CHARLES MASON
USMA CLASS OF 1829
CULLUM'S REGISTER. # 541
RANKED FIRST IN 1829 CLASS AT WEST POINT
SECOND LIEUT., CORP OF ENGR. - 1829
SERVED TWO YEARS AS USMA PROFESSOR
CHIEF JUSTICE, IOWA SUPREME COURT, 1838-47
PRESIDENT, BURLINGTON AND MISSOURI RIVER RR. 1852-53
U. S. COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS, 1853-57
PATENT LAW ATTORNEY, 1861-1882
DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE FOR IOWA GOVERNOR - 1867
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
541. (Born N. Y. ). CHARLES MASON (Ap'd N. Y. ). 1
Born Oct. 24, 1804, Pompey Centre, N. Y.
Military History: ---- Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1825 to July 1, 1829, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to
( BVT. SECOND LIEUT., CORP OF ENGINEERS, JULY 1, 1829 )
Served: at the Military Academy as Principal Asst. Professor of Engineering, Aug. 30, 1829, to Aug. 31, 1831.
( RESIGNED, DEC 31, 1831 )
CIVIL HISTORY: --- Counselor at Law, Newburg, N. Y., 1832-34, and at New York City, 1834-36. Acting Editor of the New York " Evening Post ", 1835-36. District Attorney, Des Moines County, Wis, 1837-38. Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Wisconsin Territory, 1837-38. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa, July 4, 1838 to May 16, 1847. Attorney of the State of Iowa for the adjustment of its Southern Boundary, 1847-50. Appointed by the Legislature of Iowa, Jan., 1848, one of three Commissioners to draft an entire code of laws for the State. which was adopted in 1851. Judge of Des Moines Country Court, Wis., Aug. 1851 to June 1852. President of Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, Iowa, 1852-53; and of Peoria and Oquawka Railroad, Ill., 1852-53. Counselor at Law, Burlington, Io, 1847-53. U/ S. Commissioner of Patents, Mar. 24, 1853 to Aug. 5, 1857. Commissioner to adjust the extent of the Des Moines River Land Grant, 1858-59. Member of the Board of Education of the State of Iowa, 1858-59. Counzselor at Law, Burlington, Io., 1858-59. Counselor at Law Washington D. C. , 1860-61. Appointed a Commissioner by the Legislature of Iowa, 1861, to control a State War Fund of $800,000 for the suppression of the Rebellion. Democratic Candidate for the Governor of the State of Iowa, but not elected, 1867. Delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Iowa, 1868 and 1872, and to several State Conventions, 1867-81. Author of various papers on Financial Subjects, 1867-82. President of Burlington , Iowa , Water Company, 1875-82 ; of German American Savings Bank, 1874-82 ; of Burlington Board of Trade, 1879-82 ; of Burlington and Northwestern Railroad Company, 1877-82; and of Burlington Street Railway Company, 1870-82. Vice-President of Burlington, Keosauqua, and Western Railroad, 1879-82 ; Treasurer of Burlington School Board, 1879-82 ; Patent Law Attorney, 1861-82.
( DIED, FEB. 27, 1882, AT BURLINGTON, IOWA, AGED 77 )
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF IOWA
University of Iowa
MASON, CHARLES
( October 24, 1804 - February 25, 1882 )
Iowa Territorial Chief Justice, U. S Commissioner of Patents, politician, and businessman -- was the sixth of seven children of Chauncey Mason, a farmer, and Esther ( Dodge ) Mason. Born in Pompey, Onandaga county, New York, he went to local schools. In 1825 he entered the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and in 1829 graduated first in his class, which included Robert E. Lee.
Mason became an assistant professor of engineering at West Point. After two years , he left the army and read lawn a New York lawyer's office. In June, 1832 , he passed the bar exam nation and for two years practiced in a partnership in Newburgh, New York. A lifelong Democrat, Mason returned to New York City and wrote for the New York Evening Post, a radical Democrat newspaper.
In 1836 Mason moved to Wisconsin Territory. In 1837 Governor Henry Dodge made him one of his aides and the public prosecutor of Des Moines County. On August 1, 1837, Mason married Angelica Gear, and the couple had three daughters. They lived on a farm near Burlington.
On July 4, 1838, Iowa became a territory, and President Martin Van Buren appointed Mason Chief Justice of the three-man Territorial Supreme Court. Mason was a hard worker, writing 166 of the court's 191 opinions.
The case in the matter of Ralph ( a colored man ) on Habeas Corpus in 1839 was Mason's first and most famous decision. Ralph was a Missouri slave who had been allowed by his master , Jordan J. Montgomery, to come to Iowa in exchange for a promise of payment of $ 550 to buy his freedom. Ralph did not pay, and Montgomery tried to force him back into slavery in Missouri. Mason ruled that under the Missouri Compromise of 1820, slavery in Iowa Territory was " forever prohibited." Mason wrote , ' The master who, subsequently to that Act, permits his slave to become a resident here, cannot, afterwards, exercise any act of ownership over him within this territory."
Mason did not let legal technicalities obstruct his commitment to justice. In one case , the defendant argued that the jury was not lawfully sworn, thus invalidating its verdict. Mason disagreed . In another decision, he ruled that if a defendant had failed to plead, the court would presume he would plead " not guilty ". Similarly, Mason refused to be bound by legal precedent while carving out law in the new territory. In a case where all precedents forbade partnerships from suing in the firm's names, Mason ruled it permissible.
In 1838 the territorial legislature resolved that the judges of the Supreme Court should submit draft bills. The most important of these was Mason's draft bill that became the territorial criminal code.
Mason was reappointed to the Supreme Court in 1842 and 1846 ( the year of statehood ). He resigned the following year, and in 1848 Governor Ansel Briggs appointed him to represent Iowa in the U. S. Supreme Court case to decide the nine-year border dispute between Iowa and Missouri. Iowa prevailed.
In January 1848, the state legislature appointed Mason to chair a three-man commission, " to draft, revise and prepare a code of laws. " After prodigious labor, the Code of 1851 became law. The code was hailed for its clarification and reorganization of existing statutory law. Among many new provisions added by the commissioners were the creation of county judges, the broadening of laws on incorporation, and the abolition of common law procedure in civil actions. The commissioners also removed the statutory ban on interracial marriages.
In April 1853, President Franklin Pierce appointed Mason the U. S. Commissioner of Patents in Washington D. C. His responsibilities included agriculture and weather information. A farmer himself, Mason promoted agricultural research, collected world statistics on tobacco and cotton, and authorized a system of obtaining national weather information by telegraph. An energetic reformer, Mason reorganized the system of applying for patents and hired the first women in regular employment in a federal office. Unhappy with the new administration of President James Buchanan, he resigned as commissioner in August 1857. In 1862 he returned to Washington D. C., to found a lucrative patent law firm, --- Mason, Fenwick, & Lawrence.
