Seventh Generation (Continued)
Family of John Mason (583) & Mary Haven

1099. Laura Mason (John6, Thaddeus5, Benjamin4, Joseph3, Joseph2, Hugh1). Born Sullivan, N. H., on 16 Dec 1801. Died Dalton, N. H., on 6 Sep 1887. Residence: Granby, Vt., Lancaster and Dublin, N. H. Data from Mason.

SML Comment: Residence at Dublin probably should read Dalton.

She married Elijah Baker, son of Jonathan Baker & Sarah Holt, on 9 Feb 1826 in Sullivan, N. H. Married by Rev. William Muzzy. Born Sullivan, N. H., on 20 Oct 1800. Died Dalton, N. H., on 15 Feb 1887. Data from Mason.

They had the following children:
i.  Son. Died infancy. Data from Mason.
ii.  Mary Jane. Born Granby, Vt., on 16 Jun 1829. Died Bethel, Maine, on 8 Oct 1890. Data from Mason. No children.
She married Rev. David Garland, son of Deacon John Garland & Ann Parsons, on 17 Dec 1867. Born Newfield, Maine, on 18 Mar 1815. Died Bethel, Maine, on 16 Oct 1887. Data from Mason.

Rev. David Garland graduated Amherst College, 1843, Andover Theological Seminary, 1846. He was settled at Sweden, Maine, Woburn, Mass., and over the Second Congregational Church of Bethel, Maine, where he was taken ill in the pulpit and suddenly died. He was installed pastor there, August 15, 1849. Married Mary as (2) wife.
iii.  Joanna. Born Granby, Vt., on 17 May 1832. Data from Mason.
She married William S. Crouch, on 19 Jan 1854. Died Dalton, N. H., on 22 Jun 1884. Data from Mason.
iv.  Emily (Twin). Born Lancaster, N. H., on 16 Jan 1835. Data from Mason.
v.  Ellen (Twin). Born Lancaster, N. H., on 16 Jan 1835. Data from Mason.
vi.  Sarah (Twin). Born Dalton, N. H., on 18 Jul 1838. Data from Mason.
She married Herbert Griswold, on 29 Aug 1863. Died Dalton, N. H., on 16 Dec 1880. Data from Mason.
vii.  Laura R. (Twin). Born Dalton, N. H., on 18 Jul 1838. Data from Mason.

1100. Mary Haven Mason (John6, Thaddeus5, Benjamin4, Joseph3, Joseph2, Hugh1). Born Dublin, N. H., on 21 Aug 1806. Died Lancaster, N. H., on 5 Nov 1903. Residence: Lancaster, N. H. Data from Mason.

She married Seth Adams, son of Benjamin Adams & Sarah Lamb, on 18 Mar 1841. Born Lancaster, N. H., on 17 Feb 1805. Died Lancaster, N. H., on 14 Jul 1883. Data from Mason.

They had the following children:
i.  George M.. Born Lancaster, N. H., on 7 May 1846. Died Oklahoma on 28 Mar 1905. Data from Mason. No children.
He married Caroline or Esther Buzzell. Data from Mason.
1662 ii.  Harlan Perry (1848-1892)

1101. John Mason Jr. (John6, Thaddeus5, Benjamin4, Joseph3, Joseph2, Hugh1). Born Dublin, N. H., on 20 Oct 1810. Died East Westmoreland, N. H., on 1 Oct 1896. Residence: Lancaster, Sullivan, Keene, Westmoreland and East Westmoreland, N. H. Data from Mason.

He married Matilda Wilson, daughter of James Wilson & Sally Rider, on 24 Jan 1832 in Dublin, N. H. Married by L. Leonard. Born Plattsburg, N. Y., on 24 Feb 1810. Died East Westmoreland, N. H., on 2 May 1887. Data from Mason. 

