Cousin Notes 2

As part of my research I joined the rootsweb Mason email list group: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/surname/m/mason.html and put out an inquiry if there were any others researching the same Masons.

I received a reply from Karen Dale mentioning that she was of the opinion that Bluford was listed as Beaufort, son of Francis, in the 1850 Pickens County, SC census.

So, I gave it a spin.

1850 Pickens Co SC; Western Divison:
#841/880
Francis Mason      age 43 M      b. SC
Cele                          46 F           ""
Eliza                          20 F           ""
Asa                           19 M           ""
John                          18 M          ""
Richard                      16 M          ""
Matilda                       14 F          ""
Merrel                        12 M          ""
Beaufort                     10 M          ""

Other than Beaufort being the correct age, and having a brother named Merrel also the correct age, and the sister, Matilda, being the right age as Martha/Patsey, nothing gives us any fer shures.
I need to move to 1860 census records.

1860 Pickens County, SC:
There is a Francis Mason, age 53....however, he has had a sex-change operation and is now a woman.
Just kidding. But that's apparently not our Francis.

I did a search of all the census records by name, and found no other likely Francis Mason's anywhere in the US for 1860.

Assuming maybe he died and either the wife died also, or may be living in the household of one of the boys, I did a whole census search - all states, all years - for the oldest son, Asa.

An Asa turns up in Crawford County, Indiana in 1870:
Asa Mason         age 39      b. SC
Seliah                      47           ""
Martha                     15          GA
Eliza                        11           ""
Seliah E.                    7           ""
Mary E.                      3           IN
Fannie E.                   3            ""

Ah-ha! We see Asa has children born in GA, prior to 1860. So I did an all-county Georgia search in 1860, and found in the Bells District, Cherokee County, GA, Canton P.O.:
A. Mason             age 28     b.SC
S.                             28         ""
M. ?L?                        5          ""
(Yeah, yeah, I know, the ages and birth states don't match up, but that's not terribly unusual)

In the Little River District, Cherokee Co GA, Freemansville PO (which I believe was in the old Milton County) we find Thomas King and wife Martha, age 22, b. SC. 
I believe this is Bluford's sister aka Patsey.

Although I can't find the rest of the family in the 1860 census, we do know that Bluford and Merrill both joined the Confederate Army in 1862. They joined in Dawson County, but Bluford listed his residence as being Cherokee Co, GA.

Then Merrill married Sarah Thaxton/Thackston in Cherokee Co, GA in 1866, and Merrill and family are listed in Cherokee Co, GA in the 1870 census.

The only names I have been able to come up with for Bluford in 1870 is a B.B. Mason in Wake County, NC, age 25, born in NC, who I'm pretty sure isn't ours.

The other is B.B. Mason, age 30, born SC, living in the household of Edward Wheeler in Texas County, MO (Missouri).
I don't know who Edward Wheeler is, but his oldest child, George, age 7 or 2, was born in Indiana....where, if you recall, is the state Asa Mason was living in in 1870.

Bumping along, stuck here, checking out other things....I ran across Bluford's youngest daughter, Addie Mason Lacy, in the 1930 Cherokee Co, GA census....where she claims her father was born/came from Indiana.

Of course, we know he wasn't, but that's not the point.  The point is, Indiana is the thread tying stuff together here.
Francis had a son named Asa
Asa lived in Indiana
B.B. lived in MO with a family that had previously lived in Indiana
Addie thought her father came from Indiana

Too much coincedence tends to become no coincedence at all.

But don't write any of the above in stone!

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More!

1880 Crawford Co, Indiana Patoka Township Census:
#3837
Asa J. A. Mason       age 49                        SC/SC/SC
Cela                             49      Wife            SC/SC/SC
Eliza ?C?                       22      Daughter     GA/SC/SC
Elizabeth                       17      Daughter     GA/SC/SC
Mary                             12      Daughter     IN/SC/SC
James M.                        9      Son             IN/SC/SC
George W.                      4      Son             IN/SC/SC

No 1890 Census

1900 Crawford County, Indiana Patoka Township Census:
#81
Asa J. Mason      age 60  Feb. 1831   m. 48 yr.               SC/SC/SC
Celia                       69  Mar. 1831   10 children-4 living SC/SC/SC
Gracie Belcher    Servant age 21  Feb.1879 Single    IN/IN/IN  

#82
David ?. Mason    age 29  Dec.1870  m.5year                IN/IN/IN
Anna                         39  Nov.1860  6 children-3living   IN/IN/IN
Isaac A.                     4   Oct. 1895                                   "
John W.                     2   Oct. 1897                                   "
Leora ?Ratter?  Servant   age 21  Feb.1879     IN/IN/IN

(I don't know who David is, but keeping him around for later, just in case.)

1910 Crawford County, Indiana Pakota Township Census:
#10
Andrew Robison           age 40      m.22 years              IN/IN/IN
Elizabeth C.                       49      7 children-5 living     IN/SC/SC
James              Son           18                                     IN/IN/IN
Bluford            Son            15                                         "
Ethel C.          Daughter      8                                           "
Asa J. Mason   father-in-law 79   Wd.                            SC/SC/SC
James            brother-in-law 40 Single                         IN/SC/SC
George          brother-in-law  34  Wd.                           SC/SC/SC

1920 - No Asa Mason's in Indiana

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More!

http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/soldiers.cfm

43rd Regiment, Georgia Infantry

43rd Infantry Regiment, organized at Big Shanty, Georgia, in April, 1862, contained men from Cherokee, Pickens, Cobb, Hall, Forsyth, Jefferson, and Jackson counties. The unit moved to Tennessee, then Mississippi where it placed under the command of General Barton in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. It took an active part in the conflicts at Chickasaw Bayou and Champion's Hill, and was captured when Vicksburg fell. After being exchanged, the 43rd was assigned to General Stovall's Brigade, Army of Tennessee. It was prominent in the numerous campaigns of the army from Missionary Ridge to Nashville, and ended the war in North Carolina. In December, 1863, it totalled 283 men and 251 arms, and in November, 1864, there were 130 fit for duty. On April 26, 1865, the unit surrendered. Its commanding officers were Colonels Hiram P. Bell, Skidmore Harris, and Henry C. Kellogg, and Major William C. Lester.

Asa Mason (First_Last)
Regiment Name 43 Georgia Infantry.
Side Confederate
Company  B
Soldier's Rank_In  Private
Soldier's Rank_Out  Private
Alternate Name 
Notes

Film Number M226 roll 38

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Mason, Asa - private May 7, 1862. Roll dated April 30, 1864, last on file, shows him present. No later record.

Mason, Jackson J. - private March 10, 1862. Captured at Barbourville, Ky. September 4, 1862. Paroled and released there same day. No later record.

(I don't know who Jackson J. Mason is, but I thought I better write him down while I had him, since I might need him later...like Asa, who I overlooked before.)