Meanwhile, in Iowa in 1858 Mason was elected to the State Board of Education. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Republican Governor Samuel Kirkwood appointed him to a state bond commission, but he soon came out as a Peace Democrat. In 1861 Mason was the Democratic nominee for governor. In his campaign, although opposing secession, Mason stood up for the constitutional rights of the Southern states. He castigated the policy of the " Irrepressible Conflict," which he believed boosted Northern antagonism toward the South. Moreover, he maintained that the Union " can never be perpetuated by force of arms and that a republican government t held together by the sword becomes a military Despotism."
The Democrats split, and Mason withdrew from the campaign. During the rest of the war, he expressed his views in the Dubuque Herald, Iowa's leading Democratic newspaper , in a series of letters signed "X". He formed committees in Washington D. C., to try to oust Lincoln in the 1864 election, and also chaired the Democratic National Central Committee. In 1867, as Democratic nominee for governor of Iowa again, he was defeated by 89,144 to 62,657 votes. Reflecting on those years in his diary, he wrote, " I played the game of life at a great crisis and lost. I must be satisfied. "
Local affairs occupied Mason's remaining years . He was President of the Burlington Water Company, the Burlington Street Railway Company, the Burlington & North Western Railways, and the Burlington, Keosauqua & Western Railway Company. He chaired the German-American Savings Bank and was treasurer of the Burlington School Board. He died on his Burlington farm at the age of 77.
Sources: Charles Remey, ed. Life and Letters of Charles Mason: Chief Justice of Iowa, 1804-1882.( 1939 ); Emlin McClain, " Charles Mason- Iowa's First Jurist, " Annals of Iowa 4 (1901) 595-609 ; and Willard Irving Toussaint, " Biography of an Iowa Businessman: Charles Mason, 1804-1882" ( Ph.D. diss., State University of Iowa, 1963.)
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UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
CHARLES MASON
1853-1857
Born at Pompey, New York , October 24, 1804, the Honorable Charles Mason was the son of Chauncey and Esther Mason, grandson of Jonathan Mason and a descendant of Captain John Mason, 1635. He graduated first in his class in the U. S. Military Academy, having a classmate Robert E. Lee. He was appointed Second Lieutenant, Corps of Engineers, July 1, 1829 , and served as Assistant Professor of Engineering at the Military Academy from 1829 to 1831. In 1831 he resigned from the army to study law in New York City, being admitted to the bar in 1832. He practiced law at Newbury, New York , from 1832 to 1834 and in New York City from 1834 to 1836. In 1835 and 1836 he was acting editor of the New York Evening Post.
After that, he became successively District Attorney in Wisconsin Territory, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa Territory, retiring on May 16, 1847. Subsequently, he served as President of two western railroads, and was then appointed Commissioner of Patents by President Pierce in 1853, serving until 1857. after leaving the Patent office he practiced law in Burlington, Iowa, removing to Washington D. C., in 1860 to become a member of a firm engaged in the practice of patent law. He continued in this work from 1861 to 1881, but within this interval he resumed his interest in politics, as is indicated by his having been offered the Democratic nomination for Governor of Iowa in 1861, and his actual nomination for that office, when, however, he failed of election. He published some pamphlets on financial subjects and was at one time editor of the Burlington Hawkeye. He died at Burlington, Iowa on February 25, 1882
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WIKIPEDIA
CHARLES MASON ( Iowa Judge )
Charles Mason ( October 24, 1804 - February 25, 1882 ) was born in Pompey, New York and became a patent attorney, taught engineering, and was the Chief Justice of the Iowa Territorial Supreme Court, from 1838 to 1846, and then became the first Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court when Iowa was granted statehood from 1846 to 1847.
However today Mason is perhaps most remembered as the cadet who graduated first in the class of 1829 at the United States Military Academy at West Point, ahead of future Confederate Army Commander Robert E. Lee. Mason and Lee were tied for the head of the class in Artillery, Tactics and Conduct, but Mason bested Lee in all other subjects and graduated with an overall score of 1,995.5 points out of a possible 2,000, compared to Lee's 1,966.5. Mason resigned his commission in 1831, two years after graduation.
Mason and Lee also still have the two highest graduation point scores in the history of West Point. The third highest score in the Academy's history is held by Douglas McArthur.
Later, Mason was President of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, from 1852 to 1853, and United States Commissioner of Patents from 1853 to 1857. During his twice interrupted ( he submitted his resignation three times 1853-7 ) tenure as Commissioner of Patents, Mason instituted a heretofore rare experiment in workplace diversity. He hired several women, among them Clara Barton, to work as equals to their male counterparts.
He was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Iowa in 1867, but was defeated by Samuel Merrill.
Mason was a patron of the painter George Henry Yewell.
Charles Mason died in Burlington, Iowa on February 25, 1882.
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FAMILY:
WIFE: Angelica Gear, ( 1804 - 1873 ) married Charles Mason in Galena, Ill., on 1 August 1837. ert Mason ( 1840 - 1852 )
They had three daughters.
1.) Sarah Gilbert Mason, ( 1840 - 1852 )
2.) Angelica Emily Mason, ( 1842 - 1852 )
3.). Mary Josephine Mason, ( 1846 - 1938 ), married Admiral George Collier Remey, who was in charge of the Key West Naval Station during the Spanish American War, and the Asiatic Fleet after that war.
All three daughters contracted diphtheria in the winter of 1851-52, but only one survived the illness, Mary.
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U. S. CENSUS - 1850
Union Township
Des Moines
Iowa
House # 1081
CHARLES MASON, Male, 41, New York, Lawyer
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 38, Massachusetts
SARAH MASON, Female, 10, Iowa
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 8, Iowa
MARY MASON, Female, 5, Iowa
MARY PEARSON, Female, 20, Sweden
GEORGE MEMENON, Male, 35, England
NOTE: Two daughters passed away in 1852, Sarah and Angelica
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U. S. CENSUS -- 1870
Burlington
Des Moines
Iowa
Household # 349
CHARLES MASON, Male, 64, New York
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 62, Massachusetts
J. MARY. MASON, Female, 25, Iowa
Note: Wife Angelica passed away in 1873 of meningitis.
