Mason, R. B. (Richard Barnes), 1797-1850

Richard Barnes Mason, born in Virginia in 1797, was a Colonel in the United States Army when he arrived in 1847 in California to succeed Kearny as military governor. He was made a Brigadier General in 1848, and retained his position as governor until February 1849. He died of cholera in St. Louis in 1850.

From the description of Richard Barnes Mason papers, 1847-1848. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 26657368

Richard Barnes Mason (1797-1850) was a great-grandson of George Mason (1725-1792), the noted Virginia statesman of the Revolutionary era. Richard Barnes Mason rapidly advanced in the ranks of the army, being commissioned in 1817 as a second lieutenant and serving as captain of the 1st Infantry in the Black Hawk War (1832). Mason moved on, as lieutenant colonel, to take part in the conquest of New Mexico and California at the outset of the Mexican War. He then became the first military and civil governor of California, a post that he held until 1849.

George Mason ( - ), the brother of Richard Barnes Mason, remained in Virginia, occupied with the affairs of "Gunston Hall," the large Mason estate, built by his great-grandfather.

From the description of Papers, 1815-1824. (American Antiquarian Society). WorldCat record id: 191259519