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Moses Mason
(1729-)
Lydia Knapp
(1730-)
Lt William Ayers II
(1723-)
Rachel Barns
(1732-)
Moses Mason
(1757-1837)
Eunice Ayers
(1761-1846)

Dr. Moses Ayres Mason
(1789-1866)

 

Family Links

Spouses/Children:
1. Agnes Moore Straw

Dr. Moses Ayres Mason

  • Born: 2 Jun 1789, Dublin, Cheshire County, New Hampshire
  • Marriage (1): Agnes Moore Straw on 15 Jun 1813 in Newfield, York County, Maine
  • Died: 25 Jun 1866, Bethel, Oxford County, Maine at age 77
  • Buried: Woodland Cemetery in Bethel, Maine
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bullet  General Notes:

per Stearns AGBI
Dr. Moses Ayres Mason was b. Oxford, ME the s/o Moses and Eunice Ayers Mason; he died in Bethel ME. He and Agnes lived at 14 broad St. Bethel, ME and their home is now a museum. It was built in 1813, a Federal Period house. Moses was born in NH and was the US Rep from ME 1833-1837 (5th District 1833-35 and 6th District 1835-37) Per his Congretional Biography he was born in Dublin, NH and moved with his parents to Bethel, ME in 1799, attended the common schools, studied medicine and began his practice in Bethel 1813; appointed first postmaster of Bethel April 1, 1815 and served til 27 Dec 1833; justice of the peace 1821-1866; county commissioner 1831-34; elected a Jacksonian to the 23rd and 24th congresses (4 march 1833- 3 March 1837); executive counselor 1843-1845; trustee of State Insane Hospital 1844; selectman of Bethel for 14 yrs; President of Gould's Academy 1854-56 and died in Bethel 25 June 1866. He is buried in Woodlawn Cem.
Other sources include: Mase@ma.ultranet.co
POM per research of Ray and Mary Straw

My Maine Heritage:Created 13 Feb 2004 by Reunion for Macintosh
Moses Mason made his first appearance in Bethel when ten years of age, his father having moved there. He worked for his father upon the farm until he was twenty-one, and then, having had limited facilities for an education and desiring to prepare himself for the practice of medicine, he entered the office of his brother-in-law, Dr. James Ayer, and not only studied medicine but the rudiments of an education. In the winter he taught school and after some years was able to commence practice at Bethel Hill in 1813.
He had early, partly by force of circumstance and partly from choice, engaged in public affairs which demanded much attention, and when elected to Congress in 1833 he laid aside the practice of medicine. He was the first postmaster of Bethel, being appointed January 5, 1815. Previous to that time the inhabitants had to go to Waterford for their nearest office, and he used to say that he was scarcely ever more excited in his life than when he stood listening to the postman's horn sounding in the distance, announcing the important fact that the mail was coming to Bethel for the first time. Moderator, 1819, also on the school committee, justice of the peace, 1821, and holding that office most of the time to his death. He married some eighty-six individuals for which he never received a cent, invariably giving the fee to the bride. Licensed as an innholder, 1821, county commissioner, 1830, elected representative to Congress from the Second District, 1833, re-elected 1835, being in Congress during the exciting administration of Andrew Jackson; selectman, 1838, 1839, 1844, 1848; member of the Governor's Council, 1843, 1845, appointed a trustee of the Insane Hospital, 1844; elected president of Gould's Academy, December 23, 1853, holding that office until November 1865. He was a large proprietor in the present town of Mason, Maine, having in 1827 built and operated mills there, and in 1843 when the town was incorporated it was named in his honor. Though decided in his political preferences he respected merit wherever it was found, and as a counsellor, particularly in political affairs, he was unusually clever, generally predicting the result of a given course of action.Dr. Mason built a fine mansion house facing the Bethel Common and for several years before his death lived there in quiet retirement, spending his time reading and with some mechanical work with which he was most ingenious. He was also greatly interested in improving the Woodland Cemetery. He had the first painted house in Bethel and was considered very extravagant, and when he put blinds on the house it was said that he was becoming aristocratic; also had the first sofa made in 1821 by Marshall Bonney, cabinet maker.
Dr. Mason was a conspicuous figure at Bethel, portly in size and of fine presence. In his later years, when his hair (which he allowed to remain quite long) was white as snow, he was a striking example of the patriarch. He was quick at repartee, as the following will show. The maiden name of Dr. Mason's wife was Straw, and one day he chanced to meet Paul Morse who said, "Dr., when are you going to bring your bundle of straw over to see my wife?" to which he promptly replied, "After you have brought your bunch of moss over to see mine."
At the time of his death he was the oldest proprietor in the village, having lived on the same spot more than fifty years.

Find A Grave Memorial #7228759
Congressman. Elected to represent Maine's 5th and 6thh Districts in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1833 to 1837


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Moses married Agnes Moore Straw, daughter of Lt. Gideon Straw Jr and Mary Robinson, on 15 Jun 1813 in Newfield, York County, Maine. (Agnes Moore Straw was born on 16 Oct 1793 in Brentwood, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, died on 6 Jan 1869 in Bethel, Oxford County, Maine and was buried in Woodland Cemetery Bethel, Oxford County, Maine, USA.)




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