William W. Mason of Brown Co., Texas

© Kathy Duncan, 2017

William W. Mason, son of William and Matilda (Lewis) Mason, was born 4 Jan 1848 in Hopkins Co., TX.

William married Eliza Jane, who seems to have been the daughter of Thomas and Jane Early. The date and location of William Mason and Eliza Jane’s marriage is unknown.

Census records for William W. and Eliza Jane (Early) Mason:

7 Sept 1870, Marion Twp., P.O. Jenny Lind, Sebastian Co., AR, p. 143:

167-168

Mason, William 21 M W Farmer - $100 b. TX

---Eliza Jane 24 F W Keeps house b. IL

---Matilda 1 F W b. ARK

168-169

Early, Thomas 52 M W Farmer $400 - $700   b. TN

---Jane 49 F W Keeps house b. IL

---Thomas 19 M W At home b. IL

---Margaret 16 F W b. TX

---Ada Mali 12 F W b. TX

---Sarah C. 9 F W b. TX

9 June 1880, Dist. 146, Pct 1, Somervell Co., TX, SD 3, ED 146, pg. 11, p. 349C:

90-90

Mason, W.W.  M W 32 Stone Mason b. TX fb. MS mb. TN

---Eliza J. F W 33 Keeps house b. IL fb. TN mb. TN

---Matilda F W 10 Dau b. ARK fb. TX mb. IL

---William H. M W 4 Son b. TX fb. TX  mb. IL

---Ellen F W 2 Dau b. TX fb. TX mb. IL

18 June 1880, Dist 146, Pct 1, Somervell Co., TX, SD 3, ED 146, p. 21 [p. 354A]:

190-190

Early, Thomas M W 66 Farmer b. TN fb. MD mb. NC

---Jane F W 62 Wife Keeps house b. TN fb. GA mb. NC

---Sarah C. F W 18 Dau b. TX   fb. TN  mb. TN

Collier, Margaret F W 20 Dau bm TX  fb. TN mb. TX

---Melvin M W 3 Grdson b. TX fb. IL mb. TX

191-191

Early, N.F. M W 40 Farmer b. IL fb. TN mb. TN

 ---Mary J. F W 30 Wife keeps house b. IL fb. IL mb. IL

---Ellen E. F W  13  Dau b. TX mb. IL fb. IL

 ---John F. M W 9 Son b. AL fb. IL mb. IL

5 June 1900, Dist 7, Blanket, Brown Co., TX, SD 4, ED 7, sht 3:

49-49  

Mason, William Head M W Jan 1848 52 M-31 b. TX fb. TN mb.  TX

---Eliza J. Wife F W May 1846 54 M-31 9-3   b. IL fb. TN mb. TN

---William H. Son M W July 1876 23 S b. TX fb. TX mb.  IL

---Ellen K. Dau F W Nov 1880  19 S b. TX fb. TX mb. IL

23 Apr 1910, Dist 95, 3- wd, Brownwood, Brown Co., TX, SD 14, ED 95, sht 18B:

333-360

Mason, William Head M W 62 M1-42 b. TX fb. TN mb. TN

---Eliza J. Wife F W 64 M1-42 b. IL mb. TN fb. TN

Harwell, Mitilda J. Head M W 40 Wd b. AR fb. TX mb. IL

-361  ---Walter W. Son M W 14 S b. TX fb. MS mb. AR

---Ola J. Dau F W 13 S  b. TX fb. MS mb. AR

---Lona M. Dau F W 9 S b. TX  fb. MS  mb. AR

---Sam W.  Son M W   6 S b. TX fb. MS mb. AR

---Josephine Dau F W 5 S b. TX fb. MS mb. AR

William W. Mason filed for a Confederate pension on 13 Feb 1917, and it was rejected on 24 Feb 1917. William’s pension application reveals that he was born in Hopkins Co., TX, 12 miles east of Sulpher Springs, and that he had lived all his life in Texas except for six years from 1866 to 1872 when he lived in Arkansas. He moved to Brown Co. in 1898 and worked as a bricklayer whenever he could get work.

