Mason, Stevens Thomson, 1811-1843

Stevens Thomson Mason was born in Virginia (October 27, 1811) and educated in Kentucky where his father had emigrated in 1812. In 1830, his father, John Mason, was appointed secretary of the Territory of Michigan by President Andrew Jackson. He resigned a year later and left for Texas and Mexico perhaps on a mission for the president. In his place, Jackson named the nineteen year old Stevens Mason to the vacant secretariat, taking his oath of office on July 25, 1831. As secretary Mason was also ex-officio governor during the absence of then Governor Porter. With Porter's death, July 6, 1834, Mason became acting governor. Here he led the movement for statehood and prosecuted the boundary dispute with Ohio. He was elected governor in his own right on November 3, 1835, serving two terms, leaving office on January 7, 1840. His administration was plagued by financial difficulties brought on by the Panic of 1837 bringing to a halt many internal improvements projects that had been anticipated. Mason did not run for a third term, instead retired from politics, moving to New York where he practiced law. He died January 4, 1843.

From the guide to the Stevens Thomson Mason Papers, 1827-1842, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)

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