Huntley Part 9

_Huntley_, 6918 Harrison Lane, Groveton, Fairfax County. Still standing.

Though Huntley was built during Mason's ownership of the property, no record has been found that he actually lived there.

_115 South St. Asaph Street_, Alexandria, is a two-and-one-half-story brick structure over an English bas.e.m.e.nt built about 1800, and still standing. A sign on the structure says "Home of Thomas Mason, circa 1775." It was purchased by Mason in May of 1832, at about the same time that he purchased the lot next door at 117 S. St. Asaph Street. A three-story structure of the last quarter of the nineteenth century now stands there. Mason may have been a tenant at 115 before his purchase, but was already out of the house by November 8, 1833, when a Dr.

Wheelwright announced that he had "... removed to the house on St. Asaph Street ... formerly occupied by Thomson F. Mason, Esq." (Deering Davis, Stephen P. Dorsey & Ralph Cole Hall, _Alexandria Houses_, Cornwall, N.Y., Architectural Book Publishing Co., Inc., 1946, p. 126; _Alexandria Gazette_, November 8, 1833. Alexandria Deed Books: U-2, p. 27 (1832); U-2, p. 29 (1832); and M-3, p. 646 (1852).)

This list includes only part of the real estate owned by Thomson Francis Mason. He lived in the Cameron Street house during the 1820's. He may have lived in either the Oronoco Street or St. Asaph Street houses before he purchased them. At any rate, he purchased Colross, Hallowell School and the St. Asaph Street houses in the decade before his death.

He died in 1838 and was buried at Colross. There are long periods of time unaccounted for and probably many real estate transactions which have not yet been doc.u.mented.

Other Mason Houses

_a.n.a.lostan_, home of General John Mason. Located on the Potomac River in the District of Columbia on Theodore Roosevelt Island, known in the past as Barbadoes, Mason's Island, or a.n.a.lostan. Built in the 1790's, its design is attributed to George Hadfield. General Mason sold the house about 1833 and moved to Clermont. Parts of the a.n.a.lostan house stood until the 1930's when they were demolished by the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial a.s.sociation. (_Sunday Star_, Feb. 6, 1921, Rambler "... History of a.n.a.lostan Island;" _Star_, June 4, 1958, Rambler, "Revisits a.n.a.lostan Island;" _Virginia Record_, July 1956, p. 9, Mollie Somerville, "George Mason's Island;" Rowland, _George Mason_, New York, Russell & Russell, 1892 and 1946, Vol I, p. 117; Harry F. Cunningham, Joseph A. Younger, and J. Wilmer Smith, _Measured Drawings of Georgian Architecture in the District of Columbia_, 1750-1820, New York, Architectural Book Company 1914, Sheets 58-61.)

_Clermont_, which was purchased by General John Mason and to which he and his family moved in 1833. Site near Fairfax County-Alexandria line, off Clermont Drive, near point where the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac tracks cross Cameron Run. It was demolished in the 19th Century.

("Diary of Miss Mason," beginning Sept. 20th 1833, property of Mrs.

Augustus Thorndike, partial copy in Gunston Hall archives (a.n.a.lostan file); Christine Gibson unpublished report, Fairfax County Public Library, Virginiana Collection.)

_Gunston Hall_, home of George Mason IV, in Fairfax County. The house is a one-and-one-half-story brick structure, with interiors by William Buckland joiner and architect. In the garden is one of America's best surviving stands of English Boxwood. The house still stands on Route 242, 4 miles southeast of Route 1, and south of Fort Belvoir. It is owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia and administered as an historic house museum by a Board of Regents of the National Society of Colonial Dames. (Thomas Tileston Waterman, _The Mansions of Virginia_, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1946.)

_Hollin Hall_, built for and occupied by General Thomson Mason, son of George Mason IV of Gunston Hall, and father of T.F. Mason. It was a two-story frame structure, which burned early in the nineteenth century.

Part of the complex may still exist, or be incorporated into the present structure known as Little Hollin Hall at 1901 Sherwood Hall Lane, in Fairfax County south of Alexandria. (Rowland, _George Mason_, New York, Russell & Russell, 1892 and 1946, Volume II, pps. 307, 351, and numerous others; _Hollin Hills Bulletin_, May 1969, June-July, 1969.)

_Lexington_, in Fairfax County, built for George Mason V, son of George of Gunston Hall and uncle of T.F. Mason. The house stood on Mason Neck, near Gunston Hall. The structure burned in the nineteenth century.

(Rowland, _George Mason_, New York, Russell & Russell, 1892 and 1946, Volume I, p. 112; Edith Moore Sprouse, _Lexington_, unpublished report, June 1967, Virginiana Files, Fairfax County Public Library.)

_Okeley_, home of Richard Chichester Mason, brother of T.F. Mason. The structure was destroyed during the Civil War. It was located in Fairfax County on S. Kings Highway, just south of Huntley. (Rowland, _George Mason_, New York, Russell & Russell, 1892 and 1946, Volume II, p. 473; _Alexandria Gazette_, March 30, 1841).

_Spring Bank_, owned by George Mason, son of William Mason and first cousin of T.F. Mason. There may have been an earlier structure on the site, but the house in which this George Mason lived is a two-story brick structure, built about 1850, which is still standing. It is located at Penn Daw in Fairfax County in the Spring Bank Trailer Park, at the intersection of Kings Highway and the Jefferson Davis Highway (Route 1). (Rowland, _George Mason_, New York, Russell & Russell, 1892 and 1946, Volume II, pps. 366, 369, and others.)

_Woodbridge_, home of Thomas, son of George of Gunston Hall, and uncle of T.F. Mason. It stood in Prince William County almost directly across Occoquan River from Colchester and was demolished prior to 1892.

