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Where the Record Ends

Sources and visual record

The trail behind every conclusion.

Citations are not an appendix to the experience. They are the visible structure that lets a reader separate a record, an assessment, and an open question.

72 reviewed references · 10 visual records

Visual provenance

Evidence and context stay distinct.

A visual can be historically relevant without depicting this family. The catalog records that role alongside its source, credit, reuse basis, and known limitation.

context · map

1800 × 780

Kentucky near the beginning of the trail

This 1818 Kentucky map falls between the family’s documented Nelson and Shelby County periods.

Boundary: The map provides period geography. It does not mark a Meason residence or prove a migration route.

Credit
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
Reuse basis
The digitized Geography and Map Division item is free to use and reuse; no contrary rights advisory is present.
Open source page ↗

context · map

2080 × 1440

Highland Creek and Higgins’ Mill on the map

Munsell and Anderson’s 1818 map labels Highland Creek and Higgins’ Mill near Carthage, giving the 1812 ejectment case a plausible geographic setting.

Boundary: The map does not prove that the mapped mill owner was the defendant, that either mill stood inside William Mason’s 200 acres, or that a Mason family member lived there.

Credit
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
Reuse basis
The Library of Congress item states that Geography and Map Division digitized content is free to use and reuse unless a contrary Rights Advisory is present; none is listed for this item.
Open source page ↗

context · map

1200 × 1482

Ralls County on paper

This public-domain atlas page shows part of Ralls County almost fifty years after Benjamin was identified there in a federal patent.

Boundary: It is later geographic context, not a map of Benjamin’s patent tract or the family’s precise route.

Credit
The State Historical Society of Missouri
Reuse basis
The item page identifies the atlas as public domain.
Open source page ↗

evidence · document

3242 × 2538

Benjamin’s name in his own hand

Benjamin signed this Nelson County guardian bond “Benjn Meason.” It documents his presence and handwriting—not his parents.

Credit
Nelson County court record; public-site research copy
Reuse basis
Reviewed public-site evidence image; publication remains limited to this contextual crop.

evidence · marker

691 × 922

A date that does not settle the question

George’s marker gives 10 May 1818–11 November 1887. Census and family evidence instead point to birth about 1810.

Boundary: The marker contributes chronology, not a direct statement connecting George to Benjamin.

Credit
Mount Calvary Cemetery marker photograph
Reuse basis
Reviewed public-site evidence image; original photographer and reuse history remain as described in the reference catalog.

context · portrait

737 × 1284

Franklin at home

The family-tree title identifies Franklin seated at his home in Richardson, Texas.

Boundary: The exact location, date, photographer, and original custodian remain undocumented.

Credit
Family photograph
Reuse basis
Family-held working attribution; not asserted to be public domain.

context · portrait

939 × 1203

A later Texas generation

The handwritten caption identifies James Lawrence Meason, born in 1892, in the Texas descendant line.

Boundary: The writing is not treated as an autograph; date, place, and photographer remain unknown.

Credit
Family photograph
Reuse basis
Family-held working attribution; not asserted to be public domain.

context · portrait

524 × 820

James Lawrence “Jimmy” Meason

A family-held studio portrait attributed to Jimmy Meason, a later generation in the direct line.

Boundary: The photographer, studio, original date, and print custodian remain undocumented.

Credit
Family photograph
Reuse basis
Family-held working attribution; not asserted to be public domain.

context · portrait

563 × 813

Cynthia June “Cindee” Meason

The family collection carries a working identification of Cynthia; the school, studio, and exact date are still being documented.

Credit
Family photograph
Reuse basis
Family-held working attribution; not asserted to be public domain.

context · portrait

891 × 1284

Andy Cohen

Born Shannon Jeremiah Meason and raised in the Cohen family, Andy is the present-day narrator of this research.

Credit
Personal photograph
Reuse basis
Site-owner portrait.

Reviewed public catalog

References

  1. 1

    1850 United States census — Benjamin Mason household

    1850 U.S. census, District 59, Monroe County, Missouri, p. 139a; NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 407.

    Supports
    Benjamin’s age of 74, reported Virginia birthplace, Hannah’s presence, and the Monroe County household cluster.
    Limit
    The census supports an approximate birth year, not an exact birth date, and it does not identify Benjamin’s parents.
    Open census image ↗
  2. 2

    Benjamin Mason–Hannah Doom marriage bond

    Nelson County, Kentucky, marriage bond, 18 August 1801; Kentucky, County Marriages, 1786–1965; FHL film 9666, DGS 4705518, image 829.

    Supports
    The intended marriage, Benjamin and Hannah’s names, their status as adults over 21, Jacob Yoder’s surety role, and Benjamin’s signature.
    Limit
    The bond names no parent, guardian, residence, or family relationship. A surety is not necessarily a relative.
    Open record image ↗
  3. 3

    Nelson County marriage register

    Nelson County, Kentucky, marriage register, Benjamin Mason and Hannah Dooms, 27 August 1801; Ancestry collection 61372, record 1656492.

    Supports
    The solemnized marriage date and the register’s identification of the officiant as “J. Ferguson.”
    Limit
    The image is a register entry, not the couple’s individual return. Joseph Ferguson’s full identity is established contextually from a separate signed list.
    Open indexed record ↗
  4. 4

    Nelson County tax books, 1799–1805

    Nelson County, Kentucky, tax books; FamilySearch catalog 156788, FHL film 8178, DGS 7763746; both commissioner M-surname runs reviewed for 1799–1805.

    Supports
    Benjamin’s presence in every annual return from 1800 through 1804, including the Mason and Meason spellings; the 1803 and 1804 returns each record two enslaved people in his taxable household.
    Limit
    I found no entry for him in the fully reviewed 1799 and 1805 returns, but those absences do not prove his age, migration, death, or kinship. Proximity to other taxpayers does not establish a relationship.
    Browse image group ↗
  5. 5

    Weller children’s guardian bond

    Nelson County, Kentucky, Court Bond Book, volume 2, p. 113, 17 July 1802; DGS 7553304, image 177.

