John Y. Mason

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John Young Mason served as a U.S. attorney general under President James Polk. He was secretary of the Navy during the Mexican War, chair of the House committee on foreign affairs, and an ambassador to France. While serving as ambassador, Mason was one of three U.S. ministers to sign the Ostend Manifesto, a written proposal to buy or seize Cuba from Spain that was later dismissed as an effort to extend slavery in the United States.

Mason was born in Greensville County, Virginia, on April 18, 1799. His father was Edmunds Mason, and his mother was Frances Ann Young Mason. His grandfather was Captain James Mason of the Fifteenth Virginia Line. Mason graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1816 and attended the law school at Litchfield, Connecticut, for three years. In 1819 he was admitted to the Virginia bar and began practice at Hicksford in Greensville County. See also Litchfield Law School.

In 1822 Mason moved to Southampton County, Virginia, and began a law practice that quickly became lucrative. In 1823 he was elected as a Democrat to the Virginia General Assembly, where he served until 1827. He served in the Virginia Senate from 1827 to 1831. Mason was also a member of the 1829 state constitutional convention.

In 1831 Mason was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. While serving as a representative, Mason supported most of President Andrew Jackson's measures. He refused to vote to recharter the National Bank, even when the Virginia General Assembly pressed him to do so. As chair of the House committee on foreign affairs, Mason introduced a bill recognizing independence for Texas. He also supported naval preparedness during a time of adversarial relations between the United States and France. Mason served in the House until 1837, when he accepted a position as judge of the U.S. district for Virginia.

President John Tyler appointed Mason secretary of the Navy in March 1844, and President Polk appointed Mason attorney general in 1845. Mason was the only member of Tyler's cabinet to be retained by the new president. He served as attorney general until 1846 when Polk reappointed him as secretary of the Navy. He served in that position until 1849.

Mason was secretary of the Navy during the years of the Mexican War. Although he was an expansionist, he opposed incorporating Mexico into the United States and supported U.S. acceptance of the treaty signed with Mexico.

At the end of the Polk administration, Mason returned to his law practice in Richmond. He was elected president of the James River and Kanawha Company in 1849 and became an active advocate of efforts to rapidly extend the canal system in Virginia. In the 1852 presidential campaign, Mason publicly supported Franklin Pierce.

In 1853 President Pierce appointed Mason U.S. minister to France. In 1854, at the request of Secretary of State William L. Marcy, Mason met with JamesBuchanan, U.S. minister to Great Britain, and Pierre Soulé, U.S. minister to Spain, in Ostend, Belgium, to discuss the issue of Cuban uprisings. During this period U.S. leaders were bitterly debating the circumstances under which slavery should or should not be extended into new states. On October 18, 1854, Mason, Buchanan, and Soulé—who were pro-slavery—signed the Ostend Manifesto, a secret document proclaiming that Spain should sell Cuba to the United States and that, if it refused to do so, the United States had the right to take the island by force. The press published the document and ridiculed it as a clumsy plot to add new slave territory to the United States. Marcy subsequently dismissed the document on behalf of the Pierce administration.

Mason was reappointed U.S. minister to France when Buchanan became president, and he remained in that position, living abroad, until his death in Paris on October 18, 1859.

For other people of the same name, see John Mason (disambiguation).

John Young Mason
16th United States Secretary of the Navy 18th United States Secretary of the Navy
In office March 26, 1844 – March 4, 1845 September 10, 1846 – March 4, 1849
Preceded by	Thomas W. Gilmer George Bancroft
Succeeded by	George Bancroft William B. Preston
18th United States Attorney General
In office March 5, 1845 – October 16, 1846
President	James K. Polk
Preceded by	John Nelson
Succeeded by	Nathan Clifford
Personal details
Born	April 18, 1799(1799-04-18) Greensville County, Virginia, U.S.
Died	October 3, 1859(1859-10-03) (aged 60) Paris, France
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Mary Ann Fort Mason
Alma mater	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Profession	Politician, Lawyer, Judge, Planter

John Young Mason (April 18, 1799 – October 3, 1859) was an American politician, diplomat, and United States federal judge.

Contents 1 Early life, education, and career 2 Political activities 2.1 Federal judicial service 2.2 Cabinet service 3 Later life 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links

Early life, education, and career

Born in Hicksford, Greensville County, Virginia, Mason attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a member of Philanthropic Assembly. Mason graduated in 1816, and then read law at Tapping Reeve Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut to be admitted to the Southampton County, Virginia, bar in 1819. He had a private law practice in Southampton County from 1821 to 1831.

He married the daughter of a prominent land-owner in 1821 and became a planter himself, as well as continuing as a lawyer.

Political activities

He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1823 to 1827 and a in the Virginia State Senate from 1827 to 1831, was a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1829-1830, and from 1831 to 1837 served in the United States House of Representatives (the 22nd, 23rd and 24th United States Congresses), chairing the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1835 to 1836. During this time, he was an active supporter of most elements of Andrew Jackson's presidency, but was also a staunch advocate of states' rights. Jackson approved the appointment of George H. Thomas to the U.S. Military Academy in 1836 on his recommendation. Mason later served as a delegate to the Virginia constitutional convention of 1850.

