Richard Barnes Mason

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Richard Barnes Mason
Military Governor of California
In office
May 31, 1847 – April 13, 1849
Preceded byStephen W. Kearny
Succeeded byPersifor Frazer Smith
Personal details
BornJanuary 16, 1797
Jefferson Barracks
Battles/warsBlack Hawk War
Second Seminole War
Mexican–American War
For other people called Richard Mason, see Richard Mason (disambiguation).

Richard Barnes Mason (January 16, 1797 – July 25, 1850)

military governor of California before it became a state. He came from a politically prominent American family and was a descendant of George Mason, a framer of the U.S. Constitution and father of the Bill of Rights
.

Gen. Mason is especially important to the history of California, because as

California Gold Rush.[2][3]

Mason was "an aristocratic Virginian, a large portly man, six feet in height. He possessed all the peculiarities of a Southerner, accentuated," but he was known to have confined Jefferson Davis to quarters, who was under his command.[4] A Lt. James Abert described him so, "It would be presumption in me to speak of so accomplished and well known an officer; but I cannot refrain from expressing my grateful sense of the kindness and hospitality with which we were received and treated by himself and his amiable lady, and indeed, by all the officers and ladies attached to the command."[5]

Early life

"Richard Barnes Mason, born in Fairfax County, Virginia, January 16, 1797, was the son of George Mason and Elizabeth Mary Ann Barnes Hooe, who were married April 22, 1784."[6] His grandfather was famous founder George Mason. Richard Barnes Mason inherited a considerable estate, consisting mostly of land and enslaved men and women. Upon the death of his father, he and his siblings frequently squabbled over the division of the estate and the profits made by selling enslaved men and women. In 1823, Richard complained to his brother George that "I wish you would make some exertion to pay me for Tom Clarke [an enslaved man whom the family sold]. It is now six years since you sold him, and I have not yet received a cent. It is not right that, you should, who inherited half my father's fortune, withhold from me, who got none, what is so justly my due." Like so many other enslavers and prominent Virginians, Mason's wealth was heavily dependent upon the labor and bodies of the people he held as slaves.

Military career

Mason was commissioned in the Army in 1817, to be stationed in the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes area. While serving, he frequently speculated in land and wrote to his family and friends with tips on where they could make the greatest fortune by speculating in land and relocating with the enslaved men and women who they claimed ownership of. In 1820, he told his brother to "advise Gerard by all means to sell his landed property and move with his Negroes to KY or the Missouri." Barnes frequently complained to his siblings about his low pay, and implored them to send his money or his "negroes" so that he could work them in Kentucky.

He served in the

1st U.S. Dragoons as its first Major. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1836. During the Mexican–American War, he served in New Mexico Territory and California, rising to the rank of colonel in 1846.[5]

Following the war, he was appointed military governor of California, serving from May 31, 1847, until April 13, 1849. When gold was discovered at

California Gold Rush, resulting in the settlement of the land.[5]

Mason died in 1850 at

St. Louis, Missouri, and was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery.[1][5]

In the US Federal Census of 1850 for Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis County, Missouri, dated 18 August 1850, the following annotation is located at the bottom of the third page: "Brig Genl Mason died at Jefferson Barracks July 1849 of Cholera."[7] However, The St. Louis Intelligencer reported the General's death on Saturday, July 27, 1850, (p. 3, cols. 1, 4.)[8]

Marriage and children

Mason married Elizabeth Margaret Hunter on 28 January 1836.[1] Richard and Elizabeth had three daughters:[1]

  • Emma Twiggs Mason Wheaton (17 October 1836 – 16 February 1864)[1]
  • Elizabeth Mary Ann Sally Mason (20 August 1838 – 19 November 1912)[1]
  • Alice Graham Mason (c. 1843 – 10 February 1847)[1]

Honors

In 1882, the Post at Point San Jose in

Army base for more than 100 years.[9]

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Gunston Hall. "Richard Barnes Mason". Gunston Hall. Archived from the original on 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  2. ^ Mason's Report of the Gold Discovery
  3. ^ John Putnam, "The official report that sparked the gold rush", 'My Gold Rush Tales.'
  4. ^ James C. Parrott, Annals of Iowa, Des Moines, Fort Des Moines (No. 1), Iowa, vol. III, nos. 5-6, Third Series, p. 367.
  5. ^
    OCLC 1554537. Archived from the original
    on 2007-11-17. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  6. ^ CAROLYN THOMAS FOREMAN, "GENERAL RICHARD BARNES MASON," 'Chronicles of Oklahoma' Archived 2007-11-17 at the Wayback Machine, Volume 19, No. 1 March, 1941.
  7. ^ "Ancestry® | Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records".
  8. ^ "Chronicles of Oklahoma". Archived from the original on 2007-11-17. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  9. ^ "Golden Gate National Recreation Area – Fort Mason History Walk" (PDF). National Park Service. p. 12. Retrieved 2007-12-18.

External links

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