    Supports
    Benjamin’s Nelson County presence, the “Benjn Meason” signature, and his fiduciary association with John and Samuel Weller, Thomas Hubbard, and Thomas Langley.
    Limit
    The bond states no relationship between Benjamin and the Weller family and names neither of his parents.
    Open record image ↗
  6. 6

    Nelson County administration bond

    Nelson County, Kentucky, Court Bond Book, volume 2, p. 142, 21 November 1809; DGS 7553304, image 174.

    Supports
    Benjamin’s “Benja Meason” signature and his role as surety for administrator John Kercheval.
    Limit
    The faded decedent name is unresolved, and the bond states no residence, parentage, or kinship.
    Open record image ↗
  7. 7

    “B. Meason J.P.N.C.” certificate

    Nelson County, Kentucky, Deed Book 9, p. 184, 22 May 1811; FHL film 482738, DGS 8571833, image 413.

    Supports
    A B. Meason acting as a Nelson County justice of the peace during Benjamin’s documented Nelson County chronology.
    Limit
    The clerk’s copy gives only the initial “B.” and is not Benjamin’s autograph; identification with Benjamin is strongly compatible but not explicit.
    Open record image ↗
  8. 8

    Salem Association minutes, 1811

    Minutes of the Salem Association of Baptists, Kentucky, 1811; James P. Boyce Centennial Library repository handle 10392/6307.

    Supports
    Benjamin Meason’s association service and the likely connection to Nelson County’s Mill Creek congregation.
    Limit
    The church-table reading is supported by repository OCR and context; a final page-image check remains desirable.
    Open repository item ↗
  9. 9

    Salem Association minutes, 1816

    Minutes of the Salem Association of Baptists, Kentucky, 1816, first printed table page; James P. Boyce Centennial Library repository handle 10392/6312.

    Supports
    “Benj. Meason” and Joseph Lewis as messengers from the newly formed Bardstown Salem church.
    Limit
    The entry establishes congregational representation, not family relationships or Benjamin’s place of origin.
    Open repository item ↗
  10. 10

    1820 United States census — Shelby County household

    1820 U.S. census, Shelby County, Kentucky, stamped p. 128; NARA microfilm publication M33, roll 24.

    Supports
    An age-compatible Benjamin Mason household in Shelby County and the accepted Kentucky migration sequence.
    Limit
    Early censuses name only the household head and cannot identify the remaining household members by themselves.
    Open census image ↗
  11. 11

    1829 Ralls County federal land patent

    United States General Land Office patent to Benjamin Meason, document 933, accession MO0260__.421, 1 June 1829; T56N R5W, section 7, 82.06 acres.

    Supports
    Benjamin’s stated residence in Ralls County and a precise Missouri land location before the 1830 census.
    Limit
    The patent establishes land ownership and residence, not parentage or relationships to neighboring patentees.
    Search official patent record ↗
  12. 12

    1830 United States census — Ralls County household

    1830 U.S. census, Spencer Township, Ralls County, Missouri, stamped p. 363; NARA microfilm publication M19, roll 73.

    Supports
    An age-compatible Benjamin Meason household in the predecessor county from which Monroe County was formed.
    Limit
    The schedule names only the household head and does not itself prove continuity with every earlier record.
    Open census image ↗
  13. 13

    1835 Monroe County federal land patent

    United States General Land Office patent to Benjamin Meason, document 6582, accession MO0370__.406, 21 October 1835; T55N R11W, section 20, 80 acres.

    Supports
    Benjamin’s ownership of a specific Monroe County tract by 1835.
    Limit
    The patent establishes land ownership, not by itself household residence, family relationships, or parentage.
    Search official patent record ↗
  14. 14

    1840 United States census — Monroe County household

    1840 U.S. census, Marion Township, Monroe County, Missouri, stamped p. 123; NARA microfilm publication M704, roll 226.

    Supports
    An age-compatible Benjamin Meason household residing in Monroe County.
    Limit
    The schedule names only the household head and cannot identify every person in the household.
    Open census image ↗
  15. 15

    Official registers of the United States, 1847 and 1849

    Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, 1847, part 2, p. 442; 1849, part 2, p. 508.

    Supports
    Benjamin Meason’s federal appointment as postmaster at Woodlawn, Monroe County, Missouri.
    Limit
    The registers establish office and location, not appointment circumstances, sureties, family, or parentage.
    Open 1849 official register ↗
  16. 16

    Union Christian Church recollection

    Historical and Biographical Sketches of the Early Churches and Pioneer Preachers of the Christian Church in Missouri (1888), pp. 172–174, preserving an 1884 eyewitness recollection.

    Supports
    Benjamin Mason and his wife among Union Christian Church’s founders and Benjamin’s remembered service as an elder.
    Limit
    This is a later eyewitness recollection published decades after the church’s organization, not a surviving contemporary membership register.
    Open published history ↗
  17. 17

    Jacob Doom heirs’ deed

    Washington County, Kentucky, Deed Book I, pp. 278–279, 14 June 1825; FHL film 241393, DGS 8568117, images 395–396.

    Supports
    “Benjamin Mason and Hannah his wife late Doom” among the heirs and representatives of Jacob Doom deceased.
    Limit
    The deed does not literally call Hannah Jacob’s daughter and does not identify her mother.
    Open deed image ↗
  18. 18

    Will of Thomas Meason senior

    Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Will Book 1, pp. 16–17, entry 28; dated 14 March and proved 18 March 1779; Ancestry collection 8802, record 2042575.

