| John Thomson Mason | |
| Office: | Attorney General of Maryland |
| Term Start: | 1806 |
| Term End: | 1806 |
| Governor: | Robert Bowie |
| Birth Date: | 15 March 1765 |
| Birth Place: | Chopawamsic, Stafford County, Colony of Virginia |
| Predecessor: | William Pinkney |
| Successor: | John Johnson Sr. |
| Spouse: | Elizabeth Beltzhoover |
| Children: | 7, including John Thomson Mason Jr. |
| Profession: | Attorney |
| Residence: | Montpelier, Clear Spring, Maryland |
John Thomson Mason (15 March 1765 - 10 December 1824)[1] [2] was an American lawyer and Attorney General of Maryland in 1806.[2]
Mason was born on 15 March 1765 at Chopawamsic in Stafford County, Virginia.[1] [2] He was the third child and youngest son of Thomson Mason and his wife Mary King Barnes.[1]
Mason operated a plantation in what was then Washington County, Maryland near Elizabethtown (now Hagerstown using enslaved labor.[3]
Admitted to the Maryland bar, he attained high rank,[4] but twice declined the office of United States Attorney General when it was offered by Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.[4] Mason ran for one of Maryland's seats in the United States Senate, but lost.[4] He then served as Attorney General of Maryland in 1806.[2] He was also one of six judges appointed to a newly restructured court of appeals by Governor Robert Bowie on 19 January 1806, but declined the appointment.[5]
Mason married Elizabeth Beltzhoover in 1797.[1] [2] He and Elizabeth had seven children:[1] [2]
Mason died on 10 December 1824 at the age of 59.[1] Mason was interred at his Montpelier estate in Clear Spring, Maryland.[6]
John Thomson Mason was a nephew of George Mason (1725 - 1792);[1] son of Thomson Mason (1733 - 1785);[1] brother of Stevens Thomson Mason (1760 - 1803);[1] half-brother of William Temple Thomson Mason (1782 - 1862);[1] first cousin of George Mason V (1753 - 1796);[1] first cousin once removed of Thomson Francis Mason (1785 - 1838), George Mason VI (1786 - 1834), Richard Barnes Mason (1797 - 1850), and James Murray Mason (1798 - 1871);[1] uncle of Armistead Thomson Mason (1787 - 1819) and John Thomson Mason (1787 - 1850);[1] father of John Thomson Mason Jr. (1815 - 1873);[1] and great uncle of Stevens Thomson Mason (1811 - 1843).[1]