Rebecca, Wife of Rev. Michael Mason, Sr.

©  Kathy Duncan, 2020

In 1826, when Rev. Michael Mason Sr. wrote his will in Madison County, Alabama, his wife was Rebecca.

The 1830 Madison County, Alabama census shows her to be a woman aged 40 - 49. In their household was a female child aged five to nine. If she married around the age of 18, their marriage would have taken place between no earlier than 1799 and 1808, give or take a couple years although she may have married him at a later date. Rebecca is much too young to be the mother of my ancestor Joesph Mason. However, she is very likely to be the mother of the female child in the household in 1830. In December of 1838, records were also being entered in the orphan's court of Madison County, which indicates that Michael Mason Sr. had a minor heir. Minor heirs could be either underage children or underage grandchildren, who were children of a deceased child of Michael's

In a deed dated 22 December 1838, Mrs. Rebecca Mason and John K. Ward of Madison County, Mississippi sold a tract of land in Madison County, Alabama to John Bayless.

Madison Co., AL Land Deed Bk R, p. 143

Several secondary sources list Michael Mason Sr.'s wife as being a Ward, so this record is definitely of interest. At first, I thought that John K. Ward could be a child of Rebecca's from a previous marriage, but after studying records in Madison County, Mississippi, I think he was probably Dr. John Kidd Ward and possibly a nephew of Rebecca's.

The next record found is Rebecca Mason on the 1840 census of Madison County, Mississippi. On that census, she is living near two Ward households. She is a woman 60 - 69 years of age with a female child aged 15 - 19 in her household. The overlap between the 1830 and 1840 census puts Rebecca at about 50 years old in 1830. These ages are roughly in keeping with their ages on the 1830 Madison County, Alabama census.

Madison Co., MS, 1840 Census

I have not been able to find Rebecca Mason on the 1850 census, but she does appear on the 1860 census in Madison County, Mississippi, which is very light and difficult to read. On that census, she is 85 years of age with a birthplace of Maryland. Significantly, she is living in the home of Jesse B. Ward, so she definitely has a connection to the Ward family. After sifting through what little information I could find on the Wards, I came to the conclusion that Rebecca was probably the sister of James Ward who married Rachel Kidd. It makes sense that Rebecca moved to where she had a family support system. What makes it significant is that she is not with any of the elder Mason children. That would be because she was not their mother.

Persistent googling enabled me to locate another researcher who also feels that Rebecca Mason was a sister to James Ward.

Michael and Rebecca Mason's daughter is still unidentified. Additional records are likely to be found for her in Madison County, Mississippi or in the Madison County, Alabama orphan's court. It is significant that the Ward researcher pinpointed the Wards in Bedford County, Tennessee in 1816 because I recently pinpointed records for a Michael Mason there in the same timeframe. More on that to follow.