    Supports
    Twelve named children—six sons and six daughters—including son Thomas and daughter Ann; Benjamin is absent from the extensive list. Fresh review of the complete original pages confirms that the instrument names no wife and no daughter Jane.
    Limit
    The omission weighs strongly against the testator as Benjamin’s direct father, but a will need not name every child. It does not categorically exclude him, identify Benjamin’s parents, or exclude another family line. Earlier relationship indexing misclassified daughter Ann as a spouse, while adjacent will text supplied Jane; those claims are superseded by the preserved-original review.
    Open indexed probate record ↗
  19. 19

    Will of Thomas Meason of Hempfield

    Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Will Book 1, p. 192, item 308; dated 1785 and proved 22 November 1805; Ancestry collection 8802, media 007727205_00506.

    Supports
    Eight named children, including an expressly enumerated group of six youngest children; Benjamin is absent.
    Limit
    The omission strongly disfavors this testator as Benjamin’s father but does not identify Benjamin’s actual parents or prove identity with other Thomas Meason records.
    Open probate image ↗
  20. 20

    Thomas Meason’s Rough Creek purchase

    Nelson County, Kentucky, Deed Book 2, pp. 76–77, 23 October 1788; FamilySearch catalog 273862, FHL film 482734, DGS 8150844.

    Supports
    Thomas Meason of Nelson County purchasing 300 acres on Rough Creek, waters of Green River, from Joseph and Abigail Barnett.
    Limit
    The deed names no Benjamin, former residence, age, wife, child, or other kinship.
    Open deed image ↗
  21. 21

    Sale of the Rough Creek tract

    Hardin County, Kentucky, Deed Book A, pp. 110–111, 27 July 1795; Thomas Mason of Logan County to Peter Watts of Mercer County.

    Supports
    The later sale of the same 300-acre tract, matched through acreage, watercourse, and Tardiveau boundary calls.
    Limit
    The deed names no Benjamin or family relationship and does not by itself identify the seller with Thomas born in 1755.
    Open county deed scan ↗
  22. 22

    Joseph Meason’s deed of gift to William Mason

    Logan County, Kentucky, Deed Book A-1, pp. 138–140, 2 February 1795; FHL film 364581, DGS 7900779, images 81–82.

    Supports
    William Mason as the “eldest son of Thomas Mason” of Logan County and Thomas’s payment connected to the conveyance.
    Limit
    The deed does not name Benjamin, state Joseph’s relationship to Thomas and William, or prove this Thomas was the Rough Creek seller.
    Open deed image ↗
  23. 23

    Monroe County Will Book B access locator

    Monroe County, Missouri, Will Books A–B, 1832–1870; FamilySearch catalog 94979, FHL film 972876, DGS 7831818; Missouri Archives reel C 4667.

    Supports
    The catalog work identified a Monroe County will-book route for the period after Benjamin’s 1850 census appearance and helped guide the later recovery of his recorded will in a different FamilySearch image group.
    Limit
    This locator did not itself establish a Benjamin entry or any will contents. The recorded will has since been reviewed separately and is cited in reference 65; the complete estate remains unfinished.
    Open catalog entry ↗
  24. 24

    Salem Association minutes, 1815

    Minutes of the Salem Association of Baptists, Kentucky, Wilson’s Creek Meeting-House, 13–14 October 1815, printed pp. 1–3; Boyce Digital Repository, handle 10392/6311.

    Supports
    Benjamin Meason was seated as one of two messengers when the newly organized Salem Church at Bardstown entered the association and was appointed to supervise printing the minutes.
    Limit
    The minutes do not call Benjamin a charter member, identify his prior congregation, or state any family relationship.
    Open repository item ↗
  25. 25

    1850 United States census — George M. Meason household

    1850 U.S. census, District 59, Monroe County, Missouri, p. 119b, dwelling and family 655; NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 407.

    Supports
    George M. Meason as a separate Monroe County household head, reported age 40 and born in Kentucky, with Martha and children in the household.
    Limit
    The schedule does not state relationships or name George’s parents. It does not prove that Benjamin was his father.
    Open census image ↗
  26. 26

    George M. Meason grave marker

    George M. Meason marker, Mount Calvary Cemetery, Dallas, Texas; photographed 19 April 2002 and published with Find a Grave memorial 5786133.

    Supports
    The marker inscription gives 10 May 1818–11 November 1887 and establishes the burial location represented by the memorial.
    Limit
    The marker names no parents, does not expand the middle initial, and gives no birthplace. Its birth year conflicts with census evidence, and its informant and erection date are unknown.
    Open memorial and marker ↗
  27. 27

    Reported Benjamin Meason will and burial account

    “Benjamin Meason 1776,” Meason Grampas family compilation, reporting a will written 19 August 1853 and recorded 25 January 1854.

    Supports
    A derivative research lead that pointed toward a reserved burial square on a Monroe County farm devised to James S. Meason and helped focus the original-record search.
    Limit
    This is a derivative family account, not the controlling source. The recorded will and probate order in reference 65 now verify the devise and burial reservation while correcting the reported signing and recording dates; the cemetery location and complete farm chain remain unresolved.
    Open derivative account ↗
  28. 28

    Monroe County deed-index review, 1831–1869

    Monroe County, Missouri, direct and indirect deed indexes, 1831–1869; FamilySearch catalog 215468, DGS 8196783; complete regular-M grantor images 92–105 and grantee images 258–272 reviewed.

    Supports
    The page-by-page index review found James S. Meason as an indexed principal in an 1855 Section 11 deed. An adjacent original names J. C. Kippers, George M. Meason, and James L. Meason as joint grantees, but states no kinship.
    Limit
    No indexed relationship statement was found. Entries under another principal, clerk variants, and unindexed instruments remain possible; the Section 11 parcels do not match Benjamin’s candidate Section 20 farm.
    Open catalog entry ↗
  29. 29

    1876 Monroe County plat — Township 55 North, Range 11 West

    Illustrated Historical Atlas of Monroe County, Missouri (Edwards Brothers, 1876), p. 45; State Historical Society of Missouri, item 3370.

