The trail behind every conclusion.

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, 25-year-old Kentucky-born James Mason without a middle initial, and George and Elizabeth Hollingsworth with children David, Benjamin, Virginia, and Edwin in one Monroe County household.

Limit

The census supports an approximate birth year, not an exact birth date, and it does not identify Benjamin’s parents. It gives the household member James Mason no middle initial or relationship, so this entry alone cannot assign him to the separately documented James S. or James L.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Will of Thomas Meason senior

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Will Book 1, p. 17, entry 28; dated 14 March and proved 15 March 1779; FamilySearch DGS 7727205, FHL 1316409, item 5, image 417.

Supports

Twelve named children—six sons and six daughters—including son Thomas and daughter Ann; Benjamin is absent from the extensive list. Review of the complete recorded will entry confirms that it 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. The earlier recorded entry and the cataloged copy-volume rendering on pp. 16–17 (Ancestry collection 8802, record 2042575) are two versions of one will, not independent wills or the loose signed original. Neither proof notation establishes an exact death date. Earlier relationship indexing misclassified daughter Ann as a spouse, while adjacent will text supplied Jane; those claims are superseded by review of the recorded entries.

Will of Thomas Meason of Hempfield

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Will Book 1, p. 192, item 308; will dated 18 September 1785 and proved 22 November 1805; Ancestry collection 8802, media 007727205_00506.

Supports

Wife Ann and eight children—Sarah, John, Thomas, Elizabeth, Ann, Synthia, Mary, and Eliza—including an expressly enumerated group of six youngest children; Benjamin is absent. Hugh Quigley witnessed the will, and James Westbay was an executor, providing two specific bridges to Ann’s 1786 agreement.

Limit

The omission strongly disfavors this testator as Benjamin’s father but does not identify Benjamin’s actual parents or connect this man to Thomas Meason senior. The 22 November 1805 notation is delayed proof or recording—not a death date, a survival date, or the date Ann was first documented as a widow. A separate agreement dated 21 March 1786 already calls Ann the widow and relict of deceased Thomas.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Separate 1855 Monroe County deeds to James S. and James L.

Monroe County, Missouri, Deed Book O, pp. 338–340; two Parker deeds dated 28 December 1855 and filed separately in February 1856; FamilySearch DGS 8196789, images 205–206. The James S. entry was located through the grantee index, DGS 8196783, image 265.

Supports

One original deed conveys land to James S. Meason. A separate adjacent deed conveys land to J. C. Kippers, George M. Meason, and James L. Meason as joint grantees and refers to a lot previously sold to James L. The transactions use different middle initials and neither states kinship.

Limit

The deeds do not identify the 1850 household’s James, establish a relationship among the joint grantees, or identify James S.’s Section 11 parcel as Benjamin’s candidate Section 20 farm. The index does not exhaust mentions within deeds indexed under other parties.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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, repeats a 10 May 1810 birth and 11 November 1887 death tradition, and names George Hollingsworth Meason in the later family.

Limit

The page does not name Benjamin or Hannah as George’s parents or identify whom the Hollingsworth middle name was meant to honor. No title page, publication date, repository, or ownership chain was exposed, so it is family testimony rather than contemporary proof.

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.

Mill Creek Baptist Church derivative transcript

“Mill Creek Baptist Church, Nelson Co., KY,” The Nelson County Genealogist 6, no. 3 (Spring 1990): 45–48.

Supports

The derivative transcript names B. Meason with Thomas Hubbard, James Nall, Ben Edwards, and Henry Cotton on the June 1810 meeting-house commission and Ben Meason with John Batsel as church sextons on 18 July 1812. The exact Nelson County chronology, recurring associates, and independent 1811 association record strongly identify the first two names as Benjamin. It also prints Bro Meason bringing an April 1813 discipline charge, where expanding the omitted given name to Benjamin is probable context rather than verbatim wording.

