Samuel Ross Mason (November 8, 1739 – 1803), was an American Revolutionary War veteran, Virginia militia captain, justice of the peace, frontier leader, and later, a figure associated with river piracy and highway robbery. He is best known as the leader of the Mason Gang, a notorious group active along the lower Ohio River and Mississippi Rivers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Mason is most famously linked to the Cave-in-Rock area, a notorious river pirate stronghold along the Ohio River. Born in Virginia, Mason served in the Revolutionary War, notably on the western frontier. Following the war, he became involved in the region's lawlessness, eventually establishing himself as a prominent figure in outlaw circles. His gang was involved in various illegal activities, including piracy and robbery, and was associated with notorious sites such as Red Banks, Cave-in-Rock, Stack Island, and the Natchez Trace. Mason's motivations have been the subject of much speculation, since personal anecdotes and firsthand accounts of his life are scarce to nonexistent. While his criminal activities are well-documented, it has been suggested that his actions may have been driven by broader political and economic motivations. In particular, his later resistance to federal authority, particularly following the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791–1794, has led some to interpret his post-war activities as part of a broader anti-government sentiment. This interpretation presents Mason as not merely a criminal, but potentially a figure of resistance to what he perceived as an overreaching government, particularly in the post-Revolutionary War era. However, his activities are also seen by others primarily as self-serving criminal ventures, and his role in the outlaw world of the frontier continues to shape his legacy.
Early life Samuel Mason was born on November 8, 1739, in Norfolk, Colony of Virginia, the son of Thomas Mason and Mary Newton. His paternal grandfather was George Mason, a second-generation member of the House of Burgesses (great-grandfather Lemuel also served as a member of the House of Burgesses). Samuel Mason was raised in what is now Charles Town, West Virginia, which was part of Virginia prior to the Civil War. According to Lyman Draper, in the 1750s Mason got his earliest start in crime as a teenager by stealing the horses of Colonel John L. Hite, in Frederick County, Virginia, being wounded and caught by his pursuers. He moved from Charles Town to what is now Ohio County, West Virginia, also at that time a part of Virginia, in 1773.
American Revolutionary War service
During the American Revolution, Samuel Mason was a captain of the Ohio County Militia in the Virginia State Forces. According to Ohio County court minutes dated January 7, 1777, Mason was recommended to Patrick Henry, the governor of Virginia, to serve as captain of the militia. On January 28, Mason was present and cited as a captain from Ohio County at a "council of war" held at Catfish Camp, located at or near present-day Washington, Pennsylvania. On June 8, 1777, Mason wrote a letter from Fort Henry, Virginia (present-day Wheeling, West Virginia) to Brigadier General Edward Hand at Fort Pitt (present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). The letter he wrote was signed Samuel Meason. On September 1, 1777, Captain Mason was wounded but survived an ambush by Native Americans near Fort Henry. Most of the men in his militia company perished during the attack. From August 11 to September 14, 1779, Mason, while at Fort Henry, accompanied Colonel Daniel Brodhead and his 8th Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Army, combined with militia troops from Fort Pitt, to destroy ten tribal villages of the pro-British Seneca tribe in northeastern Pennsylvania during the Sullivan Expedition, in retaliation for the devastating Iroquois attacks in the Cobleskill, Wyoming Valley, and Cherry Valley massacres of 1778. According to court-martial records in Ohio County, Virginia, Mason was still on duty as an officer in the Ohio County Militia at Fort Henry until 1781. He appeared at the courts-martial and was present as a witness for military proceedings against other soldiers. Mason appeared twice at the Ohio County courthouse in Wheeling on November 7, 1780, and May 7, 1781.
Honest pursuits In his book The Outlaws of Cave-In-Rock, Otto A. Rothert stated that Samuel Mason moved again, in 1779, to a part of Virginia east of Wheeling that is now in present-day Washington County, Pennsylvania, where he was elected justice of the peace and later selected as an associate judge, leaving for an area that was then a part of Virginia and now in present-day Kentucky in 1784. Mason's surname was spelled interchangeably as "Meason" in many of the early frontier records. This is explained in two family histories of the Mason/Meason family, Pioneer Period and Pioneer People of Fairfield County, Ohio by C. M. L. Wiseman, dated 1901, and Torrence and Allied Families by Robert M. Torrence, dated 1938. During this period, the frontier was a place of mounting social and political tension, as exemplified by events like the Whiskey Rebellion, which may have influenced Mason through the widespread discontent with federal taxes and central authority. While his involvement in the rebellion itself is not definitively documented, the timeline of the rebellion, coupled with Mason's known proximity, prior military service, and later activities, suggests he may have shared in the frustrations that led to the unrest, contributing to his eventual shift towards more radical actions.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