    Supports
    Later ownership labels for the two forty-acre halves of Benjamin’s proved 1835 patent tract in the Woodlawn area.
    Limit
    The plat does not establish that this was the farm described in the recorded will, show the 1853 title chain, or prove the presence or absence of a burial ground.
    Open historical plat ↗
  30. 30

    Public member-tree citation review

    Review of visible citations in 25 public George M. Meason profiles and 10 public Thomas Meason profiles on Ancestry, 17 September 2026.

    Supports
    Every sampled profile repeated the disputed relationship assigned to it, but none exposed a record that stated the parent-child relationship. The Thomas profiles also carried incompatible death claims.
    Limit
    This was a sample of accessible public profiles, not every online tree. Missing citations do not disprove a relationship; the audit shows that numerical agreement is not independent evidence.
    Search public member trees ↗
  31. 31

    George M. Meason–Elizabeth Hay marriage return

    Clark County, Missouri, Marriage Book A, manuscript p. 4, entry 11; marriage solemnized 16 November 1837 and recorded 20 November 1837; Ancestry collection 1171, record 9386577.

    Supports
    George M. Meason and Elizabeth Hay married in Clark County on 16 November 1837. The document is a recorded minister’s return.
    Limit
    The return gives no age, parent, guardian, consent, bondsman, witness, or couple signature and therefore does not identify George’s parents.
    Open indexed marriage record ↗
  32. 32

    George M. Meason–Martha Reed marriage return

    Clark County, Missouri, Marriage Book A, manuscript p. 21, entry 91; marriage solemnized 27 October 1840 and recorded 7 November 1840; Ancestry collection 1171, record 9386657.

    Supports
    George M. Meason and Martha Reed, both described as residents of Clark County, married on 27 October 1840.
    Limit
    The return does not give Martha a middle initial and names no parent, guardian, consent, bondsman, witness, or couple signature.
    Open indexed marriage record ↗
  33. 33

    George M. Meason census sequence, 1860–1880

    1860 U.S. census, Clay Township, Shelby County, Missouri, p. 192, NARA M653, roll 657; 1870 U.S. census, Marion Township, Monroe County, Missouri, p. 658A, NARA M593, roll 793; 1880 U.S. census, Precinct 2, Dallas County, Texas, p. 157A, ED 60, NARA T9, roll 1299.

    Supports
    George is reported as age 50, 60, and 70 across the three schedules, consistently implying birth about 1810. The 1880 relationship column directly records 24-year-old James as George’s son, Eva as James’s wife and George’s daughter-in-law, and Fannie as George’s granddaughter; it also reports both of George’s parents born in Kentucky without naming them.
    Limit
    Census ages and parental birthplaces depend on an unknown informant, and the 1860 and 1870 schedules predate the relationship column used in 1880. None of the schedules names George’s parents or proves a relationship to Benjamin.
    Open 1880 indexed census record ↗
  34. 34

    Nowell–Sedberry descendant family-Bible page

    Publicly shared “NOWELL/SEDBERRY FAMILY BIBLE PAGE 3,” reviewed through Ancestry Public Member Photos and Scanned Documents; shared 19 June 2020.

    Supports
    A descendant-held lineage note expands George’s middle initial as Mansfield and repeats a 10 May 1810 birth and 11 November 1887 death tradition.
    Limit
    The page does not name Benjamin or Hannah as George’s parents. No title page, publication date, repository, or ownership chain was exposed, so it is family testimony rather than contemporary proof.
    Search public member media ↗
  35. 35

    Salem Association minutes, 1817

    Minutes of the Salem Association of Baptists, Kentucky, Mill Creek Meeting-House, Nelson County, 26–27 September 1817; Boyce Digital Repository, handle 10392/6313.

    Supports
    The Salem row names William Kendall and Joseph Lewis as the congregation’s selected messengers in 1817, after Benjamin served in 1815 and 1816.
    Limit
    Annual messenger selection is not a complete membership roll. Benjamin’s omission does not prove dismissal, migration, death, or absence from the congregation.
    Open repository item ↗
  36. 36

    Mill Creek Baptist Church article locator

    The Nelson County Genealogist, volume 6, number 3 (March 1990), “Mill Creek Baptist Church, Nelson County, KY (1793–1815),” part 1 of 2, apparent pp. 45–48; Nelson County Genealogical Roundtable table of contents.

    Supports
    The exact issue and article route most likely to reveal whether the missing local church record was transcribed or identify its custodian.
    Limit
    The article itself has not been reviewed. Its title proves nothing about Benjamin, membership, transfer, kinship, or the survival of an original record book.
    Open official contents locator ↗
  37. 37

    James Lawrence “Jimmy” Meason senior yearbook entry

    Family-held scan of a senior yearbook entry for Jimmy Meason; digital image in my family collection.

    Supports
    Provides a contemporary school portrait and records Jimmy’s participation in football, basketball, class leadership, the annual staff, and FFA.
    Limit
    The surviving image does not show the yearbook title, school, publication year, or page number. Those publication details still need to be identified from the original volume.
  38. 38

    Cynthia June “Cindee” Meason formal school portrait

    Family photograph preserved in my Google Photos collection; display-resolution copy reviewed 17 September 2026.

    Supports
    Provides the working portrait identification and full formal school portrait for Cynthia June “Cindee” Meason (1958–1991). The full image is the source of the tighter portrait-circle crop.
    Limit
    The school, studio, exact date, original print custodian, and photographer have not yet been documented. This is a display-resolution copy rather than the original scan.
  39. 39

    James Lawrence “Jimmy” Meason studio portrait

    Family photograph preserved in my Google Photos collection; source filename “20200127_174408.jpg”; display-resolution copy reviewed 17 September 2026.

    Supports
    Provides the working portrait identification for James Lawrence “Jimmy” Meason (1934–1973) and visually agrees with his senior-year portrait.
    Limit
    The photographer, studio, original date, and original print custodian have not yet been documented. This is a display-resolution copy rather than the full-resolution scan.
  40. 40

    James Lawrence Meason portrait

    Family photograph from my family collection under the filename “2014-03-02 James Lawrence Meason 001.jpg”; full 939×1203 digital copy reviewed 17 September 2026.