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U. S. CENSUS 1880
Burlington
Des Moines
Iowa
Sheet number 159C
CHAS. MASON, Male, 75, Widowed, New York
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NOTE: Mason's birthdate is provided by a Biographical sketch from the United States Patent Office, notice the slightly different death date. His place of birth had been given in a bit more detail by a page at the website of the town of Pompey.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Researched and Transcribed by:
ED CATTERSON
[email protected]
1/14/2021
USMA CLASS OF 1829
CULLUM'S REGISTER. # 541
RANKED FIRST IN 1829 CLASS AT WEST POINT
SECOND LIEUT., CORP OF ENGR. - 1829
SERVED TWO YEARS AS USMA PROFESSOR
CHIEF JUSTICE, IOWA SUPREME COURT, 1838-47
PRESIDENT, BURLINGTON AND MISSOURI RIVER RR. 1852-53
U. S. COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS, 1853-57
PATENT LAW ATTORNEY, 1861-1882
DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE FOR IOWA GOVERNOR - 1867
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
541. (Born N. Y. ). CHARLES MASON (Ap'd N. Y. ). 1
Born Oct. 24, 1804, Pompey Centre, N. Y.
Military History: ---- Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1825 to July 1, 1829, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to
( BVT. SECOND LIEUT., CORP OF ENGINEERS, JULY 1, 1829 )
Served: at the Military Academy as Principal Asst. Professor of Engineering, Aug. 30, 1829, to Aug. 31, 1831.
( RESIGNED, DEC 31, 1831 )
CIVIL HISTORY: --- Counselor at Law, Newburg, N. Y., 1832-34, and at New York City, 1834-36. Acting Editor of the New York " Evening Post ", 1835-36. District Attorney, Des Moines County, Wis, 1837-38. Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Wisconsin Territory, 1837-38. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa, July 4, 1838 to May 16, 1847. Attorney of the State of Iowa for the adjustment of its Southern Boundary, 1847-50. Appointed by the Legislature of Iowa, Jan., 1848, one of three Commissioners to draft an entire code of laws for the State. which was adopted in 1851. Judge of Des Moines Country Court, Wis., Aug. 1851 to June 1852. President of Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, Iowa, 1852-53; and of Peoria and Oquawka Railroad, Ill., 1852-53. Counselor at Law, Burlington, Io, 1847-53. U/ S. Commissioner of Patents, Mar. 24, 1853 to Aug. 5, 1857. Commissioner to adjust the extent of the Des Moines River Land Grant, 1858-59. Member of the Board of Education of the State of Iowa, 1858-59. Counzselor at Law, Burlington, Io., 1858-59. Counselor at Law Washington D. C. , 1860-61. Appointed a Commissioner by the Legislature of Iowa, 1861, to control a State War Fund of $800,000 for the suppression of the Rebellion. Democratic Candidate for the Governor of the State of Iowa, but not elected, 1867. Delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Iowa, 1868 and 1872, and to several State Conventions, 1867-81. Author of various papers on Financial Subjects, 1867-82. President of Burlington , Iowa , Water Company, 1875-82 ; of German American Savings Bank, 1874-82 ; of Burlington Board of Trade, 1879-82 ; of Burlington and Northwestern Railroad Company, 1877-82; and of Burlington Street Railway Company, 1870-82. Vice-President of Burlington, Keosauqua, and Western Railroad, 1879-82 ; Treasurer of Burlington School Board, 1879-82 ; Patent Law Attorney, 1861-82.
( DIED, FEB. 27, 1882, AT BURLINGTON, IOWA, AGED 77 )
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF IOWA
University of Iowa
MASON, CHARLES
( October 24, 1804 - February 25, 1882 )
Iowa Territorial Chief Justice, U. S Commissioner of Patents, politician, and businessman -- was the sixth of seven children of Chauncey Mason, a farmer, and Esther ( Dodge ) Mason. Born in Pompey, Onandaga county, New York, he went to local schools. In 1825 he entered the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and in 1829 graduated first in his class, which included Robert E. Lee.
Mason became an assistant professor of engineering at West Point. After two years , he left the army and read lawn a New York lawyer's office. In June, 1832 , he passed the bar exam nation and for two years practiced in a partnership in Newburgh, New York. A lifelong Democrat, Mason returned to New York City and wrote for the New York Evening Post, a radical Democrat newspaper.
In 1836 Mason moved to Wisconsin Territory. In 1837 Governor Henry Dodge made him one of his aides and the public prosecutor of Des Moines County. On August 1, 1837, Mason married Angelica Gear, and the couple had three daughters. They lived on a farm near Burlington.
On July 4, 1838, Iowa became a territory, and President Martin Van Buren appointed Mason Chief Justice of the three-man Territorial Supreme Court. Mason was a hard worker, writing 166 of the court's 191 opinions.
The case in the matter of Ralph ( a colored man ) on Habeas Corpus in 1839 was Mason's first and most famous decision. Ralph was a Missouri slave who had been allowed by his master , Jordan J. Montgomery, to come to Iowa in exchange for a promise of payment of $ 550 to buy his freedom. Ralph did not pay, and Montgomery tried to force him back into slavery in Missouri. Mason ruled that under the Missouri Compromise of 1820, slavery in Iowa Territory was " forever prohibited." Mason wrote , ' The master who, subsequently to that Act, permits his slave to become a resident here, cannot, afterwards, exercise any act of ownership over him within this territory."
Mason did not let legal technicalities obstruct his commitment to justice. In one case , the defendant argued that the jury was not lawfully sworn, thus invalidating its verdict. Mason disagreed . In another decision, he ruled that if a defendant had failed to plead, the court would presume he would plead " not guilty ". Similarly, Mason refused to be bound by legal precedent while carving out law in the new territory. In a case where all precedents forbade partnerships from suing in the firm's names, Mason ruled it permissible.
In 1838 the territorial legislature resolved that the judges of the Supreme Court should submit draft bills. The most important of these was Mason's draft bill that became the territorial criminal code.
Mason was reappointed to the Supreme Court in 1842 and 1846 ( the year of statehood ). He resigned the following year, and in 1848 Governor Ansel Briggs appointed him to represent Iowa in the U. S. Supreme Court case to decide the nine-year border dispute between Iowa and Missouri. Iowa prevailed.
In January 1848, the state legislature appointed Mason to chair a three-man commission, " to draft, revise and prepare a code of laws. " After prodigious labor, the Code of 1851 became law. The code was hailed for its clarification and reorganization of existing statutory law. Among many new provisions added by the commissioners were the creation of county judges, the broadening of laws on incorporation, and the abolition of common law procedure in civil actions. The commissioners also removed the statutory ban on interracial marriages.
In April 1853, President Franklin Pierce appointed Mason the U. S. Commissioner of Patents in Washington D. C. His responsibilities included agriculture and weather information. A farmer himself, Mason promoted agricultural research, collected world statistics on tobacco and cotton, and authorized a system of obtaining national weather information by telegraph. An energetic reformer, Mason reorganized the system of applying for patents and hired the first women in regular employment in a federal office. Unhappy with the new administration of President James Buchanan, he resigned as commissioner in August 1857. In 1862 he returned to Washington D. C., to found a lucrative patent law firm, --- Mason, Fenwick, & Lawrence.