Federal judicial service

On February 26, 1841, Mason was nominated by President Martin Van Buren to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia vacated by the elevation of Peter Vivian Daniel to the Supreme Court of the United States. Mason was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 2, 1841, and received his commission the following day. He resigned from the bench on March 23, 1844, to take a cabinet post.

Cabinet service

Mason was the U.S. Secretary of the Navy from 1844 to 1845 in President John Tyler's Cabinet and then U.S. Attorney General and then again Secretary of the Navy from 1846 to 1849, succeeding George Bancroft, under President James K. Polk.

The period of Mason's service as Navy Secretary was marked by intense Congressional pressure for economy, requiring the decommissioning of the Navy's ships of the line and making it difficult to maintain a continuous naval presence on foreign stations. The construction of floating drydocks for several Navy Yards, the simplification of the Navy's ordnance system, an expansion of the Navy's scientific endeavors and the formalization of status of the naval engineers also marked Mason's first term as Secretary.

His second term was marked by efforts to sustain the Navy's combat forces in the Gulf of Mexico and along the far-distant Pacific coast, the beginning of construction of new steamers and an effort to obtain potential warships thorough the subsidization of civilian mail steamships. The latter was an early, and ultimately unsuccessful, experiment in public-private partnership.

Later life

He was in private legal practice from 1849 to 1854 and served as President of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1851 and from 1853, until his death in Paris, France in 1859, the U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to France. In this capacity he attracted attention by wearing at the court of Napoleon III a simple diplomatic uniform (for this he was rebuked by U.S. Secretary of State William L. Marcy, who had ordered American ministers to wear a plain civilian costume), and by joining with James Buchanan and Pierre Soulé, ministers to Great Britain and Spain respectively, in drawing up (October 1854) the famous Ostend Manifesto.

In politics he was a typical Virginian of the old school, a states rights Democrat, upholding slavery and hating abolitionism.

After his death in Paris, his remains were conveyed to the United States and interred in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.

USS Mason (DD-191) from 1920 to 1940, was named in honor of Secretary of the Navy John Y. Mason.

John Y. Mason's Home historical marker

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

• John Y. Mason at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• John Y. Mason at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

Further reading

• Williams, Frances Leigh (1967). "The Heritage and Preparation of a Statesman, John Young Mason, 1799-1859". Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 75 (3): 305–330. JSTOR 4247323. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Y. Mason

• John Y. Mason at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by James Trezvant	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 2nd congressional district March 4, 1831 – January 11, 1837	Succeeded by Francis E. Rives
Government offices
Preceded by Thomas W. Gilmer	United States Secretary of the Navy March 26, 1844 – March 4, 1845	Succeeded by George Bancroft
Preceded by George Bancroft	United States Secretary of the Navy September 10, 1846 – March 4, 1849	Succeeded by William B. Preston
Legal offices
Preceded by John Nelson	United States Attorney General Served under: James K. Polk March 5, 1845 – October 16, 1846	Succeeded by Nathan Clifford
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by William C. Rives	United States Minister to France October 10, 1853 – October 3, 1859	Succeeded by Charles J. Faulkner

v t e United States Department of the Navy leadership Secretaries Cabinet level Stoddert • Smith • Hamilton • Jones • Crowninshield • S Thompson • Southard • Branch • L. Woodbury • Dickerson • Paulding • Badger • Upshur • Henshaw • Gilmer • Mason • Bancroft • Mason • Preston • Graham • Kennedy • Dobbin • Toucey • Welles • Borie • Robeson • R Thompson • Goff • Hunt • Chandler • Whitney • Tracy • Herbert • Long • Moody • Morton • Bonaparte • Metcalf • Newberry • Meyer • Daniels • Denby • Wilbur • Adams • Swanson • Edison • Knox • Forrestal Dept. of Defense Sullivan • Matthews • Kimball • Anderson • Thomas • T. Gates • Franke • Connally • Korth • Nitze • Ignatius • Chafee • Warner • Middendorf • Claytor • Hidalgo • Lehman • Webb • Ball • Garrett • O'Keefe • Dalton • Danzig • England • Winter • Mabus Under Secretaries Forrestal • Bard • A. Gates • Sullivan • Kenney • Kimball • Whitehair • Thomas • T. Gates • Franke • Bantz • Fay • BeLieu • Baldwin • Baird • Warner • Sanders • Middendorf • Potter • Macdonald • Woolsey • Murray • Goodrich • Garrett • Howard • Danzig • Hultin • Pirie • Livingstone • Aviles • Work Assistant Secretaries Pre-1954 Fox • Faxon • Soley • McAdoo • T. Roosevelt Sr. • Allen • Hackett • Darling • Newberry • Satterlee • Winthrop • F. Roosevelt • G. Woodbury • T. Roosevelt Jr. • Robinson • Jahncke • H. Roosevelt • Edison • Compton • Bard • Hensel • Kenney • Andrews • Koehler • Askins • Fogler Post-1954 Financial Management and Comptroller • Installations and Environment • Manpower and Reserve Affairs • Research, Development and Acquisitions • General Counsel of the Navy • defunct: (Air · Installations and Logistics · Material · Research and Development · Research, Engineering and Systems · Shipbuilding and Logistics)