    Supports
    Provides the working identification and full porch photograph for James Lawrence Meason (1892–1949). The handwritten caption reads “James Lawrence Meason,” and the full image is the source of the tighter portrait-circle crop.
    Limit
    The filename date is not established as the photograph date, and the handwritten caption is not assumed to be James’s autograph. The date, place, photographer, original custodian, and independent identification remain to be documented.
  41. 41

    Mary Estelle Sledge Meason portrait

    Family-tree photograph titled “elizabeth’s Mother,” preserved in my Ancestry media collection; full digital copy reviewed 17 September 2026.

    Supports
    Provides the working portrait identification and full standing photograph for Mary Estelle Sledge Meason (1896–1952), wife of James Lawrence Meason.
    Limit
    The title identifies her only through a family relationship. The approximate date, place, photographer, original custodian, and independent identification remain to be documented.
  42. 42

    Franklin Meason portrait

    Family-tree photograph titled “franklin meason at his home in Richardson, X,” preserved in my Ancestry media collection; full digital copy reviewed 17 September 2026.

    Supports
    Provides the working portrait identification and full seated home photograph for Franklin Meason (1850–1933). The image is the source of the tighter crop used in his portrait circle.
    Limit
    The exact Richardson location, approximate date, photographer, original custodian, and independent identification remain to be documented.
  43. 43

    Christian Evangelist, October 1853

    Christian Evangelist, volume 9, number 10 (October 1853); Abilene Christian University Special Collections digital repository.

    Supports
    Identifies a finite denominational issue to inspect for a death notice or life sketch near Benjamin Meason’s reported death.
    Limit
    I verified the issue record, but the public PDF route returned HTTP 403 on 17 September 2026. I could not inspect any interior pages, so this does not show that no notice exists.
    Open issue record ↗
  44. 44

    Christian Evangelist, November 1853

    Christian Evangelist, volume 9, number 11 (November 1853); Abilene Christian University Special Collections digital repository.

    Supports
    Identifies the second finite denominational issue to inspect for a death notice or life sketch near Benjamin Meason’s reported death.
    Limit
    I verified the issue record, but the public PDF route returned HTTP 403 on 17 September 2026. I could not inspect any interior pages, so this does not show that no notice exists.
    Open issue record ↗
  45. 45

    Paris Mercury issue locator, 23 November 1853

    Paris Mercury, 23 November 1853; State Historical Society of Missouri, Monroe County newspaper holdings, microfilm reel 33369.

    Supports
    Identifies the surviving local issue nearest Benjamin’s reported death for a focused notice and estate search.
    Limit
    The issue is listed as available on microfilm rather than freely online. I could not inspect its interior pages through the public portal, so this does not show that no notice exists.
    Open official holdings list ↗
  46. 46

    James Lawrence “Jimmy” Meason and Julie Ann Lipke wedding portrait

    Family photograph from my family collection under the filename “james and julie ann lipke.JPG”; digital copy reviewed 17 September 2026.

    Supports
    Provides a working identification of James Lawrence “Jimmy” Meason and Julie Ann Lipke together on their wedding day; the attribution agrees with the family-tree media title “Jimmy and Julie wedding.”
    Limit
    The wedding date and place, photographer, original custodian, and independent identification of both likenesses remain to be documented.
  47. 47

    Franklin and Nancy Meason shared grave marker

    Family-tree photograph titled “Franklin Meason and Nancy Meason Headstone,” preserved in my Ancestry media collection; digital copy reviewed 17 September 2026.

    Supports
    Shows the shared marker identifying Frank Meason and Nancy A. Meason as husband and wife. Nancy’s dates, 1852–1930, are legible.
    Limit
    Franklin’s terminal year is weathered or obscured in this photograph. The cemetery, marker installation date, photographer, and original file provenance remain to be documented.
  48. 48

    Nelson County Pioneer reader query, 1980

    The Nelson County Pioneer, volume 4, number 2 (Fall 1980), p. 43, reader query concerning Benjamin Meason and Hannah Doom.

    Supports
    Shows that the tradition naming George M. among Benjamin and Hannah’s children was in print before online family trees and that Benjamin’s parentage was already an open question.
    Limit
    The item is a reader’s query, not a documented answer. It supplies no source for the George–Benjamin relationship or for the parentage claims it repeats.
    Open published query image ↗
  49. 49

    Will of Jacob Doom

    Washington County, Kentucky, Will Book A, pp. 123–126; signed 4 June 1798 and proved 4 September 1798; Ancestry collection 9066, images 318–320.

    Supports
    Names Jacob’s wife Abigail, appoints Jacob Yoder executor, and directs a future equal division among Jacob’s children or their heirs while naming Sarah Grimes separately as a child and legal heir.
    Limit
    Hannah is not named, but most children are deliberately handled as an unnamed class. Her omission therefore neither proves nor disproves that she was Jacob’s daughter, and the will gives no maiden surname for Abigail.
    Open will image ↗
  50. 50

    Baptist Board mission receipt, 1815

    Second Annual Report of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions for the United States (1815), printed pp. 87 and 95, receipt dated 15 October 1815.

    Supports
    The receipt identifies “Benj. Meason” of Nelson County, Kentucky, as the person through whose hand a fifty-cent contribution was received immediately after the Salem Association meeting.
    Limit
    The receipt gives no parent, relative, or local church and is contextual evidence of Benjamin’s Baptist network, not a membership or kinship record.
    Open digitized annual report ↗
  51. 51

    Nelson circuit and chancery OCR search, 1798–1802

    Nelson County, Kentucky, Circuit Court minutes, 1790–1805, FamilySearch DGS 8188441; chancery and court issue dockets, 1795–1817, DGS 8188442; OCR-guided search completed 17 September 2026.

