Charles Mason
Born: October 24th, 1804
Died: February 25th, 1882
Obituary
Mason, Charles - 1804-1882
His Death in this city Saturday Morning..General Expression of Public Grief and Sympathy.. A successful Business Career...Distinguished Public Services. The announcement Saturday morning of the death of Hon. Charles Mason, although not altogether unexpected, on account of his well-know feeble health, was never the less a painful surprise to many. He had only a short time previously rallied, and was able to ride out to considerable distances, but with the return of inclement weather his enfeebled constitution could no longer maintain the struggle for existence and at two o'clock Saturday morning his spirit passed away. Old age, rather than any marked disease, was the cause of death. The vital forces gradually subsided, and a long and useful career at last was closed. The funeral services will be held at his residence at two o'clock Monday afternoon, and will be conducted by Rev. R.C. McIlwain, of the Episcopal church of Keokuk, and by Rev. Wm. Salter, of the Congregational church, Burlington. The remains will be placed in the family vault on the farm two and one-half miles southwest of the city. The following gentlemen have been selected as PALL BEARERS; John C. Power, J.S. Schramm, T.W. Barhydt, Thomas Hedge, Jr., P.Henry Smyth, Mark S. Foote, R.M. Green, Richard Spencer.
Hon. Charles Mason was born in the village of Pompey, Onondaga county, New York, on October 24, 1804. He was educated in the common schools of the county, and was appointed a cadet at West Point in 1825. Among those attending West Point at the time was Jefferson Davis, late president of the southern confederacy. Among his immediate classmates were General Robert E. Lee and Rufus Mitchell. He graduated at the head of his class in 1829, and was retained by the government as professor of mathematics at West Point. At the end of two years he resigned his position and entered the law office of a Mr. Sullivan in New York city. After his admission to the bar he began the practice of the law in Newburgh, New York. Shortly afterwards he removed to New York city and became an assistant editor of the New York Evening Post, and during the absence of Mr. Bryant in Europe he had the sole editorial charge of the paper. In 18336 he left New York City and went to Wisconsin territory, where he located at Elk Grove, near Galena. In 1837 he was married to Angelica Gear, by whom he had three daughters, two of whom died many years since, the surviving one being the wife of George T. Remey, of the United States navy. Mrs. Mason died in 1873. In 1837 he was appointed by President Van Buren, United States prosecuting attorney for the territory of Wisconsin, whereupon he moved to this city which was at the time the capital of the territory. When Wisconsin was admitted into the union and Iowa was erected into a territory he was appointed chief justice of Iowa territory of President Van Buren, which position he held until the organization of the state in 1846. While on the bench his decisions were marked for their legal ability, and are quoted today as among the ablest which have been made in the state. One of the decisions the first made on this subject in the history of the country and which attracted much attention, and wide discussion at the time was as to the right of a slave to her freedom which had been brought into the territory by her master. In an able opinion Judge Mason held that the slave being brought into the free territory of the United Stats by the master was thereby made free and could not be remanded into slavery. In 1850 he was chosen by the general assembly in connection with Judge Woodward and to codify the laws of the state. In this work he displayed the same ability with which he adorned the bench. The Code of 1851 is today known to the bar and people of Iowa as "Masons Code.' In 1852, we think, he was elected first county judge under the new state, a position which he held but a short time. In 1853 he was appointed by President Pierce commissioner of patents, a position for which he was eminently qualified and which he filed with distinguished ability. In 1858, under the provisions of the constitution of 1857, he was elected a member of the first board of school commissioners of the state. He was also elected as one of the commisioners to settle the disputed boundary between Iowa and Missouri. For many years after his term of office expired he remained in Washington City being at the head of the patend law firm of Mason, Frank & Sumner. In this special department of law he achieved a national reputation as one of the leading patent lawyers of country. At one time he was the legal advisor of the Scientific American. When the Peoria and Oquawka Railway enterprise was inaugurated, (now the C.B.&Q), Judge Mason was its first president, and his influence did much toward promoting what has become one of the great commercial arteries of the country. On his return to Iowa he at once became interested in the promotion of local enterprises for the benefit of his adopted city and state. It is to him that Burlington is indebted for her magnificent system of water works. He was active in promoting the Burlington and Northwestern railway, and was its president until his failing health compelled him to retire from the position. He inaugurated the German American Savings bank of which he was president at the time of his death and was also treasurer of the school district of the city of Burlington. During his long useful life in each and all the important positions of trust he has held, the universal verdict of the people has been that the office has been filled with signal ability and lofty integrity. It is an old but trite sayin, "Nil mortuis nisibonum" Of few men can this be so truly said as it can of Charles Mason. He died in the faith of Christ and with the hope of the Christian, full of years and honor, and will long be remembered by all as one of the pioneers of the state who did much during his long life which had contributed to the growth and development of Iowa.