved to Marion Township, Bourbon County in southeastern Kansas. The first was her older sister, Martha, widow of James Blair, who moved probably in 1863 and married the widowed miller, Peter Runkle. Before 1870, both Mary's younger sister, Elizabeth "Lizzie", with husband Joseph Mackey and two sons and her older sister, Prudence, husband David Britton and children had joined them. The three families were neighbors.
After mother Sarah died in 1878, William and Mary's family also moved west; their movements in the following few years are not completely known. By June 1880, William had moved his family to a farm in Bourbon County (northwest of Fort Scott), Kansas, and near the Britton family.
For some reason, Kansas did not suit them, and William soon moved his family to southeastern Missouri. Their last child, "Claude," was born in Dexter, Stoddard County in October 1881.
About 1873, Mary's sister "Lizzie" and her husband Joseph Mackey moved their family from Bourbon County to a farm in Sheridan Township, Cowley County, Kansas. They are found there in the 1880 U.S. Census and the 1885 Kansas Census.
Mary Mason died on a visit to her sister Lizzie in February 1885. She's buried in the Burden Cemetery.
William and the five youngest Mason children quickly moved from Missouri to Cowley County, just in time to be enumerated in the 1885 Kansas Census, taken in March. The Mason family likely were living in or just west of the village of Dexter, about five miles south of the Mackey farm. Seventeen-year-old son Robert is not shown with the family in the 1885 census, but probably soon joined his father and siblings. Son Llewelyn is also not listed; he probably died between June 1880 and March 1885.
The last known record for William is a 6 November 1886 Burden Eagle newspaper notice that he and son "R.E." were paid by the sheriff as court witnesses. No further record has been found for William. He has not been found in the 1890 U.S. Census Veteran's Schedules, the 1895 Kansas Census, nor the 1900 U.S. Census. William is not mentioned in sister Elizabeth Blair's 1911 obituary, nor in half-sister Anna Knox 1917 obituary. It's likely that William died before 1890, probably in Kansas.
William, like many patriotic Irish-Americans, apparently enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. In the 1885 Kansas State Census, William indicated he had served in H Company, 78th Ohio V.I.R. and was discharged in May 1865. However, no record of William has been found in the official regimental rosters.
The Mason and Desellem farms were just a few miles apart in Guernsey County, Ohio. William and Mary may have met at church or school. They married in January 1867, both in their late 20's.
In 1870, the William Mason family lived on a farm in Adams Township, Guernsey County. William's widowed, infirm mother Sarah lived with them. His in-laws, the John Desellem family, lived next door. Mary bore seven known children, six boys and one girl, the first six born in Ohio.
Three of Mary's sisters moved to Marion Township, Bourbon County in southeastern Kansas. The first was her older sister, Martha, widow of James Blair, who moved probably in 1863 and married the widowed miller, Peter Runkle. Before 1870, both Mary's younger sister, Elizabeth "Lizzie", with husband Joseph Mackey and two sons and her older sister, Prudence, husband David Britton and children had joined them. The three families were neighbors.
After mother Sarah died in 1878, William and Mary's family also moved west; their movements in the following few years are not completely known. By June 1880, William had moved his family to a farm in Bourbon County (northwest of Fort Scott), Kansas, and near the Britton family.
For some reason, Kansas did not suit them, and William soon moved his family to southeastern Missouri. Their last child, "Claude," was born in Dexter, Stoddard County in October 1881.
About 1873, Mary's sister "Lizzie" and her husband Joseph Mackey moved their family from Bourbon County to a farm in Sheridan Township, Cowley County, Kansas. They are found there in the 1880 U.S. Census and the 1885 Kansas Census.
Mary Mason died on a visit to her sister Lizzie in February 1885. She's buried in the Burden Cemetery.
William and the five youngest Mason children quickly moved from Missouri to Cowley County, just in time to be enumerated in the 1885 Kansas Census, taken in March. The Mason family likely were living in or just west of the village of Dexter, about five miles south of the Mackey farm. Seventeen-year-old son Robert is not shown with the family in the 1885 census, but probably soon joined his father and siblings. Son Llewelyn is also not listed; he probably died between June 1880 and March 1885.
The last known record for William is a 6 November 1886 Burden Eagle newspaper notice that he and son "R.E." were paid by the sheriff as court witnesses. No further record has been found for William. He has not been found in the 1890 U.S. Census Veteran's Schedules, the 1895 Kansas Census, nor the 1900 U.S. Census. William is not mentioned in sister Elizabeth Blair's 1911 obituary, nor in half-sister Anna Knox 1917 obituary. It's likely that William died before 1890, probably in Kansas.
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