    Supports
    None of the OCR results I reviewed in the target years connected Benjamin to Thomas, William, George, John, or Joseph Mason or Meason. The Benjamin results I opened fell in 1805 or 1816–1817 and stated no kinship.
    Limit
    I used OCR to locate possible entries in difficult handwritten volumes, and the year filters also returned results from outside the target period. I did not read every page, so a relevant entry could still exist.
  52. 52

    My research-request log

    My research log, 17 September 2026, recording two Missouri Archives requests and one Nelson County Genealogical Roundtable article request.

    Supports
    Documents that I submitted requests for the will, the broader estate file, and the Mill Creek article and was awaiting responses at that research checkpoint.
    Limit
    This is a historical workflow record, not current evidence status. The recorded will was later recovered independently and is cited in reference 65; the complete estate and Mill Creek article remain outstanding. Submission did not establish that any requested record existed or would answer a relationship question.
  53. 53

    B. T. “Uncle Ben” Meason in Foard County records

    Foard County News, 11 July 1930, 14 June 1934, 3 September 1936, and 14 and 21 March 1940; Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University.

    Supports
    Contemporary coverage identifies the man as B. T. Meason and “Uncle Ben,” calls Ben a brother of James Reed Meason, and gives migration and family details consistent with the Benjamin or Ben in George M. and Martha Meason’s 1860 and 1870 households.
    Limit
    The reviewed newspaper items use initials or “Ben” and never expand the T. His obituary does not name his parents, and the early censuses lack relationship columns.
    Open the 1936 sibling obituary ↗
  54. 54

    Benjamin Thomas name tradition and county-history locator

    Imported Meason Family Tree and attached media titles reviewed 18 September 2026; one title attributes a B. T. Meason portrait to Bailey Phelps, They Loved the Land: Foard County History (1969), p. 216.

    Supports
    Preserves the inherited expansion “Benjamin Thomas Meason” and identifies a specific county-history page that may reveal whether Thomas appeared in print before the later family-tree title.
    Limit
    The imported person cites only member trees, and the underlying county-history page has not been reviewed. The media title may be an uploader’s expansion. Even a contemporary Thomas expansion would not identify the intended honoree or prove either disputed ancestral edge.
  55. 55

    Benjamin Thomas Meason 1940 Texas death certificate

    Texas Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, standard certificate of death no. 14422, Benjamin Thomas Meason, 12 March 1940, Hardeman County; FamilySearch image group 005144961, image 556 of 3537.

    Supports
    The original certificate spells out Benjamin Thomas Meason, gives his birth as 8 July 1857 in Missouri, and names his parents as Geo M Meason and Martha Reid. His daughter Mrs. L. P. Glover was the informant.
    Limit
    The parentage fields are direct statements in an original official record, but the information is secondary because the daughter did not witness the 1857 birth. The certificate does not identify whom Thomas honored or establish either disputed ancestral relationship above George.
    Open the original death certificate ↗
  56. 56

    James Lawrence “Jimmy” Meason 1973 Texas death certificate

    Texas Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, standard certificate of death no. 01993, James Lawrence Meason, 17 January 1973, Dallas County; “Texas, United States records, images,” FamilySearch, image 733 of 3497; Texas State Registrar Office, image group 005145688.

    Supports
    The original certificate identifies James Lawrence Meason (1934–1973) and names his parents as Lawrence Meason and Mary Sledge. Read with the names, dates, locality, and existing family evidence, it materially strengthens the direct-line connection to James Lawrence Meason (1892–1949) and Mary Estelle Sledge.
    Limit
    The parentage is a direct statement in an original official record, but it is secondary information supplied after the 1934 birth. The certificate gives the father only as Lawrence, not James Lawrence. I link to the original at FamilySearch rather than reproduce it here, and omit residential addresses and cause-and-manner details because they are not needed for the lineage.
    Open the original death certificate ↗
  57. 57

    James Lawrence Meason 1949 Texas death certificate

    Texas Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, standard certificate of death no. 56380, James Lawrence Meason, 30 October 1949, Dallas County; “Texas, United States records, images,” FamilySearch, image 1952 of 3530; Texas State Registrar Office, image group 005145069.

    Supports
    The original certificate identifies James Lawrence Meason (1892–1949) and names his parents as Frank Meason and Nancy A. Huffines. Together with the 1973 certificate, it creates an explicit two-certificate chain from Jimmy to the older James Lawrence and then to Frank and Nancy.
    Limit
    The parentage is a direct statement in an original official record, but it is secondary information supplied by Mary Meason about an 1892 birth. This certificate does not name Frank’s parents or prove that George M. Meason was Benjamin Meason’s son. I link to the FamilySearch image rather than reproduce the certificate or unnecessary medical and residential details.
    Open the original death certificate ↗
  58. 58

    Frank Meason 1933 Texas death certificate

    Texas State Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, standard certificate of death no. 27128, Frank Meason, 29 June 1933, Dallas County; “Texas, United States records, images,” FamilySearch, image 678 of 3622; Texas State Registrar Office, image group 005145224.

    Supports
    The original certificate identifies Frank Meason (1850–1933), names Nancy Ann Huffhines as his wife, and names his parents as George Mason and Martha Reed. Read with James Lawrence Meason’s 1949 certificate, it documents the direct chain from James Lawrence to Frank and then to George and Martha.
    Limit
    The parentage is a direct statement in an original official record, but it is secondary information supplied after Frank’s 1850 birth. The certificate calls him Frank rather than Franklin, spells his father’s surname Mason, and contains an age inconsistent with its exact dates. George’s reported Moberly birthplace is not independently proved. The record does not name George’s parents or prove George was Benjamin Meason’s son. I link to FamilySearch rather than reproduce the certificate or unnecessary medical and residential details.
    Open the original death certificate ↗
  59. 59

    Elder James Lawrence Meason 1919 Texas death certificate

    Texas State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, standard certificate of death no. 5174, James Lawrence Meason, 12 January 1919, Upshur County; “Texas, United States records, images,” FamilySearch, image 2333 of 3229; Texas State Registrar Office, image group 005145707.

