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.