SIR WILLIAM THOMSON, M.P.

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George I. and George II. on their accession to the throne. Sir William Thomson married in 1711, Julia, daughter of Sir Christopher Conyers and widow of Sir William Blacket, Bart. His country seat "Osterly Park," was in Heston, Middlesex.' Dying childless at Bath in 1739, he left his property to his sister Sarah Thomson, with bequests to his step-children and others. After the fashion of the period, he left mourning rings to a number of persons. Among others, one to each of the Aldermen of London and the three other officers of that court, and he left a ring also to each of the postmen of Ipswich. The bequest of his portrait was made by Sir William to the Court of Aldermen of the City of London, and the testator adds:

"I desire it may be accepted by the said court as a token of my respect and grateful sense of the kindness and regard shown to me by the City of London, whose welfare and prosperity I heartily wish and have always endeavored to promote to the best of my capacity, and have the satisfaction of being conscious that I have served the city faithfully and with integrity, and hope to be remembered accordingly." "

This portrait now hangs in the Guildhall, London, and is considered a fine picture. In 1743, there was a suit in chancery for the sale of Sir William Thomson's estate, and his cousin and executor, John Thomson, Esq., of the Exchequer Office, made inquiries in Virginia for the heirs of his brother Stevens Thomson.'

"Recorders of London," Frith; "Lives of the Judges of England," Foss; etc., etc.

' Copy of will of Sir William Thomson.—Mason Papers.

3 Letters of Ann Thomson Mason.-Mason Papers.

CHAPTER II.

THE VIRGINIA PLANTER.

1725-1764.

George Mason of Gunston, the patriot and statesman, was born in 1725, as we know from an entry in the Family Bible, recording his age at the time of his marriage. He was probably born in the dwelling-house at Dogue's Neck, or Mason's Neck as it came to be called, which had been the residence of his father and grandfather. There was also a mansion-house at the plantation of Chappawamsic, in which his grandfather had lived at one time, and where his aunt, Mrs. Mercer, had been born. This estate came later to Mrs. Ann Thomson Mason as her dower, and she was living there apparently at the time of her death. The old house at Chappawamsic, which was built of stone and situated on a hill, is not now standing. George Mason was ten years old at the time of his father's death, in 1735, and his brother Thomson was but an infant of two years, while the only daughter, Mary Thomson Mason, was a child of four. The two guardians of George Mason and his brother and sister were their mother, Mrs. Mason, and their uncle-in-law, John Mercer of Marlboro'. From 1730 to 1742, Dogue's Neck was in Prince William County, and Dumfries was the countyseat at this time, though this honor was afterwards transferred to Brentsville, doubtless the "Brenttown" of the earlier annals. Here may be seen, at Brentsville, between the years 1732 and 1735, numerous deeds and leases to and from Colonel George Mason, who is described in them as of

ANN MASON'S BOND AS GUARDIAN.

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Charles County in the province of Maryland. There is preserved here also the record of the administration on the estate of Colonel Mason in 1735 by his widow, who gives bond and passes her accounts. The following is the guar

dian's bond.

"Know, all men by these presents that we, Ann Mason, John Mercer, John Gregg, James Baxter, and Catesby Cocke, are held and firmly bound unto the worshipful Justices of Prince William County, their heirs, executors, and administrators, in the sum of five thousand pounds, to the true payment whereof we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors, and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents, as witness our hands and seals this 21st day of May, 1735.

"The condition of the above obligation is such that, if the above bound Ann Mason and John Mercer, guardians of George, Mary and Thomson Mason, their heirs, ex's and adm's do and shall well and truly pay, or cause to be well and truly paid, unto the said orphans all such estate or estates that now is or hereafter shall come to the hands of the said Ann Mason and John Mercer as soon as the said orphans shall attain to lawful age, or when thereunto required by the Justices of the Peace of Prince William County Court, and also to save and keep harmless the said Justices, their heirs and successors, from all trouble and damage that shall or may arise about the said estate, then this obligation to be void or else to remain in full force and virtue.