    Supports
    The original certificate identifies an elder James Lawrence Meason, born about 1820, and names Benjamin Meason as his father. Read with the 1900 Foard County census, it supports a strong indirect case that this elder James belonged to George M. Meason’s family cluster.
    Limit
    The parentage is secondary information supplied roughly a century after the reported birth. The certificate gives its informant only as J. R. Meason and states no relationship. This man has not been proved to be the 1855 James L.; he must not be merged with the separately recorded James S. Meason. The certificate does not mention George or prove that George was Benjamin’s son. I link to FamilySearch rather than reproduce the certificate or unnecessary medical and residential details.
    Open the original death certificate ↗
  60. 60

    1900 Foard County census — James L. Meason as uncle

    1900 U.S. census, Foard County, Texas, Justice Precinct 1, supervisor’s district 3, enumeration district 27, sheets 7A–7B, dwelling and family 120, lines 44–52, James R. Meason household; enumerated 18 June 1900; National Archives microfilm publication T623.

    Supports
    The original two-page schedule records James R. Meason with his wife Eva and places a 76-year-old James L. Meason in their household, explicitly describing the elder James as James R.’s uncle. James R.’s age, spouse, birthplace, and family context strongly continue George M. and Martha Reed Meason’s son James and daughter-in-law Eva from the 1880 census.
    Limit
    “Uncle” does not specify the paternal or maternal side, a blood or marriage relationship, or a looser family usage. Identifying the 1900 elder James with the 1919 decedent is strongly supported but still requires a cross-record conclusion, and the records disagree about whether he was widowed or single. Nothing in this census identifies him as the James L. in the 1855 Monroe County deed or literally names George as his brother or Benjamin’s son. The authenticated census images remain in the private research archive and are not reproduced here.
    Open the census at Ancestry ↗
  61. 61

    John C. Kippers–Laura Ann Meason marriage return

    Monroe County, Missouri, Marriage Book A, p. 222; marriage solemnized 5 March 1846 and filed 10 July 1846; Ancestry collection 1171, image vrmmo1833_c34891-0293.

    Supports
    The contemporary minister’s return directly calls Laura Ann Meason the daughter of Benjamin Meason, records her marriage to John C. Kippers, and states that both spouses were of lawful age and residents of Monroe County.
    Limit
    The return does not name Laura’s mother, give her birth date, identify any sibling, or state a relationship between Benjamin and either George M. or James L. Meason. I link to the provider’s record rather than reproduce the privately preserved image.
    Open the original marriage return ↗
  62. 62

    1860 Monroe County census — J. L. Mason and the Kipper–Hollingsworth cluster

    1860 U.S. census, Clay Township, Monroe County, Missouri, post office Granville, pp. 111–112, dwellings 746–754; enumerated 16–17 July 1860; Ancestry collection 7667, images 4233984_00115–00116.

    Supports
    The consecutive schedules place Kentucky-born blacksmith J. L. Mason near the Parker couple from the 1855 deeds, B. H. Hollingsworth, and John and Laura Kipper. The Kipper household includes David, Virginia, and Edwin Hollingsworth, who had lived with Benjamin and Hannah Mason in 1850. Together with age, place, and the deed network, this strongly continues the Missouri James L. identity and its extended-family circle.
    Limit
    The census states no relationships among the neighboring households, does not say that James worked with John Kipper, and does not prove that this Missouri James was the elder James later recorded in Texas. The Hollingsworth identifications depend on cross-record comparison. I link to the provider rather than reproduce the privately preserved census images.
    Open the first census page at Ancestry ↗
  63. 63

    1870 Monroe County census — James L. Meason, miller

    1870 U.S. census, Washington Township, Monroe County, Missouri, post office Shelbina, p. 31, printed p. 731, line 18, dwelling 199, family 206; enumerated 4 June 1870; NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 793; Ancestry collection 7163, image 4273712_00723.

    Supports
    The schedule records 46-year-old Kentucky-born James L. Mason as a miller in a Monroe County household immediately followed by three mill laborers. His name, age, birthplace, county, and occupation strongly continue the 1850–1860 Missouri identity and begin the mill-work progression later seen in the 1880 census.
    Limit
    The census does not define James’s relationship to the household, identify the mill’s owner, or prove that his reported $1,000 in personal estate represented mill equipment. It does not by itself connect the Missouri man to the elder James later recorded in Texas. I link to the provider rather than reproduce the privately preserved image.
    Open the census image at Ancestry ↗
  64. 64

    1880 Monroe County census — James L. Meason, sawmill proprietor

    1880 U.S. census, Jackson Township, Monroe County, Missouri, enumeration district 54, p. 35, line 41, dwelling 344, family 360; enumerated 17 June 1880; Ancestry collection 6742, record 25450172.

    Supports
    The schedule records 55-year-old Kentucky-born James L. Meason as a single boarder and proprietor of a sawmill, followed by two boarders whose occupations are working in that sawmill. The consistent age, birthplace, county, and name complete a high-confidence Missouri trail from 1850 through 1880 and give life to his path from blacksmith to miller to mill proprietor.
    Limit
    The schedule does not name or locate the sawmill, establish legal ownership beyond the stated occupation, or prove that this was the elder James living in Texas in 1900 and 1919. Its single status conflicts with the 1900 census’s widowed entry, and the Missouri-to-Texas migration remains undocumented. I link to the provider rather than reproduce the privately preserved image.
    Open the census image at Ancestry ↗
  65. 65

    Benjamin Meason’s recorded will and probate order

    Monroe County, Missouri, recorded will-book copy, manuscript pp. 557–558; will dated 17 August 1853 and proved and recorded 7 September 1853; FamilySearch DGS 7646958, image 673.