Limit

This is a derivative transcript, not the original minutes or an independent source vote equal to the 1811 annual. The supplied pages have no byline, underlying church-book citation, manuscript image, transcriber, or custodian. They do not establish Benjamin’s admission, baptism, charter status, dismissal, transfer to Bardstown Salem, wife, family, birthplace, parents, or destination congregation. The privately preserved article scan is not cleared for republication or hotlinking.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Mill Creek article was later received and is cited in reference 36. The complete estate remains outstanding. Submission alone did not establish that any requested record existed or would answer a relationship question.

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.

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.

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.

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, image group 005145688; indexed-record ARK K3ZR-XYM.

Supports

The original certificate identifies James Lawrence Meason (1934–1973) and names his parents as Lawrence Meason and Mary Sledge. It independently corroborates the fuller parent names recorded on his contemporaneous 1934 birth certificate and birth-index entry.

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 FamilySearch record ↗
• Open the original death certificate ↗

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.

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 Missouri-born Richardson resident Frank Meason (1850–1933), names Nancy Ann Huffhines as his wife, and names his parents as George Mason and Martha Reed. The wife, birthplace and locality correlate him with the father reported on James Lawrence Meason’s 1949 certificate. This certificate does not itself name James as Frank’s child.

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.

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 in Missouri according to the informant, and names Benjamin Meason as his father. Read with the 1900 Foard County census, it supports an indirect case that this elder James belonged to George M. Meason’s family cluster.

Limit

The parentage and birthplace are 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.; Missouri records call that man Kentucky-born, and no migration record bridges them. Nor should he 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.

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 Missouri-born 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. The Missouri James L. was consistently recorded as Kentucky-born; this census does not bridge that birthplace conflict or the 1880–1900 record gap, or literally name George as the elder James’s brother or Benjamin’s son. The authenticated census images remain in the private research archive and are not reproduced here.

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.

1860 Monroe County census — J. L. Mason, blacksmith, and neighboring households

1860 U.S. census, Clay Township, Monroe County, Missouri, post office Granville, p. 111, line 10, dwelling/family 746 (J. L. Mason); neighboring households continue on pp. 111–112; enumerated 16–17 July 1860; Ancestry collection 7667, images 4233984_00115–00116.

Supports

Page 111, line 10 explicitly lists 36-year-old Kentucky-born “J. L. Mason” living alone with occupation “Blacksmith.” The consecutive schedules place him 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. Their presence with Benjamin’s documented daughter Laura supports a continuing family network by cross-record inference. Age, place, and the deed network strongly support identifying J. L. as the Missouri James L.

Limit

The census writes initials, not the full name James L.; that identity is a cross-record assessment. The household pattern contributes circumstantial support for linking J. L. to the 1850 James, but does not establish it or identify him with Benjamin’s will-named son James S. The schedule states no relationships among neighboring households, does not explain why the children lived with the Kippers or say that James worked with John, and does not prove that this Missouri man 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 page 112, Kipper household at Ancestry ↗

1870 Monroe County census — James L. Mason, 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, and county strongly continue the 1860 J. L. Mason identity.

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.

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 working-life sequence from 1860 through 1880.

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.

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.

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.

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 image 72 in the FamilySearch film ↗
• Open image 73 in the FamilySearch film ↗

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 image 74 in the FamilySearch film ↗
• Open image 75 in the FamilySearch film ↗
• Open image 76 in the FamilySearch film ↗

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ann Meason–Hugh Quigley premarital agreement

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book 3, pp. 443–444; agreement dated 21 March 1786, acknowledged 11 June 1798, and recorded 20 June 1798; FHL film 929167, DGS 8085360, images 676–677.

Supports

The agreement calls Ann Meason the “widow and relict” of deceased Thomas Meason, says Ann and Hugh Quigley intended to marry, and protects Ann’s share of land to be sold under Thomas’s last will. Together with the matching Quigley and Westbay roles in the 1785 will, it establishes that Thomas Meason of Hempfield was dead by 21 March 1786 and therefore cannot be the living Kentucky Thomas documented in 1788 and 1795.