They had the following children:
i.  John Wilson. Born Lancaster, N. H., on 23 Mar 1837. Died Keene, N. H., on 6 May 1855. Unmarried. Data from Mason.
1663 ii.  James Bracket (1839->1912)
iii.  Harriet Adams. Born Lancaster, N. H., on 19 Oct 1841. Died Keene, N. H., on 16 Dec 1853. Data from Mason.
1664 iv.  Emily Haven (1844-1881)
v.  George Oren. Born Sullivan, N. H., on 5 May 1847. Died East Westmoreland, N. H., on 3 Dec 1884. Unmarried. Data from Mason.
He was an artist and a mineralogist.
1665 vi.  Ellen Matilda (1849-)

1102. Hon. David Haven Mason (John6, Thaddeus5, Benjamin4, Joseph3, Joseph2, Hugh1). Born Sullivan, N. H., on 17 Mar 1818. Baptized Newton, Mass., on 29 May 1873. Data from Mason.

Hon. D. H. Mason graduated at Dartmouth College, 1841, read law at Lancaster, Boston, and the Dane Law School, was admitted to the bar 1843 and practiced law in Boston.
His career presents an example of the success of a self-made man. By his own efforts, rigid economy, without wealthy and influential friends, he procured means for his college and professional education, going to Boston, a stranger in the city, to practice his profession. After securing his office and purchasing the necessary office furniture and a few law books, he had twenty-five cents left. But by energy, industry and close attention to business and fidelity to his clients, he soon had a lucrative practice, and by his many honorable and genial traits of character gathered a large circle of friends.
Later he entered public life, and by the various offices whose functions he discharged with admirable judgment and success, made his influence felt, as a public benefactor in Newton, Boston, and throughout the Commonwealth. Some of the most important and useful public improvements of the period when he was in active service owe their origin and their successful achievement to his wisdom in planning and his skill in execution.
He was a resident of Newton for twenty-five years, and early won the confidence of his fellow citizens, an active and influential member of the House of Representatives, 1863, 1866, 1867. During the Civil War he showed the most devoted patriotism, and his tongue and pen were never wanting to the exigencies of any occasion. He was a friend of the poor, and mindful of his own early struggles he was always ready with his advice and influence to encourage and help young men prepare themselves for places of usefulness and honor. He declined the honor of being a candidate for the senatorship which he was urged to accept, on account of the claims of his profession.
He frequently wrote able articles for the most influential journals, advocating public improvements, and adapted to guide and lead public opinion on points involving the pecuniary, business or educational interests in Boston, Newton, and the Commonwealth.
In 1857 he was invited to deliver the oration at New London, Conn., at the Celebration of American Independence. The papers of that city, without distinction of party, spoke of the oration as "a sound, able and patriotic production, beautifully written and very effectively delivered." On a similar occasion in Boston he was invited to read the Declaration of Independence, and performed that service, according to the journal of the following day, "in a forcible and truthful manner, and the audience warmly evinced their approbation."
In 1859 be was the orator of the day at the Celebration of 83d Anniversary of Independence at Newton Centre, and his oration gave great satisfaction to the auditory. It was marked by careful research and sound judgment, and replete with noble sentiment and lofty eloquence.
July 14, 1864, he delivered the address at the Centennial Anniversary of the town of Lancaster, N. H., a very interesting production, which was afterwards printed.
While a member of the House of Representatives he attended to the business of the Commonwealth with great fidelity, and won the reputation of being one of the best debaters in that honorable body. He watched every measure that came before the Legislature, and brought the whole weight of his influence in favor of every useful project, and by his integrity and conscientious adhesion to the right made himself a power among his associates. His speeches before the Legislature or Committees of the Legislature, on the consolidation of the Western and the Boston and Worcester R. R. corporations, on equalizing the bounties of the soldiers on the adoption of the Fourteenth Article of Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, on making the Milldam free of toll, and on the levelling of Fort Hill, and thus add immensely to the business facilities of Boston, as well as to its taxable properties, are specimens of the efforts to which he proved himself pre-eminently a public benefactor.
In regard to the last of these projects, one of the daily journals of Boston said: "The credit of engineering the matter (Fort Hill improvement) through the Legislature, and reducing the details to a practical working level, is due to D. H. Mason, Esq., whose efforts in bringing to an adjustment the long-contested Brighton Bridge case and the prominent part he has taken as counsel for R. R. Corporation before the Legislature, has caused him to be regarded as one of the most eminent and successful counsel that appear before that body. This enterprise was entrusted to him, and the many difficulties that stood in the way were, by his untiring energy, all removed, and Boston will soon reap the advantage of having wide and well-graded business streets, in place of narrow lanes leading to crowded tenement houses."
