Synopses & Reviews
TIMES STEVENS THOMSON MASON the BOY GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN BY LAWTON T. HEMANS LANSING MICHIGAN HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1920 f Rf 309003 10 STEVENS THOMSON MASON From a portrait hi oil In the Art Collection of the University of Michigan. PREFACE ON several occasions I have heard Mr. Hemans remark, There seems to be no work in Michigan covering the period from 1837 to 1845, the most eventful years of the State, as it was the period of her birth, and filled full of the trials subsequent to such an event. He said he could never find data on the political parties of that time, nor on Governor Mason and other promi nent men of the day, unless by consulting old newspapers and pioneer - collections. He determined to gather together all these fragments of historical knowledge, even if in an unsatisfactory manner to himself, place them together in one work and call it the Life and Times of Stevens T. Mason the Boy Governor. When a child, Mr. Hemans had been told that Gover nor Mason, the first Governor of this State, had died in a gutter after an evenings debauch. As he grew to young manhood and stood before the beautiful painting of the Governor in Representative Hall at Lansing and gazed upon that face so full of culture and refinement, the desire was born in his heart to try and refute this criticism and other calumnies heaped upon the Boy Gov ernor.. As he began collecting and reading, he became more and more convinced that many unjust remarks had been showered upon Governor Mason, that the beautiful, upright conscientious character of the man had never been shown in its true light, Mr. Hemans 7 desire grew stronger as his knowledge became deeper in his subject, and I really know that he had thegreatest love and admiration for Governor Mason. We all know that if love fills our hearts our hardest task becomes easy. So Mr. Hemans, so deeply in love with his subject, put his lifes best endeavors into collecting and putting together and writing this story of the Boy Governor, and it was his pride to think of presenting it to this great State of Michigan, for which State I believe Mr. Romans gave his life. But his last two years were filled so full of physical pain and suffering that he was unable to finish this work, and Mr. William L. Jenks has kindly written the last chapter. I remember so distinctly Mr. Hemaius entering the home one evening and remarking, Governor Manon has a living daughter in Newark, N. J., and I must get into communication with her. 7 7 He immediately wrote to her and received a charming, helpful letter in return. The daughter, Mrs. Wright, suggested that Mr. Hemans write to Miss Emily V. Mason, a sister of Stevens T. Mason, who was still active and interesting at the age of 93. The friendship between Miss Mason and Mr. Hemans was an unusual one. She seemed almost to consider Mr. Hemans as a brother, and the information she gave him helped him wonderfully in the story of her brother Stevens. The Governor had another sister, Mrs. Laura Chi chester who lived in Virginia, and whom Mr. Hemans visited during his researches. Lexington, Ky. was once the old home of the Mason family, also other towns in that State, and Mr. Hemans visited all these and secured pictures of the old homes which are found in this work. Nearly all of the pictures included in this volume have been collected by great endeavors and at a great expense. Many of them were from old brooches, daguerreotypes, almanacs, paintings and from old things pulled from rub bish heaps. The pictures Mr. Hemans and myself have PREFACE 5 paid hundreds of dollars for. He could not content him self when he got on the trail of a picture unless he secured it, regardless of labor or expense, so deep was his interest in his work. His greatest regret, as I remem ber, was not to secure the picture of John Norvell, early Detroit postmaster and Michigan statesman his labors in this direction were almost endless...