Limit

The agreement does not name Benjamin, identify his parents, prove that Ann and Hugh later married, or connect Hempfield Thomas to Thomas Meason senior. Its 1798 acknowledgment and recording dates do not change the agreement’s 21 March 1786 date or the widow statement made then.

• Opening page · image 676 ↗
• Continuation · image 677 ↗

James Lawrence Meason 1934 Texas birth-index entry

Texas Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, statewide birth index, 1934 births, cycle 01 through 99, p. 1279, James Lawrence Meason, 26 October 1934, Dallas County (county code 057); Ancestry collection 8781, image TXBTH_1934_000514l, record 152492117.

Supports

The statewide index records the child as James Lawrence Meason, born 26 October 1934 in Dallas County, the father as James Lawrence Meason, and the mother as Mary Estelle Sledge. The entry matches Jimmy’s documented identity and strongly corroborates the parent names reported on his 1973 death certificate.

Limit

This is a derivative index entry, not the underlying birth certificate or a second original event record. The reviewed index image is not cleared for public reproduction.

James Lawrence Meason 1934 Texas birth certificate

Texas State Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, standard certificate of birth for James Lawrence Meason, 26 October 1934, Dallas County, state file no. 80844, register no. 29; FamilySearch indexed-record ARK K6GQ-G18, image ARK 33SQ-GTHM-DP; accessed 21 September 2026.

Supports

The contemporaneous certificate records the child as James Lawrence Meason, the father as James Lawrence Meason, and the mother as Mary Estelle Sledge. It is the strongest reviewed source for these recorded parent-child relationships.

Limit

The privately preserved certificate image is not cleared for public reproduction; the public link opens the corresponding FamilySearch record page.

1940 Richardson household — James L. Meason family

1940 United States census, Richardson town, Dallas County, Texas, enumeration district 57-14, sheet 4B, lines 59–63, visitation 86, James L. Meason household; enumerated 9 April 1940; NARA T627, roll 4016, frame 37; Ancestry collection 2442, record 155810441, image m-t0627-04016-00037; FamilySearch indexed-record ARK KWJL-2PF.

Supports

The complete reviewed schedule records James L. Meason, 48, wife Mary, 43, two daughters, and son Jimmie, 5, together in Richardson. It corroborates the family association recorded by the 1934 birth certificate and later records, and supplies an age and household control for Mary’s identity.

Limit

The full-resolution NARA scan verifies the complete five-person household and its boundaries; it is another copy of the same census event, not independent evidence from the earlier screenshot or provider indexes. The schedule names relationships to the head but does not establish a narrower biological, legal, or adoptive relationship subtype. Private image bytes are not republished here.

• Open the Ancestry record ↗
• Open the FamilySearch record ↗

Ralph Cherry bill of sale to Isaac Mason

Fairfield County, Ohio, deed book, manuscript pp. 309 and 354; bill of sale dated 13 October 1807 and repeated in the recorded books in 1808; FamilySearch DGS 8141949, images 548 and 576; original grantee index, DGS 7900699, image 97, p. 39.

Supports

Ralph Cherry of Fairfield County sold livestock to Isaac Mason of the same county, with Samuel Randall and Lydia Carty as witnesses. Isaac and Samuel are controlled members of the family group named in the 1813 collateral-heir deed, making the instrument a useful pre-1813 associate-cluster confirmation.

Limit

The instrument does not name Elizabeth Cherry, call Ralph her husband, name John Mason, state kinship, or supply a child or heir roster. Lydia Carty is preserved as written and is not merged with Caty/Martha Randal. The repeated recording is the same transaction, not an independent event.

