Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/252

240 MASON the soil, which is mostly prairie, very fertile. Tlu- I'c-oria, IVkin, and Jacksonville, the Spring- field and Northwestern, and the Jacksonville division of the Chicago and Alton railroad pass through it. The chief productions in 1870 were 198,889 bushels of wheat, 49,182 of rye, 2,648,- 726 of Indian corn, 272,660 of oats,. 71,345 of potatoes, 231,960 Ibs. of butter, and 8,943 tons of hay. There were 6,541 horses, 1,988 mules and asses, 4,217 milch cows, 6,097 other cat- tle, 1,968 sheep, and 16,654 swine; 7 manu- factories of carriages, 4 of brick, 9 of saddlery and harness, and 5 flour mills. Capital, Ha- vana. V. A W. county of Michigan, border- ing on Lake Michigan, and drained by the Notipeskago, Marquette, and Great and Little Sable rivers ; area, 460 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 3,263. The surface is generally level and the soil fertile. The chief productions in 1870 were 4,768 bushels of wheat, 12,261 of Indian corn, 9,457 of oats, 37,515 of potatoes, and 636 tons of hay. There were 168 horses, 273 milch cows, 520 other cattle, and 745 swine. Capital, Pere Marquette. VI. A W. county of Washington territory, having Puget sound on the E. ; area, 1,600 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 289. The Olympus and Coast mountains extend through it, and between and among them are several broad and fertile valleys. Some lum- bering is carried on. The many inlets of the sound afford good harbors. The chief produc- tions in 1870 were 1,000 bushels of oats, 2,350 of potatoes, and 412 tons of hay. The value of live stock was $14,250. Capital, Oakland. MASON, the name of a family of Virginia. The first of the family who came to North America was Col. GEORGE MASON, a member of the English parliament in the reign of Charles I. He opposed the arbitrary policy of tlie king, but resisted extreme measures against him. He was an officer in the army of Charles II., and after his defeat in Worcester in 1651 escaped to Virginia, losing all his possessions in England. His great-grandson, of the same name, about 1726 married Anne Thomson, a favorite niece of Sir William Temple, and had by her two sons and a daughter. I. George, eldest son of George Mason and Anne Thom- son, born at Doeg's Neck, in Stafford, now in Fairfax co., Va., in 1726, died in the autumn of 1792. In 1769 he drew up the non-impor- tation resolutions which were presented by Washington and adopted by the assembly of Virginia. In 1775 the convention of Virginia made him a member of the committee of safe- ty charged with the executive government of UM -"I'Miy. In 1776 he drafted the declara- tion of rights and the constitution of Virginia, which were adopted by a unanimous vote. He hnniLrht forward and carried through, in con- junction with Jefferson, a measure for the re- the old disabling acts, and for legal- i/ini: all modes of worship, releasing dissenters from parish rates. In 1777 he was elected a iiii-mla-r of the continental congress; and ten years later he was a leading member of the federal convention to frame the constitution of the United States, in which he took decided ground against all measures tending to the per- petuation of slavery. He was dissatisfied with the instrument when completed, and declined to sign it, declaring his apprehensions that it would result in a monarchy or a tyrannical aristocracy. Keturning to Virginia, he was chosen a member of the convention called to ratify or reject the federal constitution, and in conjunction with Patrick Henry he led the opposition to the constitution in that body, in- sisting upon about 20 alterations, several of which were afterward adopted by congress and the states. He was elected the first Uni- ted States senator from Virginia under the constitution, but declined to accept the office. His statue stands with those of Jefferson, Henry, and other illustrious Virginians, at the base of Crawford's colossal statue of Wash- ington in front of the capitol at Richmond. II. Thomson, younger brother of the preceding, born in 1730, died in 1785. He studied law in the Temple at London. He took strong ground against the aggressions of the British government, and as early as 1774 published a series of papers in which he maintained the duty of open resistance. The first numbers of these papers appeared under the signature of "A British American," but in the concluding one he made known his real name. In 1778 he was appointed a member of the first su- preme court of Virginia, and was soon after- ward with his brother nominated by the sen- ate one of the revisers of the laws of Virginia. In 1779 he was elected a member of the house of delegates for Elizabeth City county. He was again a member in 1783, and served as chairman of the committee on courts of jus- tice. III. Stevens Thomson, eldest son of the preceding, born in Stafford, Va., in 1760, died in Philadelphia in 1803. At the age of 20 he reached the rank of colonel in the revolution- ary army. He was a member of the Virginia convention in 1788, and of the United States senate from 1794 until his death. He was dis- tinguished for wit and eloquence. IV. Armis- tead Thomson, son of the preceding, born in Loudon co., Va., in 1787, killed Feb. 5, 1819. He served during the war of 1812 as colonel of a regiment of horse, and was sub- sequently a brigadier general of the Virginia militia. He was a member of the Virginia legislature, and in 1815-'17 of the United States senate. As it was supposed that he alone, on account of his great personal popularity, could break down the federal champion Charles Fenton Mercer, he resigned from the senate to become a candidate for the house of repre- sentatives in the district of Loudon ; but he was defeated by a small majority. The con- test was bitter, and resulted in several duels ; among them was the famous conflict in which he himself was involved with his cousin Col. John Mason McCarty, in which he was killed. He left an only child, Stevens Thomson, who