Inventory of the John Y. Mason Papers, 1843-1898

Collection Number 1546


Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Collection Information
Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Online Catalog Headings
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Contact Information:
Manuscripts Department
CB#3926, Wilson Library
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
Phone: 919/962-1345
Fax: 919/962-3594
Email: mss@email.unc.edu
URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/
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Descriptive Summary

Repository
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Creator
Mason, John Y. (John Young), 1799-1859.
Title
John Y. Mason Papers, 1843-1898.
Call Number
1546
Language of Materials
Materials in English
Extent
About 1,500 items (1.0 linear foot and 1 reel microfilm).
Abstract
John Young Mason, from Greensville County, Va., graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1816. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia, 1831-1837; served as secretary of the Navy, 1844-1845 and 1846-1849; was attorney general of the United States, March 1845-September 1846; and served as United States minister plenipotentiary to France, 1854-1859. Personal and professional correspondence of John Young Mason and of members of his family. Original items are chiefly letters addressed to Mason, secretary of the Navy, 1844-1849, mostly about such matters as gaining government employment and routine naval operations. There are also letters about various political matters, and letters from managers of Virginia plantations that Mason owned, Day's Neck and Fortsville; from Simon Fraser Blunt describing San Francisco and other places in California; and to Mason's daughter Emily and her husband, Robert Jones Barksdale, about finances and family matters. Typed transcriptions on microfilm consist chiefly of family correspondence of Mason, his wife, Mary Ann Fort Mason, their children, members of the families of the spouses of their children, and cousins. These letters relate primarily to family news and activities on Mason's plantations. There also are scattered professional letters to Mason and letters from John Y. Mason Junior, a purser in the Navy, from China, Europe, California, and Hawaii, 1845-1851; from Lewis E. Mason, managing a plantation in Coahoma County, Miss., 1840s; and from St. George Tucker Mason, with the French Army after the Civil War.


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Administrative Information

Processing Information
Processed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Additional Descriptive Resources
A more complete finding aid for this collection is available at the Southern Historical Collection.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the John Y. Mason Papers, #1546, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Barksdale, Emily Mason.
Barksdale, Robert Jones.
Blunt, Simon Fraser.
Cabinet officers--United States--History--19th century.
California--Description and travel.
China--Description and travel.
Coahoma County (Miss.)--History.
Day's Neck Plantation (Va.)
Europe--Description and travel.
Family--Virginia--Social life and customs.
Fortsville Plantation (Va.)
France. Armée--History--19th century.
Hawaii--Description and travel.
Mason family.
Mason, John Y. (John Young), 1799-1859.
Mason, John Young, fl. 1845-1851.
Mason, Lewis E., fl. 1840.
Mason, Mary Ann Fort.
Mason, St. George Tucker.
Plantations--Management.
Plantations--Mississippi.
Plantations--Virginia.
San Francisco (Calif.)--Description and travel.
United States--Politics and government--1841-1845.
United States--Politics and government--1845-1849.
United States. Navy Dept.--History--19th century.
United States. Navy Dept.--Officials and employees--Selection and appointment--History--19th century.
United States. Navy--Sea life--History--19th century.
Voyages and travels--History--19th century.
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Biographical Note

John Young Mason, from Greensville County, Va., graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1816. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia, 1831-1837; served as secretary of the Navy, 1844-1845 and 1846-1849; was attorney general of the United States, March 1845-September 1846; and served as United States minister plenipotentiary to France, 1854-1859.

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Collection Overview

Personal and professional correspondence of John Young Mason and of members of his family. Original items are chiefly letters addressed to Mason, secretary of the Navy, 1844-1849, mostly about such matters as gaining government employment and routine naval operations. There are also letters about various political matters, and letters from managers of Virginia plantations that Mason owned, Day's Neck and Fortsville; from Simon Fraser Blunt describing San Francisco and other places in California; and to Mason's daughter Emily and her husband, Robert Jones Barksdale, about finances and family matters. Typed transcriptions on microfilm consist chiefly of family correspondence of Mason, his wife, Mary Ann Fort Mason, their children, members of the families of the spouses of their children, and cousins. These letters relate primarily to family news and activities on Mason's plantations. There also are scattered professional letters to Mason and letters from John Y. Mason Junior, a purser in the Navy, from China, Europe, California, and Hawaii, 1845-1851; from Lewis E. Mason, managing a plantation in Coahoma County, Miss., 1840s; and from St. George Tucker Mason, with the French Army after the Civil War.

Series A. 600 original items; Series B. Microfilm of typed transcriptions of 900 items.