• First recording · manuscript page 309 ↗
• Repeated recording · manuscript page 354 ↗
• Original grantee-index page ↗

Isaac and Rachel Mason deed to Henry Kistler

Fairfield County, Ohio, Deed Book J, p. 346; Isaac Mason and Rachel his wife to Henry Kistler, instrument dated 19 June 1815 and recorded 25 August 1815; FamilySearch DGS 8585332, image 448.

Supports

The deed confirms the exact Isaac-and-Rachel couple named in the 1813 collateral-heir deed and recites a federal patent to Isaac for the conveyed half-section.

Limit

The deed names no John, inheritance, or heir relationship. Its patent recital does not resolve any earlier entry, warrant, or equitable right, identify John or his family, or provide a sibling or heir list.

Richard Holmes–Elizabeth Cherry marriage return

Fairfield County, Ohio, marriage return for Richard Holmes and Elizabeth Cherry, married 12 December 1816 and returned 6 January 1817; FHL film 295268, DGS 4016266, image 121.

Supports

The bride’s name, Fairfield County setting, and widow chronology make her a plausible continuation of Elizabeth or Betty Cherry, John Mason’s daughter in the 1813 collateral-heir deed.

Limit

The return contains no Mason or Meason relationship and no unique associate control. The bride remains an unresolved identity candidate and must not be merged with John’s daughter or used to add Richard Holmes as her proved spouse.

Court entry and depositions proving Joseph Meason’s oral will

Henderson County, Kentucky, Will Book A, p. 104 and continuation; depositions concerning Joseph Meason’s declaration of 29 March 1799, ordered recorded 6 August 1799; FamilySearch DGS 4819887, images 137–138.

Supports

Mary Hartle, John Carnahan, and Rachel Thompson described Joseph very ill aboard a Kentucky boat on the Monongahela about a mile above Pittsburgh, his request for a deed drawn to convey land to Joseph Worthington that could not be reached among packed effects, his spoken declaration, and his death soon afterward. Carnahan and Thompson described the 1,000-acre Highland Creek tract.

Limit

This is a clerk’s will-book copy of a court order and witness depositions, not Joseph’s handwritten will or the requested deed. It gives no illness, boat origin or destination, deed execution or fate, or final land-title outcome. It does not establish that no separate writing ever existed.

• First page · court entry and depositions ↗
• Continuation · depositions ↗

Kentucky’s 1797 wills act

William Littell, The Statute Law of Kentucky, vol. 1 (Frankfort, 1809), chapter CCXCIII, pp. 611–615, reproducing the 1797 act concerning wills and testaments.

Supports

The act required a land devise to be in writing and signed; its rules for oral wills did not remove that land-devise requirement.

Limit

The statute explains why Joseph’s spoken declaration alone was not a written devise of Highland Creek. It does not determine whether the requested deed was signed, delivered, later recovered, or legally effective, or resolve the tract’s later title.

Kentucky boats were inland flatboats

National Park Service, “Flatboats: Transportation During the Cherokee Removal 1837–1839,” updated 21 December 2021.

Supports

Flatboats were also called Kentucky boats and commonly carried people and cargo downstream on inland rivers. This explains the boat term in Joseph’s deposition without identifying his particular craft or itinerary.

Limit

This later historical overview supplies general boat context, not evidence of Joseph’s departure point, destination, reason for travel, illness, or whether the boat was moving when he died.

Mary Meason 1952 Texas death certificate

Texas death certificate for Mary Meason, 1952, Dallas County, state file no. 58673; Ancestry collection 2272, record 22407326, certificate front.

Supports

Names her father as Jack Sledge and mother as Elizabeth Hetzer, as typed.

Limit

The certificate does not call Jack Ira or Mary Estelle. The typed mother surname is Hetzer; Netzer remains unverified. Her reported birth year conflicts with the 1900 census. A possible reverse was not independently reviewed.

Mary in the 1900 Dallas Sledge household

1900 United States census, Dallas Ward 12, Dallas County, Texas, enumeration district 125, sheet 5B, Jack and Lizzie Sledge household; NARA T623 roll 1625; Ancestry collection 7602, record 70512902.

