Allen A. Mason

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The subject of this sketch was born in Chautauqua county, New York, April 14, 1834, the son of Norman and Sarah Ann (Allen) Mason, the latter a descendant of Ethan Allen, of historic fame. His father was a native of New York and his mother a native of Vermont, and they were married in Washington county, New York, in 1830. After marriage they lived in western New York, but came west to Iowa in 1863 and settled in Albia, where for a time he conducted a restaurant and boarding house. To this union these children were born: Elizabeth, deceased; Allen A.; Darwin N., a minister; William Gussie, deceased; Mary; Charles, deceased; Katie; Lillian, deceased; and Jessie, deceased. Father of these children died in 1892, but his wife is living with her son in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Allen A. Mason spent his early days in western New York until twenty-two years of age. He taught school in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. He was married in October, 1860, to Miss Margaret Boyle, daughter of William and Esther Boyle, pioneers of Iowa. The four children by this union were: Charles N., Fred D., John H., and Ben A. His wife died in the spring of 1874, and is buried in Albia. He was married in the fall of 1875 to Martha E. Taylor, daughter of John M. Taylor. Six children have been born by his second wife: Walter M., Ralph T., Elsie, Roy E., Edna E., Carlis.

When Mr. Mason first came to Iowa he followed the carpenter’s trade. He served as deputy clerk for two years, and in 1858 and 1859 he was deputy treasurer and recorder. In 1861 he was elected county judge on the Republican ticket. Since 1864 he has been engaged in running a nursery and in farming. He has one hundred and twenty acres on the home place, having sold off three hundred acres in 1901. He was in the dairy business in Albia from 1876 until 1887, and had the only milk wagon at that time in the city.