Signed, sealed, and delivered
in the presence of
THOS. ROBINSON.

ANN MASON,
J. MERCER,

JOHN GREGG,
JAMES BAXTER,
CATESBY COCKE.

"At a Court held for Prince William County the 21st day of May, 1735, Ann Mason, John Mercer, John Gregg, James Baxter, and Catesby Cocke acknowledge this bond in open court, and it is ordered that the same be recorded.

Ann Mason's accounts as guardian give in great detail the expenses of the three children, George, Mary, and Thomson. Each child is charged for board and other items one thousand pounds of tobacco yearly. Thomson, on one occasion, is charged with linen and making three ruffled shirts, so many shillings; while Mary is charged with wooden-heeled shoes, petticoats, one hoop petticoat, and linen.' Two years after her husband's death, Mrs. Mason leased to John Mercer the same plantation of Occoquan that Colonel Mason had leased to him for a year in 1731. It would appear to have included more than one house, being, in fact, a small settlement with court-house and prison upon the place, besides the ferry. These three things are reserved in the lease, and a room also in the mansion-house is to be for Mrs. Mason's use when she has occasion for it.

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'Occoquan Plantation, Mrs. Ann Mason, widow of George Mason, lease to John Mercer, September 23d, 1737. This indenture between Ann Mason of Stafford Co., Va., widow and relict of George Mason, Gent., late of Charles Co., Maryland, deceased, guardian and next friend of George Mason, eldest son of the above George Mason, deceased, an infant under the age of twenty-one years, of the one part and John Mercer of Stafford, Va., of the other part. Witnesseth that the said Ann Mason hath devised, let, and to farm to John Mercer all that messuage, tenement, and plantation of land on the south side of Occoquan River, and now in the possession of Thos. Dent, to contain one. hundred and fifty acres, with all the houses, outhouses, gardens, woods, etc., appertaining to the same, Except the Court-House and Prison, and reserving one room upstairs, with a fireplace, when the said Ann Mason shall have occasion to make use of the Also excepting the Ferry, with the profits thereon. To the said John Mercer from the 3d October next ensuing for and during the term of nine years from thence next ensuing, paying the yearly rent of twenty pounds current money of Virginia to Ann Mason or such person as she shall authorize, &c., &c. ANN MASON.""

same.

WILD LANDS IN LOUDOUN COUNTY.

51

The lease was for nine years, at the end of which time George Mason would have attained his majority. This ferry over the Occoquan River is thus mentioned in the will of George Mason of Gunston, who left the Occoquan plantation, afterwards known as "Woodbridge," to his youngest son. With it he was to have "the right and benefit of keeping the ferry over Occoquan from both sides of the river, which has been vested in me and my ancestors from the first settlement of this part of the country, and long before the land there was taken up or patented."

Mrs. Ann Mason proved herself a very careful and prudent guardian. Her husband left no will, and under the then existing laws of primogeniture his whole estate vested in his eldest son. "At this early period," to quote from the manuscript sketch of the family by the late Judge Mason, "there had already sprung up a strong opposition to this system, and in this Mrs. Mason participated, on the ground of its manifest injustice as was especially developed in the case of her own children. Her younger children were left without a farthing. To remedy this inequality she directed all her energies and talents towards the accumulation of the means to place them, as near as possible, upon an equal footing with their elder brother. Their mother appropriated all the money she should gather, whether from economy or otherwise, to the purchase of ten thousand acres of what was then called 'wild lands' in Loudoun County, for which she paid only a few shillings per acre. No sooner had she completed. the purchase than she divided the land between her younger children. She did not delay this until her death, for the reason assigned by her that she did not wish her children to grow up with any sense of inequality among them in regard to fortune. The investment turned out a most fortunate one, and she thereby unwittingly made her two younger children wealthier than their elder brother." Ann Mason, yet a young and beautiful woman when left a widow by her husband's untimely death, never married again, though tradition reports that her hand was sought by numerous suitors.