Supports

Places daughter Mary in the household of Jack and Lizzie Sledge, supporting the later Mary Meason identity bridge.

Limit

The identity with the later Mary Meason is an inference. The census reports birth year 1897, while her 1952 death certificate reports 1896.

Mary in the 1910 Lathram household

1910 United States census, Lathram Township, Caddo County, Oklahoma, enumeration district 67, sheet 6A, Ira and Lizzie household; NARA T624 roll 1245; Ancestry collection 7884, record 22769222.

Supports

Places daughter Mary with Ira and Lizzie in the later household, contributing to the Jack/Ira and Mary identity analysis.

Limit

The census association alone does not prove that Jack and Ira were the same man or identify the later Mary Meason without correlation.

Francis and John in the 1860 Tishomingo census sequence

1860 United States census, Tishomingo County, Mississippi, NARA M653 roll 593, manuscript pp. 145, 147, 148, 146, 6 August 1860; Ancestry collection 7667, frames 4233376_00149–00152.

Supports

Francis M. Sledge starts household 958 on p. 145, line 40. Its continuation on p. 147 includes John Sledge, age 10, at line 7; household 959 starts at line 12.

Limit

The schedule has no relationship column, so the shared household does not directly establish parentage. Page 146 follows page 148 in household sequence; Sarah Bass belongs to household 969, not Francis’s household.

Francis and John in the 1870 Alcorn household

1870 United States census, Alcorn County, Mississippi, NARA M593 roll 720, manuscript pp. 31–32, F M Sleage and John household; Ancestry collection 7163, record 36514689.

Supports

Records F M Sleage, age 59 and Georgia-born, and John, age 21 and Mississippi-born, in the same complete household.

Limit

The form supplies neither John’s middle initial nor relationship to the head; identification with later John W. Sledge and fatherhood are indirect questions.

1798 Hancock County will of John Sledge

Hancock County, Georgia, Will Book AA, pp. 18–19, will dated 14 April 1798 and proved 11 October 1798; FamilySearch DGS 5759601, image 273.

Supports

The recorded will directly calls Collin Sledge the testator John Sledge’s son. Its first bequest names son Nathaniel; no wife is named.

Limit

The will does not style the testator Jr. and does not by itself identify him with a compiled patriot or establish Revolutionary service. Corrective original-image review reads fourteenth, withdrawing the earlier 17 April transcription and the supposed disagreement with the derivative date.

1834 Pike County deed witnessed by Francis M. Sledge

Pike County, Georgia, Deed Book C, p. 13, Crawley to Zilpha Sledge, 1834; FamilySearch DGS 8152116, image 288.

Supports

Names Francis M. Sledge as a witness to Zilpha Sledge’s purchase.

Limit

Witnessing a deed states no kinship between Francis and Zilpha or Collin Sledge.

Tishomingo school fund account book name index

Tishomingo County Historical & Genealogical Society, School Fund Accounts Book (2005), alphabetical name index, PDF p. 34, printed p. 228, Sledge entries.

Supports

The derivative index points Barbery Ann, Francis, John, and William Sledge to manuscript p. 19, and Barbery A., John W., Mary F., Sabra Jane, and William Sledge to manuscript p. 42.

Limit

This is a name locator, not the original account book. Manuscript pp. 19 and 42, their columns, and continuations have not been reviewed. Shared surname or page number does not establish household, identity, or kinship. A separate school-record index has different page numbers that cannot be transferred here.

John W. and Ira Sledge in the 1880 Collin County census

1880 United States census, Justice Precinct 5, Collin County, Texas, enumeration district 25, schedule p. 22B, John W. Sledge household, lines 41–44; NARA T9 roll 1296; Ancestry collection 6742, record 40381274, image 4244716-00581.