    Supports
    The will directly names son James S. Meason and daughters Virginia Ann Hollingsworth and Emily Jane Meason. It gives James the farm and most personal property subject to debts and distributions, gives the daughters household bequests, adds silverware and a saddle horse for Emily, appoints James sole executor, and reserves forever a seventy-foot-square family burial ground containing Benjamin’s wife’s remains. The attached court order establishes probate and recording on 7 September 1853.
    Limit
    This is a contemporary recorded will-book copy and probate order, not the surviving loose original. The recorded “B. Meason” signature is therefore not a verified autograph. A will need not name every child, so the omission of Laura, George, James L., or others does not exclude them; it also does not identify Benjamin’s wife or parents.
    Open FamilySearch film ↗
  66. 66

    Meason Family Cemetery survey

    Missouri DAR and cemetery records, typescript p. 102, “III. Meason Family Cemetery”; FamilySearch DGS 8218733, image 480.

    Supports
    The later survey names Hannah Doom Meason and Benjamin Meason, records Benjamin as having died in 1853, and places the cemetery in the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 20, Township 55, Range 10. Read with the will’s reserved burial square, it strongly supports a shared family burial place.
    Limit
    This is a derivative typescript survey, not a contemporary burial register or marker photograph; the page gives no survey date, compiler, coordinates, or inscription detail. Its Range 10 description conflicts with Benjamin’s known Section 20 patent in Range 11, so it does not prove that the patent tract was the burial farm or support a precise modern map pin.
    Open FamilySearch film ↗
  67. 67

    Benjamin Meason conveys his interest as Joseph Meason’s heir

    Union County, Kentucky, deed book, manuscript pp. 106–108; instrument dated and acknowledged 7 July 1813 and recorded 28 September 1813; FamilySearch DGS 8573278, images 72–73.

    Supports
    The recorded deed directly calls Benjamin Meason of Nelson County “one of the heirs at law” of Joseph Meason deceased and conveys Benjamin’s undivided interest in Joseph’s 1,000-acre Highland Creek tract to James Meason of Claiborne County, Mississippi Territory.
    Limit
    “Heir at law” does not mean “son.” Benjamin could have inherited through a child, sibling, or another statutory branch. The deed does not name his father or mother, state his precise relationship to Joseph, or authorize placing Joseph above him in the tree.
    Open FamilySearch film ↗
  68. 68

    Joseph Meason’s brothers and collateral heirs

    Union County, Kentucky, deed book, manuscript pp. 111–115; instrument dated 14 May 1813, acknowledged in Fairfield County, Ohio, 1 June 1813, and recorded 28 September 1813; FamilySearch DGS 8573278, images 74–76.

    Supports
    The deed identifies John and Samuel Mason as brothers of Joseph Mason and names children of both brothers among Joseph’s heirs at law. The sibling names and the neighboring heir deeds strongly associate this Joseph with the family named in Thomas Meason senior’s 1779 will and show that Joseph’s estate passed through collateral branches.
    Limit
    The deed does not name Benjamin, identify Thomas Meason senior as Joseph’s father, or assign Benjamin to John, Samuel, Thomas, or any other sibling branch. It makes Thomas born in 1755 a serious candidate father, not a proved or uniquely selected one.
    Open FamilySearch film ↗
  69. 69

    William Mason conveys his Highland Creek interest

    Union County, Kentucky, Deed Book A, manuscript pp. 70–71; instrument dated 27 April 1811, acknowledged in Henderson County 15 May 1811, and recorded in Union County 19 August 1811; FamilySearch DGS 8573278, image 24.

    Supports
    William Mason of Ohio, expressly identified as a son of Thomas Mason deceased, conveyed his interest in the 200 Highland Creek acres to two Henderson County grantees, including Leonard Jones. The first surname is difficult in this image and is resolved as James C. Wardlow by the later case record.
    Limit
    The deed confirms the Thomas-to-William relationship and extends the title chain, but it does not state Joseph’s relationship to Thomas or William and does not name Benjamin.
    Open FamilySearch film ↗
  70. 70

    Wardlow and Jones v. Higgins ejectment abstract

    George B. Simpson, Biography of Judge Peter Casey, his court, and contemporaries (1811–1812), printed p. 130; FamilySearch Digital Library item 103297, image 141; court entry dated 11 March 1812.

    Supports
    The derivative abstract identifies an ejectment involving Wardlow and Jones and 200 acres within Edmond Rice’s 1,000-acre patent, strongly matching William Mason’s Highland Creek title branch.
    Limit
    This is a derivative abstract rather than the original case file. It does not print “Highland Creek,” resolve title, identify Higgins with the mapped mill, or add any kinship statement.
    Open the case abstract ↗
  71. 71

    Munsell and Anderson’s 1818 Kentucky map

    Luke Munsell and Hugh Anderson, A map of the State of Kentucky: from actual survey; also part of Indiana and Illinois (Frankfort, 1818), Copy 1; Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, control no. 75653132.

    Supports
    The contemporary map labels Highland Creek, Higgins’ Mill, Carthage, Mason’s Creek, and nearby western Kentucky geography.
    Limit
    The map is geographic context, not a parcel survey. It does not prove that the mapped Higgins was the ejectment defendant, place either mill inside William’s 200 acres, or show a Mason residence.
    Open the original map ↗
  72. 72

    Union County Mason deed-index review, 1816–1835

    Union County, Kentucky, grantor index E–N and grantee index I–S, complete Mason surname runs for 1816–1835; FamilySearch DGS 8193444, images 476–478, and DGS 8193441, images 185–188.

    Supports
    No responsive indexed Mason principal-party conveyance, partition, consolidation, release, commissioner deed, or backward recital tied to the Highland Creek tract was found in the reviewed period.
    Limit
    This is a bounded principal-party index negative. It cannot exclude an unindexed or misfiled instrument, an incidental recital, a court proceeding, or a deed indexed only under another surname.
    Open the grantor index page ↗