John Alfred Mason 1855 - 1930
John Alfred Mason , Born in Batley Carr, Yorkshire, he attended the local schools until the age of nine, when unable to resist the smell of printer's ink, he became an apprentice to the trade and served his "master without compensation during his bound period". Eventually, he received the munificent wage of three shillings a week and at the end of four years he was receiving four shillings per week. By then, he was thirteen years old, and held a vision of the opportunities in the New World. He came to the United States (arr. Helvetia arr. 14 Aug 1868) and settled in Newburgh, Orange Cnty., where he gained employment at a printing firm. A year later, he moved to Goshen, and went to work for Herbert P. Kimber. (Apprentice printer 1870 in the household of Herbert Kimber). By now, his salary was twenty dollars per month, plus his board. While working for Mr. Kimber he managed to save two hundred dollars, half the amount needed for one year's tuition at the Hudson River Institute at Claverack, New York. He undertook to do the school's printing for a period in lieu of having to pay the full tuition fees and was accepted into the school. By the end of the year, he was a writer and printer on the Portchester (New York) Journal, where he stayed for eight months. He then returned to Newburgh, to take up the editorship of the Newburgh Mail, a recently established daily paper. Later he founded the Newburgh Daily Register (in 1876?), with his old friend and employer, Herbert Kimber. Together, in 1886, they merged the Register and Mail under the name Newburgh Register and the paper became the leading Democratic medium in Orange County. On Mr. Kimber's death, Mason became the sole owner of the paper. Mason married Georgiana L. Niver in 1877 in Newburgh. By this time, Mason was active politically and in 1879, became a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors from the Second Ward of Newburgh, where he turned a Republican stronghold into a Democratic ward, a swing of 497 votes. Later that year, he was elected one of the three delegates from the First Assembly District of Orange County to the Democratic State Convention at Syracuse, New York. At the 1880 census, he gave his occupation as editor. Mason was either a delegate in, or an officer of every Democratic State Convention from 1879 to 1914, when that assembly was abolished. During this period he rose to a position of great influence within the party. In the State campaign of 1895, he was chairman of the executive committee of the New York State Democratic Committee and served as secretary and executive member of the Democratic State Committee in successive years. In recognition, in 1885, at the request of President Cleveland, Mason was appointed deputy collector of customs at the Port of New York. At this point, the Mason family moved from Newburgh to New York City. In 1889, Mason resigned this post, and turned again to the newspaper world. He took over the Harlem Local Reporter (founded 1873) and continued to publish and edit the Newburgh Register until 1891, when it was sold. Meanwhile, political honours continued to flow in, with the appointment, in 1892, as a member of the New York State Board of Assessors. Retaining this post until 1896, he was the means of marked changes in the method of assessing the State tax, accomplishing a two million dollar saving for the City of New York alone. [there is an entry in the New York City Directory, 1890 "Mason John A. h 165 W. 129th"] In 1893, he moved to The Bronx. In 1895, Mason was Chairman of New York State Democratic Committee, and by the end of the year was appointed as collector for internal revenue for the Second District, again by President Cleveland. He held this post until 1898. The 1900 census gives his occupation as newspaper editor. In 1901, after a fire which destroyed the premises of the Harlem Local Reporter, Mason left the newspaper field for good. The next year, 1902, Mason was appointed to a position in the Bronx Borough Government, under President Louis F. Haffen. After the New York State campaign in 1910, in which he was the executive officer of the State Committee, he accepted the post of Private Secretary to Governor John Alden Dix (1860-1928), which he held throughout the Governor's term, until 1912. "DIX NAMES DE KAY MILITARY SECRETARY; Governor-Elect Also Chooses John A. Mason as His Private Secretary. PERMISSIONS Special to The New York Times. (); December 10, 1910, , Section , Page 1, Column" In 1913, Mason became Commissioner of Jurors in Bronx County resigning in 1928 due to ill-health. Of 421 East 139th Street, New York City, May 9, 1913 in 1913. John A. Mason was a vestryman and warden of St Ann's Protestant Episcopal Church of Morrisania, NYC (also known as the Church of the Patriots). and was Exhorter in the Methodist Church "For a quarterly or a district conference (by licence (renewal) of St. John's in Newburgh District of New York, 18 Mar 1881)". Address at death: 1974 University Avenue, The Bronx. In Newburgh, New York Directories, 1889-92, he is listed in 1889 and 1890 as "John A. Mason Newburgh Daily Register; Mason, Moffat & Tucker proprietor 54 Second 165 W. 