Supports

The original schedule records Ira as a son in John W. Sledge’s household. Ira’s age and natal profile are consistent with the later Ira household in 1910.

Limit

The 1880 relationship wording is direct census evidence, with an unidentified informant. The later Ira identity is a separate correlation; this record does not establish Jack and Ira as one man or Francis as John W.’s father.

Franklin in the 1860 George and Martha Mason household

1860 United States census, Clay Township, Shelby County, Missouri, post office Clarence, 4 June 1860, manuscript p. 8, stamped p. 192, dwelling 53, family 54, lines 11–20; NARA M653 roll 657; Ancestry collection 7667, record 40933476, image 4234822_00196.

Supports

Records Missouri-born Franklin, age 10, in the complete household of Kentucky-born George M. Mason, age 50, and Martha, age 40. The recurring family cluster contributes to identifying the later Frank Meason.

Limit

There is no relationship column or named informant. Co-residence alone does not establish parentage. Franklin’s age differs by about a year from the later exact birth date, and George’s Kentucky birthplace conflicts with the Moberly, Missouri report in Frank’s death certificate.

Franklin in the 1870 George and Martha Meason household

1870 United States census, Marion Township, Monroe County, Missouri, post office Madison, 31 July 1870, manuscript p. 49, stamped p. 658 (cited 658A), dwelling 330, family 335, lines 2–8; NARA M593 roll 793; Ancestry collection 7163, record 2526030, image 4273712_00577.

Supports

Records Missouri-born Franklin, age 19, with Kentucky-born George M. Meason, age 60, and Martha, age 50. Their names, ages, birthplaces and recurring household members corroborate the 1860 family cluster.

Limit

The complete household has no relationship column and its informant is unidentified. The schedule supports household continuity; the parentage conclusion also depends on the later explicit parental statement and correlated records. George’s birthplace remains in conflict with the later certificate.

James L. in the 1900 Frank and Nancy Meason household

1900 United States census, Justice Precinct 2, Dallas County, Texas, 20 June 1900, enumeration district 130, sheet 12A, lines 40–46, Frank and Nancy Meason household; NARA T623 roll 1625; Ancestry collection 7602, record 70518104, image 4112063_00851.

Supports

Directly records Texas-born James L., age 7 and born January 1893, as Frank’s son. Frank is Missouri-born, born December 1850, with Kentucky-born parents; Nancy is Kentucky-born. These details and the later household support identifying James with the Richardson man who died in 1949.

Limit

The informant is unnamed, the biological subtype of son is not specified, and identifying the later James Lawrence requires correlation. His January 1893 entry differs from the later certificate’s January 1892 date. The overwritten dwelling/family numbers are uncertain; the sheet, lines and image identify the complete household. Nancy’s maiden name and her relationship to James are not explicitly stated.

Larance in the 1910 Frank and Nancy Meason household

1910 United States census, Justice Precinct 2, Dallas County, Texas, 23 April 1910, enumeration district 81, sheet 8B, dwelling/family 148, lines 63–67; NARA T624 roll 1545; Ancestry collection 7884, record 168595620, image 4449281_00053.

Supports

Directly records Larance, age 17, as Frank’s son, born in Texas with a Missouri-born father and Kentucky-born mother. The same Frank/Nancy pairing and recurring sons John and Roy support continuity with the 1900 household and the later James Lawrence identity.

Limit

Larance is the original reading; identification with James L. and later James Lawrence is a cross-record inference. The unnamed informant and approximate age do not resolve the 1892/1893 birth-year difference or specify biological parentage. The sheet’s state/county headings are blank; that attribution comes from the provider locator. A member tree supplied a locator only and is not proof evidence.

John Minter’s 1777 conveyance to Thomas Meason

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book A, p. 285, 5 September 1777, recorded 30 October 1782; FamilySearch DGS 8036032, image 200, pp. 284–285.