(Rowland, _George Mason_, New York, Russell & Russell, 1892 and 1946, Volume I, p. 112.)

APPENDIX B

CHAIN OF t.i.tLE

1949--June 11, Deed Book 694, page 400: AUGUST & ELEANOR S. NAGEL _to_ RANSOM G. AND MARGUERITE K. AMLONG.

1946--September 1, Deed Book 515, p. 60: ARMISTEAD L. BOOTH, _executor under the will of_ ALBERT R. HARRISON _to_ AUGUST W. & ELEANOR S. NAGEL.

1911--April 5, Liber J, No. 7, p. 22: CLARA B. HARRISON, UNMARRIED, MARY C. HARRISON, UNMARRIED, ALBERT R. HARRISON, UNMARRIED, _first part_, MARGARET N. HARRISON GIBBS AND HER HUSBAND J. NORMAN GIBBS, _second part_. (Albert W. Harrison died intestate.)

1871--March 11, Liber O, No. 4, p. 338: NATHAN W. & SUSAN E.

PIERSON _to_ ALBERT W. HARRISON.

1868--November 21, Liber I, No. 4, p. 236: BENJAMIN KING _to_ ALBERT W. HARRISON AND NATHAN W. PIERSON OF NEW JERSEY.

1862--June 12, Liber E, No. 4, p. 195: JOHN A. SMITH _to_ BENJAMIN KING.

1859--December 7, Liber B, No. 4, p. 451: JOHN FRANCIS MASON AND ARTHUR PENDLETON MASON, _first part_, JOHN A. SMITH, _second part_, BENJAMIN KING, U.S. ARMY, NOW RESIDING IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, _third part_.

1859--November 7, Liber B, No. 4, p. 449: BETSEY C. MASON _to_ JOHN FRANCIS MASON AND A. PENDLETON MASON, SONS OF THE SAID BETSEY C.

1859--November 7, Liber B, No. 4, p. 448: BETSEY C. MASON _to_ JOHN FRANCIS MASON AND A. PENDLETON MASON, SONS OF THE SAID BETSEY C.

1839--February 4, Will Book T, No. 1, p. 3: "To all persons to whom the presents shall come, greetings. Know ye that the last will and testament of Thomson F. Mason of Alexandria County deceased hath been in duo form of law exhibited, proved and recorded in the Office of the Register of Wills of said County, a copy of which is to these presents annexed and administration of all the goods, chattles and credits of the deceased is hereby granted and committed unto Betsey C. Mason, the Executrix of the said will appointed...."

1839--February 18, Will Book T, No. 1, pp. 1-4: _Will of_ THOMSON F. MASON. Will was dated December 14, 1838.

1825--Chancery Suit referenced in Liber W, No. 2, pp. 162-65: THOMSON F. MASON _vs._ GEORGE W. MASON, RICH C. MASON, FAYETTE BALL AND MARY HIS WIFE, GEORGE MASON AND h.e.l.lEN, JOHN, GEORGE, AND SALLY MASON HIS INFANT CHILDREN AND SAMUEL DAWSON AND EUGENIA AND MASON DAWSON HIS INFANT CHILDREN. (Suit was not located.)

1823--October 1, Liber W, No. 2, p. 199: THIS INDENTURE MADE THIS FIRST DAY OF OCTOBER IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY THREE BETWEEN GEORGE M. MASON, AND MARY HIS WIFE, RICHARD C.

MASON AND LUCY B., HIS WIFE, GEORGE MASON OF GUNSTON, AND ELEANOR ANN, HIS WIFE, ALL OF THE COUNTY OF FAIRFAX AND STATE OF VIRGINIA, AND FAYETTE BALL AND MARY T. HIS WIFE AND SAMUEL DAWSON, BOTH OF THE COUNTY OF LOUDOUN AND STATE AFORESAID, _all of the one part_, AND THOMSON F. MASON OF THE TOWN OF ALEXANDRIA IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, _of the other part_.

1820--November 21, Will Book M, No. 1, p. 130: _Will of_ THOMSON MASON OF HOLLIN HALL, dated April 15 1797. The land on which Huntley is located had come to Thomson by the will of his Father, George Mason of Gunston Hall.

1792--August 23, Will Book F, pp. 104-105: Will of George Mason of Gunston Hall granting lands to his son, Thomson Mason, which were part of the Ball patent on both sides of the North Branch of Little Hunting Creek.

1772--June 18, Deed Book K-1, p. 54: Sampson Darrell to George Mason the lower part of a tract granted to John Ball by the proprietors of the Northern Neck of Virginia in September, 1695; willed to his son George Ball August 14, 1722; sold to John Carlyle, March 17, 1742/43; sold to Sampson Darrell August 16, 1748.

LIST OF SOURCES

Books

Aikman, Lonnelle, =We the People=. Washington: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, 1965.

Caemmerer, H. Paul. =Historic Washington.= Washington: Columbia Historical Society, 1966.

Carne, William F. =Alexandria Business Book.= Alexandria: M. Hill Co., 1897.

Cunningham, Harry F.; Younger, Joseph A.; and Smith, Wilmer.

=Measured Drawings of Georgian Architecture in the District of Columbia, 1750-1820.= New York: Architectural Book Co., 1914.

Davis, Derring; Dorsey, Stephen P.; and Hall, Ralph Cole.

=Georgetown Houses of the Federal Period.= New York: Bonanza Books, 1944.

Gallagher, H.M. Pierce. =Robert Mills.= New York: Columbia University Press, 1935.

Gordon, C.A. =History of the House of Gordon.= Aberdeen: D. Wyllie & Son, 1890.