On the action of the Municipal and State authorities in removing the toll gates from the Milldam Road, and making the great thoroughfare free to the public, the same journal said: "It is but just that it should be known that the credit of this is due principally to the persistent efforts of David H. Mason, Esq., of Newton, who for several years has given attention to this matter, presenting its importance before successive legislative committees with uniform success, and from time to time procuring the required legislation, until at last the public enjoy the great privilege secured."
In 1860, Mr. Mason was appointed to the Massachusetts Board of Education, of which for several years he was a very efficient member. No demands of his private business were permitted at any time to interfere with his obligations to the State in this department of service. It was to him a labor of love, and he loved the labor.
Mr. Mason was also deeply interested in sustaining the high character of the schools in the town of Newton. In an account of the exercises at the dedication of the High School building at Newtonville, one of the journals of the day wrote as follows: "It would not be invidious to the other friends of the enterprise to say that to Mr. Mason, perhaps more than to anyone else, is the town indebted for the consummation of the enterprise. For three years he has devoted to it his time and energies. Through his, eloquent appeals and forcible arguments he has overcome a persistent opposition, and in its darkest hours, when its firmest friends were almost tempted to despair, his voice was lifted in tones of startling eloquence, till success crowned his efforts. And the enthusiasm with which his name and his speech were received showed that this was not the hour of his pride alone, but the pride of his friends for him."
The Mason School of Newton Centre was named for him, as an honorary testimonial to his interest in the cause of education.
Allusion has been made to Mr. Mason's patriotic spirit. During the War of 1861-1865 he was unmeasured in his zeal to preserve the country and its free institutions unharmed and to stimulate his fellow citizens to all right and noble efforts. A notable instance of this occurred in an emergency in the war, when a large and enthusiastic meeting of citizens was held in the town hall of Newton. The design of the meeting was to take measures for equipping one or more companies of volunteer militia, and to take further measures for the support and comfort of the families of such as should be called into service. Mr. Mason offered a series of resolutions, which lie supported with eloquent and patriotic remarks. Ile attended a previous meeting where the patriotic men of the town expressed themselves as willing to sacrifice everything for the cause of their country; but the present meeting was one where prudence and calm judgment should rule the hour. The minds of men should not, in their enthusiasm, be carried beyond the proper line of duty; while they are willing to give of their substance, judgment and discretion should so guide their actions, that while everything needed should be given unsparingly, nothing should be wasted. "Millions of gold and rivers of blood will not compare with the influence of this question; for on its solution hang the hopes of civil liberty and civilization throughout the world for ages to come. Let it not be said that we, of this generation, have been unfaithful to the high and holy trust."
The resolutions were unanimously adopted.
December 22, 1870, Mr. Mason was appointed to the office of U. S. District Attorney for Massachusetts in place of Hon. George S. Hilliard, resigned. The names of several able lawyers were pressed for this appointment, but Mr. Mason was nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate above all competitors, his appointment being regarded as a strong one for the Government, and highly acceptable to the people and the bar of Massachusetts.
While Mr. Mason administered this, his last public office, some very important and celebrated cases were decided by the Court which evinced the attorney's wisdom, sagacity, legal knowledge and acumen. It is enough to say that he discharged the duties of his position to the entire satisfaction of the Government and his friends, and his methods often won the highest commendation. (Reference, History of Newton, Mass.)

He married Sarah Wilson White, daughter of John Haven White & Rozanna Robinson, on 16 Jun 1845. Born Lancaster, N. H., on 23 Jun 1822. Died Yonkers, N. Y., on 11 Mar 1906. Data from Mason.

They had the following children:
1666 i.  Edward Haven (1848-1917)
ii.  Elizabeth Amelia White. Born Newton Centre, Mass., on 7 Apr 1853. Died Newton Centre, Mass., on 26 Aug 1864. Data from Mason.
1667 iii.  Henry White (1857-1929)
1668 iv.  Frank Atlee (1862-)
1669 v.  Mabel White (1867-)

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