Meanwhile, in Iowa in 1858 Mason was elected to the State Board of Education. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Republican Governor Samuel Kirkwood appointed him to a state bond commission, but he soon came out as a Peace Democrat. In 1861 Mason was the Democratic nominee for governor. In his campaign, although opposing secession, Mason stood up for the constitutional rights of the Southern states. He castigated the policy of the " Irrepressible Conflict," which he believed boosted Northern antagonism toward the South. Moreover, he maintained that the Union " can never be perpetuated by force of arms and that a republican government t held together by the sword becomes a military Despotism."
The Democrats split, and Mason withdrew from the campaign. During the rest of the war, he expressed his views in the Dubuque Herald, Iowa's leading Democratic newspaper , in a series of letters signed "X". He formed committees in Washington D. C., to try to oust Lincoln in the 1864 election, and also chaired the Democratic National Central Committee. In 1867, as Democratic nominee for governor of Iowa again, he was defeated by 89,144 to 62,657 votes. Reflecting on those years in his diary, he wrote, " I played the game of life at a great crisis and lost. I must be satisfied. "
Local affairs occupied Mason's remaining years . He was President of the Burlington Water Company, the Burlington Street Railway Company, the Burlington & North Western Railways, and the Burlington, Keosauqua & Western Railway Company. He chaired the German-American Savings Bank and was treasurer of the Burlington School Board. He died on his Burlington farm at the age of 77.
Sources: Charles Remey, ed. Life and Letters of Charles Mason: Chief Justice of Iowa, 1804-1882.( 1939 ); Emlin McClain, " Charles Mason- Iowa's First Jurist, " Annals of Iowa 4 (1901) 595-609 ; and Willard Irving Toussaint, " Biography of an Iowa Businessman: Charles Mason, 1804-1882" ( Ph.D. diss., State University of Iowa, 1963.)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
CHARLES MASON
1853-1857
Born at Pompey, New York , October 24, 1804, the Honorable Charles Mason was the son of Chauncey and Esther Mason, grandson of Jonathan Mason and a descendant of Captain John Mason, 1635. He graduated first in his class in the U. S. Military Academy, having a classmate Robert E. Lee. He was appointed Second Lieutenant, Corps of Engineers, July 1, 1829 , and served as Assistant Professor of Engineering at the Military Academy from 1829 to 1831. In 1831 he resigned from the army to study law in New York City, being admitted to the bar in 1832. He practiced law at Newbury, New York , from 1832 to 1834 and in New York City from 1834 to 1836. In 1835 and 1836 he was acting editor of the New York Evening Post.
After that, he became successively District Attorney in Wisconsin Territory, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa Territory, retiring on May 16, 1847. Subsequently, he served as President of two western railroads, and was then appointed Commissioner of Patents by President Pierce in 1853, serving until 1857. after leaving the Patent office he practiced law in Burlington, Iowa, removing to Washington D. C., in 1860 to become a member of a firm engaged in the practice of patent law. He continued in this work from 1861 to 1881, but within this interval he resumed his interest in politics, as is indicated by his having been offered the Democratic nomination for Governor of Iowa in 1861, and his actual nomination for that office, when, however, he failed of election. He published some pamphlets on financial subjects and was at one time editor of the Burlington Hawkeye. He died at Burlington, Iowa on February 25, 1882
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WIKIPEDIA
CHARLES MASON ( Iowa Judge )
Charles Mason ( October 24, 1804 - February 25, 1882 ) was born in Pompey, New York and became a patent attorney, taught engineering, and was the Chief Justice of the Iowa Territorial Supreme Court, from 1838 to 1846, and then became the first Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court when Iowa was granted statehood from 1846 to 1847.
However today Mason is perhaps most remembered as the cadet who graduated first in the class of 1829 at the United States Military Academy at West Point, ahead of future Confederate Army Commander Robert E. Lee. Mason and Lee were tied for the head of the class in Artillery, Tactics and Conduct, but Mason bested Lee in all other subjects and graduated with an overall score of 1,995.5 points out of a possible 2,000, compared to Lee's 1,966.5. Mason resigned his commission in 1831, two years after graduation.
Mason and Lee also still have the two highest graduation point scores in the history of West Point. The third highest score in the Academy's history is held by Douglas McArthur.
Later, Mason was President of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, from 1852 to 1853, and United States Commissioner of Patents from 1853 to 1857. During his twice interrupted ( he submitted his resignation three times 1853-7 ) tenure as Commissioner of Patents, Mason instituted a heretofore rare experiment in workplace diversity. He hired several women, among them Clara Barton, to work as equals to their male counterparts.
He was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Iowa in 1867, but was defeated by Samuel Merrill.
Mason was a patron of the painter George Henry Yewell.
Charles Mason died in Burlington, Iowa on February 25, 1882.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FAMILY:
WIFE: Angelica Gear, ( 1804 - 1873 ) married Charles Mason in Galena, Ill., on 1 August 1837. ert Mason ( 1840 - 1852 )
They had three daughters.
1.) Sarah Gilbert Mason, ( 1840 - 1852 )
2.) Angelica Emily Mason, ( 1842 - 1852 )
3.). Mary Josephine Mason, ( 1846 - 1938 ), married Admiral George Collier Remey, who was in charge of the Key West Naval Station during the Spanish American War, and the Asiatic Fleet after that war.
All three daughters contracted diphtheria in the winter of 1851-52, but only one survived the illness, Mary.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
U. S. CENSUS - 1850
Union Township
Des Moines
Iowa
House # 1081
CHARLES MASON, Male, 41, New York, Lawyer
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 38, Massachusetts
SARAH MASON, Female, 10, Iowa
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 8, Iowa
MARY MASON, Female, 5, Iowa
MARY PEARSON, Female, 20, Sweden
GEORGE MEMENON, Male, 35, England
NOTE: Two daughters passed away in 1852, Sarah and Angelica
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
U. S. CENSUS -- 1870
Burlington
Des Moines
Iowa
Household # 349
CHARLES MASON, Male, 64, New York
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 62, Massachusetts
J. MARY. MASON, Female, 25, Iowa
Note: Wife Angelica passed away in 1873 of meningitis.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
U. S. CENSUS 1880
Burlington
Des Moines
Iowa
Sheet number 159C
CHAS. MASON, Male, 75, Widowed, New York
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: Mason's birthdate is provided by a Biographical sketch from the United States Patent Office, notice the slightly different death date. His place of birth had been given in a bit more detail by a page at the website of the town of Pompey.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Researched and Transcribed by:
ED CATTERSON
[email protected]
1/14/2021
CHARLES MASON
USMA CLASS OF 1829
CULLUM'S REGISTER. # 541
RANKED FIRST IN 1829 CLASS AT WEST POINT
SECOND LIEUT., CORP OF ENGR. - 1829
SERVED TWO YEARS AS USMA PROFESSOR
CHIEF JUSTICE, IOWA SUPREME COURT, 1838-47
PRESIDENT, BURLINGTON AND MISSOURI RIVER RR. 1852-53
U. S. COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS, 1853-57
PATENT LAW ATTORNEY, 1861-1882
DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE FOR IOWA GOVERNOR - 1867
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
541. (Born N. Y. ). CHARLES MASON (Ap'd N. Y. ). 1
Born Oct. 24, 1804, Pompey Centre, N. Y.
