I believe William Mason was Charles Mason's brother.
After my parent passed, I found myself with boxes of family memorabilia. I am hoping this blog will allow me to upload much of what I have, photos, news-clippings, and the like. Hopefully you will find something meaningful for your family's heritage; something you can download and save. I also hope this will provide another way to store my family's history for those who come after us.
Friday, November 4, 2011
William Camm and Maria Mason
I'll have to add more about William Camm when I can find my documents. I recall he was known for a taking photo of Lincoln.
Charles Mason Tintype Photo
Once a dry well now overflows...
I think much of my work here began several years ago, before my father died. I was recalling the Todd family history. It's kept in this cool little book that several of the Todd side of our family put together several decades ago. It goes back to the American Revolution and an ancestor of ours with a sir name of Todd. It ties into our side of the family by listing Don Mason and Shirley Lattanzi (she was a Mason then, I believe).
I found myself wondering about the Mason name and why I did not know of any it's history. Where did we come from? Were we related to anyone famous? That sort of thing.
On a whim I began researching information on my grandfather, Robert Corwin Mason. I eventually discovered that my great grandfather was Robert Luther Mason, that my great great grandfather was also Robert Mason. He served in the Civil War. My great, great, great grandfather was Charles Mason, who emigrated from England. Yet all I had was speculation and spotty research work.
So I posted on a genealogy website, wondering if anyone could steer my in the right direction - and received this reply two days later...
Hi Rob,
My gig grandmother was Francis (Fannie) Mason Argust. She was Robert's sister.
Robert's parents were Charles Mason and Elizabeth Scarth.
Charles and Elizabeth were both born in England (I also think they were from Yorkshire).
Charles and Elizabeth were married April 16, 1838 in Morgan county, IL. - Information from Morgan County, IL marriages Vol. I (1824-1839) page 25
333*
Elizabeth was born in 1814 and died Sept. 18, 1878.
Charles was born Jan. 10, 1812 and died Nov. 3, 1897 Your grandfather Robert was born Mar. 8, 1841 and died June 1, 1921
My gig grandmother moved back to her father's farm after the death of her husband Ben Argust. On the 1880 census, John Argust, Fannie's oldest son was listed as living with Robert and Mary Mason at their farm. From the census, Charles' and Robert's farms were next to each other.
I have been to the Winchester cemetery. Their graves are in the old part of the cemetery. The first time I was there, the stones were not in too bad of shape. The last time I was there, some of the stones had really deteriorated.
There is a small library in Winchester that has a good local genealogy section. I found alot of useful information there.
My gig grandmother left some family genealogy to my grandfather. Since I am the only one in the family interested in family history, it is now mine. I have a copy of Robert's obit. If you are interested, I can scan the obit and send it to you. I also have a tintype of Robert and Mary Owing Mason.
I have tintype and pictures of Charles, Mrs. Charles Mason, Elmer and Luther Mason. I will be more than glad to send copies of these picture.
Happy Hunting,
Your cousin,
Karen Taylor
Wow! I suddenly had discovered not only a wealth of information, but a long lost cousin - with photos!!
Karen and I corresponded and we traded photos.
My dusty history that threatened monotony had just become interesting...
I found myself wondering about the Mason name and why I did not know of any it's history. Where did we come from? Were we related to anyone famous? That sort of thing.
On a whim I began researching information on my grandfather, Robert Corwin Mason. I eventually discovered that my great grandfather was Robert Luther Mason, that my great great grandfather was also Robert Mason. He served in the Civil War. My great, great, great grandfather was Charles Mason, who emigrated from England. Yet all I had was speculation and spotty research work.
So I posted on a genealogy website, wondering if anyone could steer my in the right direction - and received this reply two days later...
Hi Rob,
My gig grandmother was Francis (Fannie) Mason Argust. She was Robert's sister.
Robert's parents were Charles Mason and Elizabeth Scarth.
Charles and Elizabeth were both born in England (I also think they were from Yorkshire).
Charles and Elizabeth were married April 16, 1838 in Morgan county, IL. - Information from Morgan County, IL marriages Vol. I (1824-1839) page 25
333*
Elizabeth was born in 1814 and died Sept. 18, 1878.
Charles was born Jan. 10, 1812 and died Nov. 3, 1897 Your grandfather Robert was born Mar. 8, 1841 and died June 1, 1921
My gig grandmother moved back to her father's farm after the death of her husband Ben Argust. On the 1880 census, John Argust, Fannie's oldest son was listed as living with Robert and Mary Mason at their farm. From the census, Charles' and Robert's farms were next to each other.
I have been to the Winchester cemetery. Their graves are in the old part of the cemetery. The first time I was there, the stones were not in too bad of shape. The last time I was there, some of the stones had really deteriorated.
There is a small library in Winchester that has a good local genealogy section. I found alot of useful information there.
My gig grandmother left some family genealogy to my grandfather. Since I am the only one in the family interested in family history, it is now mine. I have a copy of Robert's obit. If you are interested, I can scan the obit and send it to you. I also have a tintype of Robert and Mary Owing Mason.
I have tintype and pictures of Charles, Mrs. Charles Mason, Elmer and Luther Mason. I will be more than glad to send copies of these picture.
Happy Hunting,
Your cousin,
Karen Taylor
Wow! I suddenly had discovered not only a wealth of information, but a long lost cousin - with photos!!
Karen and I corresponded and we traded photos.
My dusty history that threatened monotony had just become interesting...
Beginning
The idea was easy; the implementing it is another matter. I was hoping to simply plop material into sections or folders. I now think it will work best for me to upload material one at a time; each having it's own description text. At some point I'll add a search engine to make searching easier.
If you have any suggestions on your experience here and or suggestions on how to better this blog, please let me know.
If you have any suggestions on your experience here and or suggestions on how to better this blog, please let me know.
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