Inventory of the Thomas Williams Mason Papers, 1856-1919, 1943
Collection Number 5004
Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- 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, Thomas Williams, 1839-1921.
- Title
- Thomas Williams Mason Papers, 1856-1919, 1943
- Call Number
- 5004
- Language of Materials
- Materials in English
- Extent
-
- Items: About 1,500
- Linear Feet: 2.0
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Administrative Information
- Acquisitions Information
- Received from Caroline Long Tillett of Valentines, Va., in November 1999 (Acc. 98511). Additions received from James P. Beckwith, Jr., in March 2001 (Acc. 98891) and from Phil Perkinson of Norlina, N.C., in August 2005 (Acc. 100154).
- Processing Information
- Processed by: John Foster, September 2000
- Encoded by: John Foster, September 2000
- Revisions: Finding aid updated in January 2002 by Nancy Kaiser.
- Revisions: Finding aid updated in January 2006 by Nancy Kaiser.
- Preferred Citation
- [Identification of item], in the Thomas Williams Mason Papers #5004, 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.
Online Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
- Gray family.
- Gray, William Henry.
- Long family.
- Long, Willie Jones, 1892-
- Mason family.
- Mason, Thomas Williams, 1839-1921.
- Cotton growing--North Carolina.
- Cotton trade--North Carolina.
- Dry-goods--North Carolina.
- Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
- Lawyers--North Carolina--History.
- Merchants--North Carolina--History.
- Plantation owners--North Carolina.
- Plantations--North Carolina.
- Railroads--North Carolina--History--19th century.
- Roads--North Carolina.
- Northampton County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
Related Collections
-
Sally Long Jarman Papers (#4005)
Willie Jones Long Papers (#3918)
William Lunsford Long Papers (#3682)
James P. Beckwith Papers (#3853)
Biographical Note
Thomas Williams Mason was born on 3 January 1839 at the Brunswick Plantation in Brunswick County, Va. He was named for his first cousin, Nathaniel Thomas Williams, who may have been visiting Brunswick Plantation at the time. Williams gave his namesake the Huon Plantation located in Madison Parish, La., as a birthday gift.
Mason attended the University of North Carolina from 1854 to 1858. Thereafter, he studied law at the University of Virginia, receiving his degree in 1860. During this time, he paid court to Elizabeth Marshall Gray, daughter of William Henry Gray of Longview Plantation near Garysburg, N.C. They were married at Longview on 25 September 1860.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Mason sided with the Confederacy. He was commissioned a lieutenant and assigned as aide-de-camp to General Robert Ransom. Mason attained the rank of captain, seeing action at Sharpsburg, Boone's Mill, and in the Richmond line.
At the end of the war, Mason returned to his father-in-law's plantation to oversee farming operations. In 1877, he was admitted to the bar of Northampton County, N.C. Mason served terms in both houses of the North Carolina State Legislature and was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in 1894, and also ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1896. He served on the North Carolina Railroad Commission from 1891 to 1894, and, from 1885 to 1909, he was a trustee of the University of North Carolina. He was also a judge in Northampton County.
Mason fathered four children, three of whom survived to adulthood. Two of his daughters, Bettie Gray and Sallie Williams, married members of the Long family. The third daughter, Ruth, went blind in childhood and never married.
Back to TopCollection Overview
The papers of lawyer Thomas Williams Mason are divided into five series. The first series contains letters from various family members, as well as a number of letters relating to Mason's legal practice and agricultural activities in the town of Garysburg, Northampton County, N.C. It includes letters from his wife, Elizabeth Gray Mason, various cotton factors, and purveyors of dry goods, as well as some items relating to Mason's service on the North Carolina Railroad Commission. In addition, the series contains letters from various parties for whom Mason acted as a legal agent in Northampton County, principally the Petersburg Dry Goods Company. There are also several letters relating to the sale of railroad construction materials belonging to the Westcott and Trenchard Lumber Company to the Edgerton Lumber Company. These papers date from 1874 on. (Note that the bulk of Mason's earlier papers are in the Sally Long Jarman Papers (#4005).)
The second series consists of letters addressed to William Henry Gray of Longview Plantation, Northampton County, N.C. Gray was Mason's father-in-law. His papers include correspondence with various family members, cotton factors, dry-goods merchants, and grocers.
The third series contains letters addressed to Willie Jones Long, grandson Thomas Williams Mason. The correspondence relates to a bond issue and various other matters surrounding the construction of a road in Occoneechee Township, N.C.
The fourth series contains receipts and other documents relating to the cotton farming enterprises of Thomas Williams Mason and William Henry Gray. Included are receipts and bills from various cotton factors, purveyors of dry goods, dealers in farm products, and records of cotton production and sales.
The fifth series consists of a single photograph depicting a large cabinet flanked by the coats of arms of the Mason and Smith families.
Back to TopArrangement of Collection
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1. Thomas Williams Mason Correspondence and Related Papers
2. William Henry Gray Correspondence
3. Willie Jones Long Letters
4. Thomas Williams Mason and William Henry Gray Financial Papers
5. Picture
Items Separated
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Picture (P-5004/1)
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Detailed Description of the Collection
1. Thomas Williams Mason Correspondence and Related Papers, 1874-1918.
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2. William Henry Gray Correspondence, 1856-1885.
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3. Willie Jones Long Letters, 1917-1919, 1943.
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4. Thomas Williams Mason and William Henry Gray Financial Papers, 1873-1919.
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5. Picture, 1918.
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