Military History: ---- Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1825 to July 1, 1829, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to
( BVT. SECOND LIEUT., CORP OF ENGINEERS, JULY 1, 1829 )
Served: at the Military Academy as Principal Asst. Professor of Engineering, Aug. 30, 1829, to Aug. 31, 1831.
( RESIGNED, DEC 31, 1831 )
CIVIL HISTORY: --- Counselor at Law, Newburg, N. Y., 1832-34, and at New York City, 1834-36. Acting Editor of the New York " Evening Post ", 1835-36. District Attorney, Des Moines County, Wis, 1837-38. Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Wisconsin Territory, 1837-38. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa, July 4, 1838 to May 16, 1847. Attorney of the State of Iowa for the adjustment of its Southern Boundary, 1847-50. Appointed by the Legislature of Iowa, Jan., 1848, one of three Commissioners to draft an entire code of laws for the State. which was adopted in 1851. Judge of Des Moines Country Court, Wis., Aug. 1851 to June 1852. President of Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, Iowa, 1852-53; and of Peoria and Oquawka Railroad, Ill., 1852-53. Counselor at Law, Burlington, Io, 1847-53. U/ S. Commissioner of Patents, Mar. 24, 1853 to Aug. 5, 1857. Commissioner to adjust the extent of the Des Moines River Land Grant, 1858-59. Member of the Board of Education of the State of Iowa, 1858-59. Counzselor at Law, Burlington, Io., 1858-59. Counselor at Law Washington D. C. , 1860-61. Appointed a Commissioner by the Legislature of Iowa, 1861, to control a State War Fund of $800,000 for the suppression of the Rebellion. Democratic Candidate for the Governor of the State of Iowa, but not elected, 1867. Delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Iowa, 1868 and 1872, and to several State Conventions, 1867-81. Author of various papers on Financial Subjects, 1867-82. President of Burlington , Iowa , Water Company, 1875-82 ; of German American Savings Bank, 1874-82 ; of Burlington Board of Trade, 1879-82 ; of Burlington and Northwestern Railroad Company, 1877-82; and of Burlington Street Railway Company, 1870-82. Vice-President of Burlington, Keosauqua, and Western Railroad, 1879-82 ; Treasurer of Burlington School Board, 1879-82 ; Patent Law Attorney, 1861-82.
( DIED, FEB. 27, 1882, AT BURLINGTON, IOWA, AGED 77 )
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF IOWA
University of Iowa
MASON, CHARLES
( October 24, 1804 - February 25, 1882 )
Iowa Territorial Chief Justice, U. S Commissioner of Patents, politician, and businessman -- was the sixth of seven children of Chauncey Mason, a farmer, and Esther ( Dodge ) Mason. Born in Pompey, Onandaga county, New York, he went to local schools. In 1825 he entered the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and in 1829 graduated first in his class, which included Robert E. Lee.
Mason became an assistant professor of engineering at West Point. After two years , he left the army and read lawn a New York lawyer's office. In June, 1832 , he passed the bar exam nation and for two years practiced in a partnership in Newburgh, New York. A lifelong Democrat, Mason returned to New York City and wrote for the New York Evening Post, a radical Democrat newspaper.
In 1836 Mason moved to Wisconsin Territory. In 1837 Governor Henry Dodge made him one of his aides and the public prosecutor of Des Moines County. On August 1, 1837, Mason married Angelica Gear, and the couple had three daughters. They lived on a farm near Burlington.
On July 4, 1838, Iowa became a territory, and President Martin Van Buren appointed Mason Chief Justice of the three-man Territorial Supreme Court. Mason was a hard worker, writing 166 of the court's 191 opinions.
The case in the matter of Ralph ( a colored man ) on Habeas Corpus in 1839 was Mason's first and most famous decision. Ralph was a Missouri slave who had been allowed by his master , Jordan J. Montgomery, to come to Iowa in exchange for a promise of payment of $ 550 to buy his freedom. Ralph did not pay, and Montgomery tried to force him back into slavery in Missouri. Mason ruled that under the Missouri Compromise of 1820, slavery in Iowa Territory was " forever prohibited." Mason wrote , ' The master who, subsequently to that Act, permits his slave to become a resident here, cannot, afterwards, exercise any act of ownership over him within this territory."
Mason did not let legal technicalities obstruct his commitment to justice. In one case , the defendant argued that the jury was not lawfully sworn, thus invalidating its verdict. Mason disagreed . In another decision, he ruled that if a defendant had failed to plead, the court would presume he would plead " not guilty ". Similarly, Mason refused to be bound by legal precedent while carving out law in the new territory. In a case where all precedents forbade partnerships from suing in the firm's names, Mason ruled it permissible.
In 1838 the territorial legislature resolved that the judges of the Supreme Court should submit draft bills. The most important of these was Mason's draft bill that became the territorial criminal code.
Mason was reappointed to the Supreme Court in 1842 and 1846 ( the year of statehood ). He resigned the following year, and in 1848 Governor Ansel Briggs appointed him to represent Iowa in the U. S. Supreme Court case to decide the nine-year border dispute between Iowa and Missouri. Iowa prevailed.
In January 1848, the state legislature appointed Mason to chair a three-man commission, " to draft, revise and prepare a code of laws. " After prodigious labor, the Code of 1851 became law. The code was hailed for its clarification and reorganization of existing statutory law. Among many new provisions added by the commissioners were the creation of county judges, the broadening of laws on incorporation, and the abolition of common law procedure in civil actions. The commissioners also removed the statutory ban on interracial marriages.
In April 1853, President Franklin Pierce appointed Mason the U. S. Commissioner of Patents in Washington D. C. His responsibilities included agriculture and weather information. A farmer himself, Mason promoted agricultural research, collected world statistics on tobacco and cotton, and authorized a system of obtaining national weather information by telegraph. An energetic reformer, Mason reorganized the system of applying for patents and hired the first women in regular employment in a federal office. Unhappy with the new administration of President James Buchanan, he resigned as commissioner in August 1857. In 1862 he returned to Washington D. C., to found a lucrative patent law firm, --- Mason, Fenwick, & Lawrence.