Supports

John Minter conveyed his home tract on the north side of Jacob’s Creek to Thomas Meason of Berkeley County, Virginia. The purchase matches the Minter land devised to son Thomas in the 1779 will; later deeds continue the tract through its boundaries and debt history.

Limit

The 1782 index date is the recording date, not the sale date. The 1777 acreage wording remains difficult. This deed does not name Benjamin or identify the later Huntingdon or Kentucky Thomas as the son in the will.

Thomas Mason’s 1784 Minter-tract security and default instruments

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book A, pp. 380–382, instruments dated 18 May 1784 and recorded 15 June 1784; recorded copies reviewed from scans supplied by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Supports

Thomas Mason of Huntingdon conditionally conveyed his interest to Christopher Hays and John Henderson as security for an obligation involving James Hutchinson, with a companion authority for judgment and recovery on default. The recital names Minter’s 5 September 1777 conveyance; the 319½-acre description and neighboring lands connect the tract.

Limit

This is a conditional security conveyance, not an ordinary unconditional sale. It calls the debtor the recipient of the 1777 purchase but does not explain succession after the 1779 testator’s devise to son Thomas. It names no Benjamin and states no kinship. The linked catalog is a locator, not the reviewed scans.

1786 sheriff’s sale of the Minter tract to Isaac Mason

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book B, pp. 173–174, sale recited as 6 July 1786; execution clause 21 July 1786, acknowledgment 6 July 1786, recorded 9 February 1787; recorded copy reviewed from Historical Society of Pennsylvania scans.

Supports

Sheriff Robert Orr conveyed land seized on the judgment against Thomas Mason and James Hutchinson to Isaac Mason for 266 pounds. The same creditors and neighboring lands connect this sale with the 1784 debt and the Minter tract.

Limit

The apparent execution/acknowledgment date conflict remains unresolved. The deed does not state Isaac’s relationship to Thomas, identify the debtor as the 1779 testator’s son, establish whether the debtor was alive at the sale, or name Benjamin. The linked catalog is a locator, not the reviewed scans.

1786 executor’s conveyance of the Hempfield tract

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book B, pp. 71–73, James Westbay as executor to David Irwin, dated and recorded 6 July 1786; recorded copy reviewed from Historical Society of Pennsylvania scans.

Supports

James Westbay conveyed 226 acres within one mile of Hannastown as executor of deceased Thomas Mason of Hempfield, citing the will dated 18 September 1785. This agrees with the earlier will and Ann’s 1786 widow statement.

Limit

This is different land from the Jacob’s Creek/Minter tract on the reviewed descriptions. It establishes no kinship between the Hempfield and 1779 testators and does not identify Benjamin’s parents. The linked catalog is a locator, not the reviewed scans.

Joseph Meason witnesses the 1780 Davis conveyance

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book A, pp. 284–285, George Davis to Thomas Meason, 2 September 1780, recorded 29 October 1782; FamilySearch DGS 8036032, image 200.

Supports

The separate instrument immediately before the Minter deed concerns an improvement on the north side of Jacob’s Creek. Its witnesses include Joseph Meason, supporting an association with Thomas in 1780.

Limit

The witness statement gives no kinship or secure identity with the 1779 testator’s son Joseph. The post-1779 date requires a separate explanation of Thomas’s identity. This is not a 1778 Allegheny/Kiskiminetas conveyance; that geographic description belongs to a preceding instrument.

Westmoreland Meason–Mason grantor-index coverage

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, grantor index M–R, FamilySearch DGS 7903056, directory image 16 and image 17, subdivision 13/2.

Supports

The reviewed Meason–Mason leaves contain A given names. The directory’s pointer to 2 is consistent with subdivision 13/2, already reviewed, rather than a missing standalone page 2.

Limit

These leaves cannot establish absence of Thomas, John, or Joseph entries. The earlier complete-search negative is withdrawn. The reported Thomas index rows remain unverified locators, although the resulting 1784 and 1786 deeds have been independently reviewed.