Stevens T. Mason

Stevens Thomson Mason (October 27, 1811 – January 4, 1843) was an American politician who served as the first governor of Michigan from 1835 to 1840. Coming to political prominence at an early age, Mason was appointed his territory's acting territorial secretary by Andrew Jackson at age 19, becoming the acting territorial governor soon thereafter in 1834 at age 22. As territorial governor, Mason was instrumental in guiding Michigan to statehood, which was secured in 1837. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected as Michigan's first state governor in 1835, where he served until 1840. Elected at 23 and taking office at 24, Mason was and remains the youngest state governor in American history. Early life in Virginia and Kentucky Mason was born near Leesburg in Loudoun County, Virginia, into a politically powerful family. His great-grandfather, Thomson Mason (1733–1785), was chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court and younger brother of George Mason (1725–1792), who took part in the Constitutional Convention. His grandfather, Stevens Thomson Mason (1760–1803), was a U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1794 until his death. His uncle, Armistead Thomson Mason (1787–1819), was also a U.S. Senator from Virginia. In addition, his uncles by marriage, Benjamin Howard (1760–1814) and William Taylor Barry (1784–1835), both served in the Kentucky House of Representatives and were U.S. Representatives from Kentucky. Howard was also Governor of the Louisiana (Missouri) Territory (1810–1812) and the Missouri Territory (1812–1813). Barry served as a U.S. Senator from Kentucky (1814–1816), then had a long career in a number of Kentucky government positions, and ultimately became U.S. Postmaster General (1829–1835). In 1812, Mason's father, John Thomson Mason (1787–1850), left the Mason family stronghold in Virginia to attempt to make his own fortune in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1817, President James Monroe appointed the elder Mason United States marshal. While his business ventures were a complete failure and the family became nearly broke in the 1820s, he was a lawyer and land agent from an influential family, and went on to become an important figure in the Texas Revolution. Life and politics in Michigan Territory John Mason was appointed secretary of the Michigan Territory and superintendent of Indian affairs in 1830 by President Andrew Jackson.