v t e United States Attorneys General Randolph Bradford Lee Lincoln Breckinridge Rodney Pinkney Rush Wirt Berrien Taney Butler Grundy Gilpin Crittenden Legaré Nelson Mason Clifford Toucey Johnson Crittenden Cushing Black Stanton Bates Speed Stanbery Evarts Hoar Akerman Williams Pierrepont Taft Devens MacVeagh Brewster Garland Miller Olney Harmon McKenna Griggs Knox Moody Bonaparte Wickersham McReynolds Gregory Palmer Daugherty Stone Sargent W D Mitchell Cummings Murphy Jackson Biddle T C Clark McGrath McGranery Brownell Rogers Kennedy Katzenbach W R Clark J N Mitchell Kleindienst Richardson Saxbe Levi Bell Civiletti Smith Meese Thornburgh Barr Reno Ashcroft Gonzales Mukasey Holder

v t e United States Ambassadors to France Envoys Benjamin Franklin, Arthur Lee, Silas Deane (substituted by John Adams in 1778) 1776–1779 Ministers Plenipotentiary Franklin 1778–85 · Jefferson 1785–89 · Short 1790–92 · Morris 1792–94 · Monroe 1794–96 · Pinckney 1796–97 · Livingston 1801–04 · Armstrong 1804–10 · Russell (chargé d'affaires) 1811 Barlow 1811–12 · Crawford 1813–15 Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary Gallatin 1816–23 · Brown 1824–29 · Rives 1829–32 · Harris (chargé d'affaires) 1833 · Livingston 1833–35 · Barton (chargé d'affaires) 1835 · Cass 1836–42 · King 1844–46 · Rush 1847–49 · Rives 1849–53 · Mason 1853–59 · Faulkner 1860–61 · Dayton 1861–64 · Bigelow 1865–66 · Dix 1866–69 · Washburne 1869–77 · Noyes 1877–81 · Morton 1881–85 · McLane 1885–89 · Reid 1889–92 · Coolidge 1892–93 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Eustis 1893–97 · Porter 1897–05 · McCormick 1905–07 · White 1907–09 · Bacon 1909–12 · Herrick 1912–14 · Sharp 1914–1919 · Wallace 1919–21 · Herrick 1921–29 · Edge 1929–33 · Straus 1933–36 · Bullitt 1936–40 · Leahy 1941–42 · Tuck (chargé d'affaires) 1942 · Caffery 1944–49 · Bruce 1949–52 · Dunn 1952–53 · Dillon 1953–57 · Houghton 1957–61 · Gavin 1961–62 · Bohlen 1962–68 · Shriver 1968–70 · Watson 1970–72 · Irwin 1973–74 · Rush 1974–77 · Hartman 1977–81 · Galbraith 1981–85 · Rodgers 1985–89 · Curley 1989–93 · Harriman 1993–97 · Rohatyn 1997–2000 · Leach 2001–05 · Stapleton 2005–09 · Rivkin 2009–

v t e Cabinet of President John Tyler (1841–1845) Vice President None (1841–1845) Secretary of State Daniel Webster (1841–1843) Abel P. Upshur (1843–1844) John C. Calhoun (1844–1845) Secretary of the Treasury Thomas Ewing (1841) Walter Forward (1841–1843) John C. Spencer (1843–1844) George M. Bibb (1844–1845) Secretary of War John Bell (1841) John C. Spencer (1841–1843) James M. Porter (1843–1844) William Wilkins (1844–1845) Attorney General John J. Crittenden (1841) Hugh S. Legaré (1841–1843) John Nelson (1843–1845) Postmaster General Francis Granger (1841) Charles A. Wickliffe (1841–1845) Secretary of the Navy George E. Badger (1841) Abel P. Upshur (1841–1843) David Henshaw (1843–1844) Thomas W. Gilmer (1844) John Y. Mason (1844–1845)

v t e Cabinet of President James K. Polk (1845–1849) Vice President George M. Dallas (1845–1849) Secretary of State James Buchanan (1845–1849) Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker (1845–1849) Secretary of War William L. Marcy (1845–1849) Attorney General John Y. Mason (1845–1846) Nathan Clifford (1846–1848) Isaac Toucey (1848–1849) Postmaster General Cave Johnson (1845–1849) Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft (1845–1846) John Y. Mason (1846–1849)

Persondata
Name	Mason, John Young
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	April 18, 1799
Place of birth	Greensville County, Virginia, U.S.
Date of death	October 3, 1859
Place of death	Paris, France

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