Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Mason, Truman A ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 29, 2008, 1:01 am Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907 TRUMAN A. MASON. From farm boy to bank president is not an unusual record in this country where labor finds its just reward and close application and energy constitute the salient elements of success, and yet such a record never fails to elicit attention and commendation. The world admires the victor and in a successful business career the struggle is continuously waged for supremacy over adverse-conditions, competition and the obstacles which arise through the subversion of plans through outside influences. Without special advantages at the outset of his career Mr. Mason has made steady progress with the result that his present enviable position in financial circles has been attained, for he is today the president of the Joliet National Bank. He was born in New Hartford, Oneida county, New York, March 14, 1846, a son of Daniel C. and Cornelia H. (Kellogg) Mason, who were likewise natives of Oneida county. The father’s family removed to New York from Chesshire, Massachusetts, while the Kellogg family went to the Empire state from Connecticut. Arnold Mason was a captain in the war of 1812 and Mr. Mason of this review has in his possession a warrant for his pay for military service which was never cashed. He was also a captain in the state militia. Several representatives of the family, to the number of seven or eight, were soldiers of the Revolutionary war. The ancestry of the family can be traced still farther back to Sampson Mason, who came from England to America in the sixteenth century. The great majority of the members of the family were farming people. Arnold Mason, the grandfather of our subject, was, however, a prominent contractor and was a member of the firm of Law, Mason & Roberts, who built the high bridge in New York. He also had several contracts on the construction of the Erie canal and other work of that description. Daniel C. Mason was likewise a contractor at an early day but after his marriage he located on a farm near Utica, New York, and in 1867 removed with his family to Will county, Illinois, where he was engaged in farming for several years, spending his later life in retirement from active business cares. At his death his remains were taken back to his old home at Forest Hill, New York, for interment. His wife had previously passed away and he was laid to rest by her side. In the same cemetery sleep the grandparents and the great-grandfather and great-grandmother of Truman A. Mason. There were but two children in the family of Daniel C. and Cornelia H. Mason, the daughter being Mrs. Cornelia M. Sherwood, the widow of Stephen A. Sherwood. Truman A. Mason was reared to farm life and was educated in the Utica schools and in Whitestown Seminary of New York. He was in his twentieth year when in 1S65 he made his way westward to Chicago, traveling through the west for about six months, after which he returned to New York. There he rented a farm and dealt in live stock for about a year, on the expiration of which period he again went to Chicago and accepted a position with the Chicago & Alton Railroad as assistant pilot in charge of trains from Grove street to Brighton Park. He acted in that position for some time, subsequently returning to Utica, New York, where he accepted a position with the firm of Curry & Rowley. Six months later he was admitted to a partnership in the business under the firm name of Rowley Brothers & Company, dealers in blank books and wrapping paper, stationers' and printers stock. Two years later Mr. Mason sold out and in 1869 came to Joliet, where he engaged in the lumber business under the firm name of Mason & Plant, manufacturing sash, doors and blinds. He was connected with that enterprise continuously for about eleven years or until the spring of 1880. when he disposed of his interest but later engaged in the regular lumber trade and jobbing at the cut-off, where he remained until his health failed in the summer of 1886. He did not then engage again in active business until the organization of the Joliet National Bank, of which he was one of the organizers and the first president. He has been re-elected at each successive annual election since March 2, 1891, and is yet at the head of this institution, which is one of the most reliable and successful financial concerns of the county. Mr. Mason has been a member of the township high school board since its organization and for several years has acted as its president. He has also been on the city board for six years, served for one term as city alderman and was assistant supervisor for one year. He has held a number of minor offices and in all relations to the public has sustained an unassailable reputation. On the 25th of September, 1872, Mr. Mason was married to Miss Hannah E. Caton, a native of Chicago, and they have three living children: Cornelia M., the wife of John A. Garnsey; William C., a civil engineer on the Northwestern Railroad; and Elizabeth C. Mr. Mason's fraternal relations are with the Masonic lodge, the chapter and the commandery. In all of his social, political and business interests he has been actuated by principles and motives that neither seek nor require disguise, and his life record is an exemplification of the fact that success is ambition's answer. Additional Comments: PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/mason2755nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb