Major John Mason was born in England ca. 1601. He was a lieutenant in the English army in the wars of the Netherlands, with his friend and companion-in-arms, Lord Thomas Fairfax, who was in General Horace de Vere's command at the siege of Bois-le-Duc from April to July, or about five months in 1630.
He came to America "with other officers and many gentlemen of wealth and distinction," when the movement became general under the Charter of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England.
Mason was stationed at Dorchester in December of 1632, in an official capacity under the commission of the Governor of Massachusetts, and was also a deputy from that town to the General Court. In September 1634 he was a member of a board appointed to plan the fortifications of Boston Harbour, and was especially in charge of the erection of the works on Castle Island, one of the most important points. (Fort Independence).
His life in this country was passed in the following positions of honour and trust:
- Lieutenant & Captain at Boston & Dorchester for several years.
- Conqueror of the Pequots, Magistrate & Major at Windsore, twelve years
- Commandant of the Fort & Commissioner of the United Colonies at Saybrook, twelve years.
- Deputy-Governor & Assistant at Norwich, twelve years.
- Commander-in-Chief of the Connecticut forces- rank corresponding to major-general and retained the position for the remainder of his life, thirty-five years.
John Mason was one of the patentees and named therein Deputy-Governor of the colonial charter of 1662, granted by King Charles II, confirming to the "Governor and Company of the English Colony of Connecticut in New England in America" the title and jurisdiction of all the territory conveyed to the Earl of Warwick.
He prepared, at the request of the General Court of Connecticut, an account of the Pequot War, which was published by Mather in 1677, and reprinted from the original by Mr. Thomas Prince in 1735 in more complete form, with the prefaces and some explanatory notes.
The state of Connecticut erected in 1889 a statue to commemorate the successful expedition of Major Mason and his command in 1637. It stands on the crest of Pequot Hill, near the west bank of the Mystic river, within a short distance of the location of the Indian fort captured and destroyed.
The inscription on the panelled base is:
Erected A.D. 1889, by the state of Connecticut, to Commemorate the Heroic Achievement of Major John Mason and His Comrades, Who Near This Spot, in 1637, Overthrew the Pequot Indians and Preserved the Settlements from Destruction.
"Major Mason was in person tall and portly, and in manner dignified. He was wise and prompt in planning and energetic in executing, as a commander brave and self-reliant; and was equally distinguished for the purity of his morals and for his fearlessness in defending and maintaining the right."
He married, in July, 1640, Miss Anne Peck, who was born in 1619, the daughter of the Rev. Robert Peck of Hingham, Norfolk, England. She died before him in Norwich, CT. Major John Mason died January 30, 1672 in Norwich, CT of which town he was a founder, and one of the largest proprietors in that countryside, and was there buried. The tradtional place of his burial is at Bean Hill, near the south side of the Post Road.
Children:
- Priscilla b. Oct. 1641 in Windsor, CT, md. in Oct. 1664 Rev. James Fitch of Norwich as his second wife, d. ca. 1714
- Samuel b. July 1644 at Windsor
- John b. Aug. 1646 at Windsor
- Rachel b. Oct. 1648 at Saybrook, md. June 12, 1678 Charles Hill of New London, d. April 4, 1679
- Anne b. June 1650 at Saybrook, md. Nov. 8, 1672, Captain John Browne of Swansey, MA.
- Daniel b. April 1652 at Saybrook
- Elizabeth b. Aug. 1654 at Saybrook, md. Jan. 1, 1676, Major James Fitch, eldest son of Rev. James Fitch and his first wife Abigail Whitfield, d. Oct. 8, 1684. Her older sister Priscilla became her step-mother-in-law . . .
Extracts from Theodore West's Family Record in Our Line of Descent from Major John Mason of Norwich, Connecticut
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