Meanwhile, in Iowa in 1858 Mason was elected to the State Board of Education. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Republican Governor Samuel Kirkwood appointed him to a state bond commission, but he soon came out as a Peace Democrat. In 1861 Mason was the Democratic nominee for governor. In his campaign, although opposing secession, Mason stood up for the constitutional rights of the Southern states. He castigated the policy of the " Irrepressible Conflict," which he believed boosted Northern antagonism toward the South. Moreover, he maintained that the Union " can never be perpetuated by force of arms and that a republican government t held together by the sword becomes a military Despotism."
The Democrats split, and Mason withdrew from the campaign. During the rest of the war, he expressed his views in the Dubuque Herald, Iowa's leading Democratic newspaper , in a series of letters signed "X". He formed committees in Washington D. C., to try to oust Lincoln in the 1864 election, and also chaired the Democratic National Central Committee. In 1867, as Democratic nominee for governor of Iowa again, he was defeated by 89,144 to 62,657 votes. Reflecting on those years in his diary, he wrote, " I played the game of life at a great crisis and lost. I must be satisfied. "
Local affairs occupied Mason's remaining years . He was President of the Burlington Water Company, the Burlington Street Railway Company, the Burlington & North Western Railways, and the Burlington, Keosauqua & Western Railway Company. He chaired the German-American Savings Bank and was treasurer of the Burlington School Board. He died on his Burlington farm at the age of 77.
Sources: Charles Remey, ed. Life and Letters of Charles Mason: Chief Justice of Iowa, 1804-1882.( 1939 ); Emlin McClain, " Charles Mason- Iowa's First Jurist, " Annals of Iowa 4 (1901) 595-609 ; and Willard Irving Toussaint, " Biography of an Iowa Businessman: Charles Mason, 1804-1882" ( Ph.D. diss., State University of Iowa, 1963.)
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UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
CHARLES MASON
1853-1857
Born at Pompey, New York , October 24, 1804, the Honorable Charles Mason was the son of Chauncey and Esther Mason, grandson of Jonathan Mason and a descendant of Captain John Mason, 1635. He graduated first in his class in the U. S. Military Academy, having a classmate Robert E. Lee. He was appointed Second Lieutenant, Corps of Engineers, July 1, 1829 , and served as Assistant Professor of Engineering at the Military Academy from 1829 to 1831. In 1831 he resigned from the army to study law in New York City, being admitted to the bar in 1832. He practiced law at Newbury, New York , from 1832 to 1834 and in New York City from 1834 to 1836. In 1835 and 1836 he was acting editor of the New York Evening Post.
After that, he became successively District Attorney in Wisconsin Territory, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa Territory, retiring on May 16, 1847. Subsequently, he served as President of two western railroads, and was then appointed Commissioner of Patents by President Pierce in 1853, serving until 1857. after leaving the Patent office he practiced law in Burlington, Iowa, removing to Washington D. C., in 1860 to become a member of a firm engaged in the practice of patent law. He continued in this work from 1861 to 1881, but within this interval he resumed his interest in politics, as is indicated by his having been offered the Democratic nomination for Governor of Iowa in 1861, and his actual nomination for that office, when, however, he failed of election. He published some pamphlets on financial subjects and was at one time editor of the Burlington Hawkeye. He died at Burlington, Iowa on February 25, 1882
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WIKIPEDIA
CHARLES MASON ( Iowa Judge )
Charles Mason ( October 24, 1804 - February 25, 1882 ) was born in Pompey, New York and became a patent attorney, taught engineering, and was the Chief Justice of the Iowa Territorial Supreme Court, from 1838 to 1846, and then became the first Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court when Iowa was granted statehood from 1846 to 1847.
However today Mason is perhaps most remembered as the cadet who graduated first in the class of 1829 at the United States Military Academy at West Point, ahead of future Confederate Army Commander Robert E. Lee. Mason and Lee were tied for the head of the class in Artillery, Tactics and Conduct, but Mason bested Lee in all other subjects and graduated with an overall score of 1,995.5 points out of a possible 2,000, compared to Lee's 1,966.5. Mason resigned his commission in 1831, two years after graduation.
Mason and Lee also still have the two highest graduation point scores in the history of West Point. The third highest score in the Academy's history is held by Douglas McArthur.
Later, Mason was President of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, from 1852 to 1853, and United States Commissioner of Patents from 1853 to 1857. During his twice interrupted ( he submitted his resignation three times 1853-7 ) tenure as Commissioner of Patents, Mason instituted a heretofore rare experiment in workplace diversity. He hired several women, among them Clara Barton, to work as equals to their male counterparts.
He was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Iowa in 1867, but was defeated by Samuel Merrill.
Mason was a patron of the painter George Henry Yewell.
Charles Mason died in Burlington, Iowa on February 25, 1882.
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FAMILY:
WIFE: Angelica Gear, ( 1804 - 1873 ) married Charles Mason in Galena, Ill., on 1 August 1837. ert Mason ( 1840 - 1852 )
They had three daughters.
1.) Sarah Gilbert Mason, ( 1840 - 1852 )
2.) Angelica Emily Mason, ( 1842 - 1852 )
3.). Mary Josephine Mason, ( 1846 - 1938 ), married Admiral George Collier Remey, who was in charge of the Key West Naval Station during the Spanish American War, and the Asiatic Fleet after that war.
All three daughters contracted diphtheria in the winter of 1851-52, but only one survived the illness, Mary.
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U. S. CENSUS - 1850
Union Township
Des Moines
Iowa
House # 1081
CHARLES MASON, Male, 41, New York, Lawyer
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 38, Massachusetts
SARAH MASON, Female, 10, Iowa
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 8, Iowa
MARY MASON, Female, 5, Iowa
MARY PEARSON, Female, 20, Sweden
GEORGE MEMENON, Male, 35, England
NOTE: Two daughters passed away in 1852, Sarah and Angelica
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U. S. CENSUS -- 1870
Burlington
Des Moines
Iowa
Household # 349
CHARLES MASON, Male, 64, New York
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 62, Massachusetts
J. MARY. MASON, Female, 25, Iowa
Note: Wife Angelica passed away in 1873 of meningitis.
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U. S. CENSUS 1880
Burlington
Des Moines
Iowa
Sheet number 159C
CHAS. MASON, Male, 75, Widowed, New York
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NOTE: Mason's birthdate is provided by a Biographical sketch from the United States Patent Office, notice the slightly different death date. His place of birth had been given in a bit more detail by a page at the website of the town of Pompey.