He claimed that he enlisted in Black’s Co., Waterhouse’s Reg. and Cooper’s Brigade. He details how he was working at the Iron Foundry of Nash, Perry & Co., located 21 miles northwest of Jefferson in Marion Co., TX when the war began. When the Confederacy took over the foundry, the workers were all pressed into the Confederate service, so he volunteered to serve as a soldier in the field, but the officers in charge of enlistments detailed him to work in the foundry as a molder. He worked in the foundry until six months before the end of the war, when he was transferred to the Hughes Ironworks Foundry, located five miles from Daingerfield, Texas. Once or twice he was sent back to Nash, Perry, & Co. for a few days.

William’s pension was rejected because his name does not appear on any muster lists. However, William’s version of events matches that of his uncle Rutherford Porter Cawthon’s. Presumably, they worked together in the same foundry since his uncle Rutherford P. Cawthon was administering the William Mason Sr. estate by the time the war started, and William W. Mason was most likely living in the Cawthon household.     

[Source: William W. Mason, Texas rejected CSA application]

According to the Handbook of Texas, Nash’s Iron Foundry was built by Jefferson S. Nash near the Mims Chapel community in 1847. Mims Chapel is on FM 729 by a tributary of Alley’s Creek a mile north of Lake O’ The Pines, sixteen miles northwest of Jefferson in northwestern Marion County, TX. A post office called Alley’s Mills was opened on the site in 1852 and in 1861 the name was changed Nash’s Foundry. Between 1841 and 1861 Nash experimented with methods of iron ore production. In 1858 the Clarksville Northern Standard claimed that Nash’s Foundry had produced more than 10,000 pounds of iron and shipped it to Jefferson. Nash’s Foundry was rechartered by the Confederate government during the Civil War, and both the foundry and the post office were renamed Texas Iron Works. Nash sold the foundry to the Kelly Plow Company around 1863. The new owners closed the plant and removed to Kellyville, near Jefferson.

[Source: Handbook of Texas Online]

The Hughes Ironworks Foundry is a reference to the pig iron blast furnace located on Reece Hughes' plantation at Hughes Springs, Texas in Cass County. Early in the war, it was confiscated by the Confederacy to manufacture cannonballs for the war effort. After the war, it was confiscated by the federal government and never returned to Reece. Today, a replica of the furnace has been created from the original stones of the old furnace and is open to the public at Lone Star Steel in Lone Star, Texas. Family tradition has it that this is where Rutherford Porter Cawthon worked during the Civil War. 

William W. Mason’s death certificate #47199 states that he was born 4 Jan 1846 in Texas, an error that was repeated on his tombstone. Census records consistently report his birth as no earlier than 1848, and the 1900 census explicitly gives his birth as Jan 1848. Names of parents are listed as unknown. The informant was his grandson Walter Harwell. William W. Mason died in Brownwood, Brown Co., TX on 9 Oct 1930.

Burials in the Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood, Brown, Co., TX:

Mason, William G. [sic] 4 Jan 1846 - 9 Oct 1930

Mason, Eliza J. 8 May 1846 - 19 Jun 1928

Harwell, Walter C. 11 Oct 1895 - 9 Jul 1962

Harwell, Grace A. 2 May 1901 - 12 July 1925

Harwell, Matilda J. 15 Aug 1869 - 20 Apr 1949

Harwell, Samuel W.    [DMW] m. 23 Apr 1921

            5 Jan 1902 - 24 May 1978

Harwell, M. Pearl 4 Feb 1906 -

Lancaster, Jesse C. 22 Aug 1895 - 12 Jan 1962

Lancaster, Ola J. 12 Dec 1896 -

Lancaster, Ola J. 4 Apr 1924 - 1 July 1943

[Source: Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood, Texas by Bob Day]