James Pleasant Mason

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 7 dated events in the chronology →

1. 1854 Baptist minister James Pleasant Mason marries Mary Elizabeth Morgan Mary Elizabeth Morgan (1825-1894) had inherited a tract south of Chapel Hill that came down from early settler Mark Morgan through his son John and grandson Solomon P. Morgan. The couple had four daughters, two of whom died as infants. Place: Mason family land, south of NC 54, Chapel Hill · Also named: Mary Elizabeth Morgan Mason, Elizabeth MorganSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Chapel Hill Historic Sites Survey: Final Report (1992), p. 80
2. April 14, 1854 The Chapel Hill Baptist branch holds its first meeting and receives James P. Mason The new branch met for the first time at the home of W. G. Weaver, with Mount Carmel's pastor Brantley J. Hackney presiding, and took in its first member, Elder James P. Mason. Services then met in a room John R. Hutchins built for the church. People: John R. Hutchins Place: Home of W. G. Weaver, Chapel Hill · Also named: Brantley J. Hackney, W. G. WeaverSearch the index · Almonte Charles Howell, A History of the Chapel Hill Baptist Church, 1854-1924 (1945), scan p. 13
3. May 6, 1855 The Baptist Church of Chapel Hill opens its first church Services began on Sunday, May 6, 1855 in the brick meeting house, with vestibule, belfry and bell, that the Baptist congregation put up after it organized in September 1854. The building later became the Masonic temple of University Lodge. People: James Pleasant Mason Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: University LodgeSearch the index · DigitalNC: The Biblical Recorder, May 10, 1855, p. 2 (Dedication at Chapel Hill) · Also: Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952
4. October 13, 1879 Baptist minister James P. Mason speaks at University Day At the 1879 University Day exercises, after President Kemp Battle's historical address, short talks were given by the Rev. Joseph Blount Cheshire, the Rev. James Pleasant Mason, the Methodist minister Mr. Heitman and several professors. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, Joseph Blount Cheshire Jr. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Internet Archive: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. 2 (1912)
5. August 27, 1880 Chapel Hill closes its stores for the funeral of John Hutchins, a resident since 1823 John Hutchins, who had lived in the same Chapel Hill house since coming to the village in January 1823, died on August 26 at 88. The stores of the village all closed the next morning for his funeral at the Baptist church, conducted by J. P. Mason. People: James Pleasant Mason Place: Baptist Church, Chapel Hill · Also named: John HutchinsSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Ledger, September 4, 1880, p. 3
6. 1881 Typhoid kills the two surviving Mason daughters, and their father sets aside a family burial ground Martha James Mason and Carolina Varina Mason both died of typhoid fever in 1881; their father caught it as well but recovered. James P. Mason marked off a small plot on the family land where all four daughters and later both parents were buried inside an iron fence, beside the graves of Solomon and Ann Morgan. Place: Mason Family Cemetery, south of NC 54, Chapel Hill · Also named: Martha James Mason, Carolina Varina MasonSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Chapel Hill Historic Sites Survey: Final Report (1992), p. 80
7. July 17, 1894 The Masons leave their farm and a scholarship fund to the university Mary Elizabeth Morgan Mason, who died in July 1894 a year after her husband James Pleasant Mason, left the university about 800 acres of Morgan family land near Chapel Hill. His $1,000 gift funded the education of poor students in the names of their daughters Martha and Varina, and their portraits were hung in the university library. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Mary Elizabeth Morgan Mason, Martha Mason, Varina MasonSearch the index · Internet Archive: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. 2 (1912) · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 28, 1894, p. 3