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Part of the American
History & Genealogy Project |
Emily Mason
Another distinguished woman of this time was Miss Emily Mason,
of Kentucky. Her mother was descended from the Marshall and
Nicholson families. Her paternal grandfather and uncle were both
United States Senators from that state. Her father, General
Mason, moved to Kentucky and here Emily was born in the city of
Lexington. Her brother was the governor of the Territory of
Michigan and the family followed, residing in the city of
Detroit.
At the age of seventeen Emily presided over the governor's
mansion at Detroit, where she entertained and exercised
unlimited sway in the fashionable society of that day. Her
sprightly wit and remarkable powers of conversation even at a
very early age, gave her a social pre-eminence unrivalled by any
woman in the western country. After her brother's death she
returned to Virginia and here and in New Orleans she became a
celebrity in society. Later in life, after the death of both her
parents, she met with severe reverses. Her home was taken from
her during the war "for military purposes," during her absence
in the North. She was suspected as a Southern spy. Her property
was entirely destroyed.
She went into the hospital work and devoted her energies to the
inmates of the Winder Hospital near Richmond. Here and in the
prisons she helped to care for the sick, wounded and dying and
after the close of the war she worked indefatigably for the
cause of humanity among her own people in the South.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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