129th street, New York Newburgh NY In the same directory in 1889,90, their printing house is listed in the same street and the other proprietors as Almet S. Moffat (also an editor - his other address at Lincoln Flats, 199 Lander) and John F.Tucker (local editor- other address 15 Smith) In 1890/1, it appears Mason sold his share to Francis A. Willard, who is described as business manager, Willard, Moffat and Tucker, Daily Register where before it was Mason Moffat and Tucker, Daily Register. In 1892, Moffat also disappears from the name of the paper. The same directory has a listing for John M. Pollock, the Harlem Local Reporter, N.Y.C. Newburgh, 1890. Sources: for this directory are: Ancestry.com Newburgh, New York Directories, 1889-92. [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2000. Original data: Newburgh, NY, 1889. Newburgh, NY: L. P. Waite & Co., 1889. Newburgh, NY, 1890. Newburgh, NY: L. P. Waite & Co., 1890. Newburgh, NY, 1891. Newburgh, NY: L. P. Waite & Co., 1891. Newburgh, NY, 1892. Newburgh, NY: L. P. Waite & Co., 1892. BMD Ref. June qtr 1855 Dewsbury 9b 314 For more info. on St. Ann's Episcopal Church - http://www.st-anns-church.org/ A Hudson Mason was born GRO ref. Mar 1853 Dewsbury 9b 477 1920 census records him as government juror - city. As Alfred aged 54 Naturalised: Court of Common Pleas New York, 1892, liv. Orange. Ellis Island records: With his wife: Mason, John A. December 23, 1904 49y M Baltic Liverpool, England, UK A U.S. citizen Address: 679 East 139 St., NY City Page # 0096 Manifest for Baltic Sailing from Liverpool Name Gender Age Married Ethnicity Place of Residence 0020. Mason, John A. M 49y 0021. Mason, Georgie L. M 44y First Name: J. A. Last Name: Mason Ethnicity: U. S. America Last Place of Residence: Date of Arrival: Jun 08, 1907 Age at Arrival: 52 Gender: M Marital Status: Ship of Travel: Saint Louis Port of Departure: Southampton Manifest Line Number: 0027 0027. Mason, J. A. M 52 U. S. America 0028. Mason, F 50 U. S. America 0029. Mason, H. N. M 25 U. S. America Mason, John A United States Citizen September 05, 1909 54y M M Baltic Liverpool, England, UK A U.S. citizen Journalist (1910). 1912 He, his wife and son arrived on the Lusitania through Ellis Island. He was naturalised Infonoe Court, Orange Cnty, NY 1876. Address in 1912 421 E, 139 st., NY City First Name: John A. Last Name: Mason Ethnicity: Last Place of Residence: Bronx, NY Date of Arrival: Aug 13, 1914 Age at Arrival: 59y Gender: M Marital Status: M Ship of Travel: Baltic Port of Departure: Liverpool Manifest Line Number: 0030 0030. Mason, John A. M 59y M Bronx, NY 1st April 1930 census: 1974-8 University Ave. covered by Bronx District nos. 110,161,162,163,169,170. 1930 census: Mason, John A Age: 74 Year: 1930 Birthplace: England Roll: T626_1485 Race: White Page: 31B State: New York ED: 585 County: Bronx Township: Bronx Relationship: Head There with his wife.
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| Born: Batley Carr, Yorkshire, England1 6th May 1855 | Baptised:
| | Died: The Bronx, New York, NY, USA 16th Jul 1930 | Buried: Newburgh, Orange County, NY, USA 19th Jul 1930
| | Family: Mason formerly of Yorkshire |
Sources
- Family Archivists: see
Mason formerly of Yorkshire - [1] Birth certificate:
- [2] John Alfred Mason Georgiana L. Niver Newburgh New York City Clerk City of Newburgh Newburgh New York NY 12550
Census
- 1861 census (son - 112 Lidgate, Batley Carr, Yorkshire, England)
- 1870 census (member of household - Goshen, Goshen, Orange Cnty, NY, )
- 1880 census (head of household - 145 Lander Street, District 3, Newburgh, Orange County, NY, USA)
- 1900 census (head of household - 679 East 109th Street, The Bronx, New York, NY, USA)
- 1910 census (head of household - 139th St the Bronx, New York, , NY, USA)
- 1920 census (head of household - 1974 University Avenue, The Bronx, New York, NY, USA)
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Timeline
| 6th May 1855 | Born (birth) Batley Carr, Yorkshire, England | | 1861 | Son in 1861 census (census) Batley Carr, Yorkshire, England | | 14th Aug 1868 | PASL/ROLE PASSE New York, NY, USA | | 1870 | Member of household in 1870 census (census) Goshen, Orange Cnty, NY | | 28th Sep 1876 | NATU/ROLE APPL Orange County NY USA | | 27th Feb 1877 | Married Georgiana (Georgie) L. Niver
(Mason ) 1856 - 1948 (marriage) Newburgh, Orange County, NY, USA | | 1st Jun 1880 | Head of household in 1880 census (census) Newburgh, Orange County, NY, USA | | 1st Jun 1900 | Head of household in 1900 census (census) The Bronx, New York, NY, USA | | 1905 | Head of household in 1900 census (census) | | 1910 | Head of household in 1910 census (census) New York, NY, USA | | 1915 | Head of household in 1910 census (census) The Bronx, New York, NY, USA | | 4th Jan 1920 | Head of household in 1920 census (census) The Bronx, New York, NY, USA | | 1925 | Head of household in 1920 census (census) The Bronx, New York, NY, USA | | 1930 | Head of household in 1920 census (census) The Bronx, New York, NY, USA | | 16th Jul 1930 | Died (death) The Bronx, New York, NY, USA | | 19th Jul 1930 | Buried (burial) Newburgh, Orange County, NY, USA |
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