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Researched and Transcribed by:
ED CATTERSON
[email protected]
1/14/2021
USMA CLASS OF 1829
CULLUM'S REGISTER. # 541
RANKED FIRST IN 1829 CLASS AT WEST POINT
SECOND LIEUT., CORP OF ENGR. - 1829
SERVED TWO YEARS AS USMA PROFESSOR
CHIEF JUSTICE, IOWA SUPREME COURT, 1838-47
PRESIDENT, BURLINGTON AND MISSOURI RIVER RR. 1852-53
U. S. COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS, 1853-57
PATENT LAW ATTORNEY, 1861-1882
DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE FOR IOWA GOVERNOR - 1867
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541. (Born N. Y. ). CHARLES MASON (Ap'd N. Y. ). 1
Born Oct. 24, 1804, Pompey Centre, N. Y.
Military History: ---- Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1825 to July 1, 1829, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to
( BVT. SECOND LIEUT., CORP OF ENGINEERS, JULY 1, 1829 )
Served: at the Military Academy as Principal Asst. Professor of Engineering, Aug. 30, 1829, to Aug. 31, 1831.
( RESIGNED, DEC 31, 1831 )
CIVIL HISTORY: --- Counselor at Law, Newburg, N. Y., 1832-34, and at New York City, 1834-36. Acting Editor of the New York " Evening Post ", 1835-36. District Attorney, Des Moines County, Wis, 1837-38. Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Wisconsin Territory, 1837-38. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa, July 4, 1838 to May 16, 1847. Attorney of the State of Iowa for the adjustment of its Southern Boundary, 1847-50. Appointed by the Legislature of Iowa, Jan., 1848, one of three Commissioners to draft an entire code of laws for the State. which was adopted in 1851. Judge of Des Moines Country Court, Wis., Aug. 1851 to June 1852. President of Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, Iowa, 1852-53; and of Peoria and Oquawka Railroad, Ill., 1852-53. Counselor at Law, Burlington, Io, 1847-53. U/ S. Commissioner of Patents, Mar. 24, 1853 to Aug. 5, 1857. Commissioner to adjust the extent of the Des Moines River Land Grant, 1858-59. Member of the Board of Education of the State of Iowa, 1858-59. Counzselor at Law, Burlington, Io., 1858-59. Counselor at Law Washington D. C. , 1860-61. Appointed a Commissioner by the Legislature of Iowa, 1861, to control a State War Fund of $800,000 for the suppression of the Rebellion. Democratic Candidate for the Governor of the State of Iowa, but not elected, 1867. Delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Iowa, 1868 and 1872, and to several State Conventions, 1867-81. Author of various papers on Financial Subjects, 1867-82. President of Burlington , Iowa , Water Company, 1875-82 ; of German American Savings Bank, 1874-82 ; of Burlington Board of Trade, 1879-82 ; of Burlington and Northwestern Railroad Company, 1877-82; and of Burlington Street Railway Company, 1870-82. Vice-President of Burlington, Keosauqua, and Western Railroad, 1879-82 ; Treasurer of Burlington School Board, 1879-82 ; Patent Law Attorney, 1861-82.
( DIED, FEB. 27, 1882, AT BURLINGTON, IOWA, AGED 77 )
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF IOWA
University of Iowa
MASON, CHARLES
( October 24, 1804 - February 25, 1882 )
Iowa Territorial Chief Justice, U. S Commissioner of Patents, politician, and businessman -- was the sixth of seven children of Chauncey Mason, a farmer, and Esther ( Dodge ) Mason. Born in Pompey, Onandaga county, New York, he went to local schools. In 1825 he entered the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and in 1829 graduated first in his class, which included Robert E. Lee.
Mason became an assistant professor of engineering at West Point. After two years , he left the army and read lawn a New York lawyer's office. In June, 1832 , he passed the bar exam nation and for two years practiced in a partnership in Newburgh, New York. A lifelong Democrat, Mason returned to New York City and wrote for the New York Evening Post, a radical Democrat newspaper.
In 1836 Mason moved to Wisconsin Territory. In 1837 Governor Henry Dodge made him one of his aides and the public prosecutor of Des Moines County. On August 1, 1837, Mason married Angelica Gear, and the couple had three daughters. They lived on a farm near Burlington.
On July 4, 1838, Iowa became a territory, and President Martin Van Buren appointed Mason Chief Justice of the three-man Territorial Supreme Court. Mason was a hard worker, writing 166 of the court's 191 opinions.
The case in the matter of Ralph ( a colored man ) on Habeas Corpus in 1839 was Mason's first and most famous decision. Ralph was a Missouri slave who had been allowed by his master , Jordan J. Montgomery, to come to Iowa in exchange for a promise of payment of $ 550 to buy his freedom. Ralph did not pay, and Montgomery tried to force him back into slavery in Missouri. Mason ruled that under the Missouri Compromise of 1820, slavery in Iowa Territory was " forever prohibited." Mason wrote , ' The master who, subsequently to that Act, permits his slave to become a resident here, cannot, afterwards, exercise any act of ownership over him within this territory."
Mason did not let legal technicalities obstruct his commitment to justice. In one case , the defendant argued that the jury was not lawfully sworn, thus invalidating its verdict. Mason disagreed . In another decision, he ruled that if a defendant had failed to plead, the court would presume he would plead " not guilty ". Similarly, Mason refused to be bound by legal precedent while carving out law in the new territory. In a case where all precedents forbade partnerships from suing in the firm's names, Mason ruled it permissible.
In 1838 the territorial legislature resolved that the judges of the Supreme Court should submit draft bills. The most important of these was Mason's draft bill that became the territorial criminal code.
Mason was reappointed to the Supreme Court in 1842 and 1846 ( the year of statehood ). He resigned the following year, and in 1848 Governor Ansel Briggs appointed him to represent Iowa in the U. S. Supreme Court case to decide the nine-year border dispute between Iowa and Missouri. Iowa prevailed.
In January 1848, the state legislature appointed Mason to chair a three-man commission, " to draft, revise and prepare a code of laws. " After prodigious labor, the Code of 1851 became law. The code was hailed for its clarification and reorganization of existing statutory law. Among many new provisions added by the commissioners were the creation of county judges, the broadening of laws on incorporation, and the abolition of common law procedure in civil actions. The commissioners also removed the statutory ban on interracial marriages.
In April 1853, President Franklin Pierce appointed Mason the U. S. Commissioner of Patents in Washington D. C. His responsibilities included agriculture and weather information. A farmer himself, Mason promoted agricultural research, collected world statistics on tobacco and cotton, and authorized a system of obtaining national weather information by telegraph. An energetic reformer, Mason reorganized the system of applying for patents and hired the first women in regular employment in a federal office. Unhappy with the new administration of President James Buchanan, he resigned as commissioner in August 1857. In 1862 he returned to Washington D. C., to found a lucrative patent law firm, --- Mason, Fenwick, & Lawrence.
