THE MASON FAMILY

Although there are few, if any, Masons now in this county, yet there are numerous descendants of the family of this and Smith Counties. Below is a copy of a letter just written to a member of the family, who is trying to trace his ancestry.

Lafayette, Tenn.

August 7, 1950

Mr. Isaac P. Mason

Stockton, Ala.

Dear Sir:

Your letter relative to your family connection has been forwarded to me from Pleasant Shade. I am sorry to report that I have but little information relative to the Mason family. However, I have a few items of interest relative to those that I believe are your relatives. We have here near Lafayette, which is in Macon County, just north of Smith County, a Mr. B. Y. Gross, whose mother was Miss Mary Sanders Mason prior to her marriage many years ago to Yateman Gross. This Miss Mason was known as Mollie Mason. She was the daughter of David Groom Mason, whose first marriage resulted in no offspring. His second wife was Miss Matilda Ferguson, by whom he became the father of ; Mary Sanders Mason, married Yateman Gross; Sarah, known as Sallie Mason, married James Fuqua; Hanah Mason, married first to Lige Eden; second marriage , to Jack Curlee; Bob Mason, married Elizabeth Smith; Charlie Mason, married Millie Norman, and Kate Mason, married Thomas Drury and much later, Ed Gross.

Evidently David Groom Mason, to whom you refer as your great grandfather, was the father of the David Groom Mason, mentioned above. Mr. Gross does not recall the name of his great-grandfather, but your letter indicates that you both have the same great-grandfather in the person of David Groom Mason, Sr. Further light is shed on this by the fact that Mr. Gross recalls the fact that his mother had an uncle, Wylie, and an aunt, Polly.

This same Mr. Gross knows that his mother’s aunt, Polly, married a Cothron. The writer has long been interested in family history and is publishing some items of this kind from time to time. In March of this year we gave an account of the marriage of Polly Mason to James Carroll Cothron. But there is a slight discrepancy in the account I have and what you have written. Polly’s middle name, according to my records, was Fitzallen, but we feel sure that the party is one and the same. On the other hand the members of the family do not recall having ever heard of the many other brothers and sisters, but they are not denying them at all.

Mary Sanders Mason, daughter of David Groom Mason, married Yateman Gross and became the mother of : Lucy Flora, married Lem Gammon; Bettie, married John Drury; Leah, married Eddie Sanders; Edwin Groom, married Callie Leath; Byron Yateman Gross, the man above referred to as B. Y. Gross, married Leona Smith; Elisha, married Josie Fuqua; Hannah, died at the age of two years; Fannie, married Jim Carman; Minnie, married Oscar Brockett; and Ada David Gross, married Lloyd Gregory, a second cousin of the writer’s. We should have perhaps also stated that the Candace Cothron, daughter of James Carroll and Polly Mason Cothron married our own uncle, William Joseph Gregory.

Sallie, daughter of David Brown Mason and his wife Matilda Ferguson, married James Fuqua and became the mother of: Caleb, married Sallie Parker; Susie, married Alonzo Griffin; John, married Nan Shrum; Walter, married Laura Eden and later Julia Cross; Charlie, married Minnis Morgan ; Dora, married Tom Jones and later Jim Frye; Kate, married Johnnie Ford; and Laura, married P. W. Cross.

Hannah Mason, daughter of David Groom Mason and the Ferguson woman, was married to Lige Eden, by whom she had five children, Willie, Phenie, Jim Henry, Chrisley and Arthur Eden; and by her second husband, Jack Curlee, she had one daughter, Maude Curlee.

Bob Mason, son of David Groom Mason and the Ferguson woman, married Elizabeth Smith and became the father of: Modena, married Thomas Dozier, and later John Crowder; Alice, married a Lauderdale first and later Alonzo Griffin; Miranda, a cripple who never married; Ollie, who died at about 16; Nealie, who married Hershell Claiborne.

Charlie Mason, a brother of Hannah, married Millie Norman and moved to Texas. Their children were: Amanda, Dave, Albert, Vera, Myrtle, Ed and Earl.

Kate, a sister of Charlie, married Thomas Drury, and was the mother of : Rosa, married Bill Cross; Lottie, married a Crabtree and a Weatherford; Mattie, died from appendicitis at the age of about 12 years.

I am sending you a copy of my paper of March 16, this year, containing an account of the descendants of Polly Fitzallen Mason and her husband, Cothern.

If there is anything else I can do for you, please let me know.

With every good wish, I am

Sincerely yours,

Calvin Gregory

If any reader of the paper has anything on the line of descent of this family and will be good enough to send it to us, we will try to find a place for it at an early date.