Meanwhile, in Iowa in 1858 Mason was elected to the State Board of Education. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Republican Governor Samuel Kirkwood appointed him to a state bond commission, but he soon came out as a Peace Democrat. In 1861 Mason was the Democratic nominee for governor. In his campaign, although opposing secession, Mason stood up for the constitutional rights of the Southern states. He castigated the policy of the " Irrepressible Conflict," which he believed boosted Northern antagonism toward the South. Moreover, he maintained that the Union " can never be perpetuated by force of arms and that a republican government t held together by the sword becomes a military Despotism."
The Democrats split, and Mason withdrew from the campaign. During the rest of the war, he expressed his views in the Dubuque Herald, Iowa's leading Democratic newspaper , in a series of letters signed "X". He formed committees in Washington D. C., to try to oust Lincoln in the 1864 election, and also chaired the Democratic National Central Committee. In 1867, as Democratic nominee for governor of Iowa again, he was defeated by 89,144 to 62,657 votes. Reflecting on those years in his diary, he wrote, " I played the game of life at a great crisis and lost. I must be satisfied. "
Local affairs occupied Mason's remaining years . He was President of the Burlington Water Company, the Burlington Street Railway Company, the Burlington & North Western Railways, and the Burlington, Keosauqua & Western Railway Company. He chaired the German-American Savings Bank and was treasurer of the Burlington School Board. He died on his Burlington farm at the age of 77.
Sources: Charles Remey, ed. Life and Letters of Charles Mason: Chief Justice of Iowa, 1804-1882.( 1939 ); Emlin McClain, " Charles Mason- Iowa's First Jurist, " Annals of Iowa 4 (1901) 595-609 ; and Willard Irving Toussaint, " Biography of an Iowa Businessman: Charles Mason, 1804-1882" ( Ph.D. diss., State University of Iowa, 1963.)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
CHARLES MASON
1853-1857
Born at Pompey, New York , October 24, 1804, the Honorable Charles Mason was the son of Chauncey and Esther Mason, grandson of Jonathan Mason and a descendant of Captain John Mason, 1635. He graduated first in his class in the U. S. Military Academy, having a classmate Robert E. Lee. He was appointed Second Lieutenant, Corps of Engineers, July 1, 1829 , and served as Assistant Professor of Engineering at the Military Academy from 1829 to 1831. In 1831 he resigned from the army to study law in New York City, being admitted to the bar in 1832. He practiced law at Newbury, New York , from 1832 to 1834 and in New York City from 1834 to 1836. In 1835 and 1836 he was acting editor of the New York Evening Post.
After that, he became successively District Attorney in Wisconsin Territory, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa Territory, retiring on May 16, 1847. Subsequently, he served as President of two western railroads, and was then appointed Commissioner of Patents by President Pierce in 1853, serving until 1857. after leaving the Patent office he practiced law in Burlington, Iowa, removing to Washington D. C., in 1860 to become a member of a firm engaged in the practice of patent law. He continued in this work from 1861 to 1881, but within this interval he resumed his interest in politics, as is indicated by his having been offered the Democratic nomination for Governor of Iowa in 1861, and his actual nomination for that office, when, however, he failed of election. He published some pamphlets on financial subjects and was at one time editor of the Burlington Hawkeye. He died at Burlington, Iowa on February 25, 1882
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WIKIPEDIA
CHARLES MASON ( Iowa Judge )
Charles Mason ( October 24, 1804 - February 25, 1882 ) was born in Pompey, New York and became a patent attorney, taught engineering, and was the Chief Justice of the Iowa Territorial Supreme Court, from 1838 to 1846, and then became the first Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court when Iowa was granted statehood from 1846 to 1847.
However today Mason is perhaps most remembered as the cadet who graduated first in the class of 1829 at the United States Military Academy at West Point, ahead of future Confederate Army Commander Robert E. Lee. Mason and Lee were tied for the head of the class in Artillery, Tactics and Conduct, but Mason bested Lee in all other subjects and graduated with an overall score of 1,995.5 points out of a possible 2,000, compared to Lee's 1,966.5. Mason resigned his commission in 1831, two years after graduation.
Mason and Lee also still have the two highest graduation point scores in the history of West Point. The third highest score in the Academy's history is held by Douglas McArthur.
Later, Mason was President of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, from 1852 to 1853, and United States Commissioner of Patents from 1853 to 1857. During his twice interrupted ( he submitted his resignation three times 1853-7 ) tenure as Commissioner of Patents, Mason instituted a heretofore rare experiment in workplace diversity. He hired several women, among them Clara Barton, to work as equals to their male counterparts.
He was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Iowa in 1867, but was defeated by Samuel Merrill.
Mason was a patron of the painter George Henry Yewell.
Charles Mason died in Burlington, Iowa on February 25, 1882.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FAMILY:
WIFE: Angelica Gear, ( 1804 - 1873 ) married Charles Mason in Galena, Ill., on 1 August 1837. ert Mason ( 1840 - 1852 )
They had three daughters.
1.) Sarah Gilbert Mason, ( 1840 - 1852 )
2.) Angelica Emily Mason, ( 1842 - 1852 )
3.). Mary Josephine Mason, ( 1846 - 1938 ), married Admiral George Collier Remey, who was in charge of the Key West Naval Station during the Spanish American War, and the Asiatic Fleet after that war.
All three daughters contracted diphtheria in the winter of 1851-52, but only one survived the illness, Mary.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
U. S. CENSUS - 1850
Union Township
Des Moines
Iowa
House # 1081
CHARLES MASON, Male, 41, New York, Lawyer
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 38, Massachusetts
SARAH MASON, Female, 10, Iowa
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 8, Iowa
MARY MASON, Female, 5, Iowa
MARY PEARSON, Female, 20, Sweden
GEORGE MEMENON, Male, 35, England
NOTE: Two daughters passed away in 1852, Sarah and Angelica
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
U. S. CENSUS -- 1870
Burlington
Des Moines
Iowa
Household # 349
CHARLES MASON, Male, 64, New York
ANGELICA MASON, Female, 62, Massachusetts
J. MARY. MASON, Female, 25, Iowa
Note: Wife Angelica passed away in 1873 of meningitis.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
U. S. CENSUS 1880
Burlington
Des Moines
Iowa
Sheet number 159C
CHAS. MASON, Male, 75, Widowed, New York
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: Mason's birthdate is provided by a Biographical sketch from the United States Patent Office, notice the slightly different death date. His place of birth had been given in a bit more detail by a page at the website of the town of Pompey.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Researched and Transcribed by:
ED CATTERSON
[email protected]
1/14/2021
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