{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = James Brown Mason | image = James Brown Mason.jpg | caption = | state = Rhode Island | district = at-large | term_start = March 4, 1815 | term_end = March 3, 1819 | preceded = Elisha Reynolds Potter | succeeded = Nathaniel Hazard | birth_date = {{birth date|1775|1|28}} | birth_place = Thompson, Connecticut Colony, British America | death_date = {{death date and age|1819|8|31|1775|1|28}} | death_place = Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. | resting_place = North Burial Ground | party = Federalist | occupation = Physician, politician | alma_mater = Brown University | parents = John Mason<br>Rosanna Brown Mason | spouse = {{marriage|Alice Brown|July 16, 1800}} | children = | relations = }}
'''James Brown Mason''' (January 28, 1775{{spnd}}August 31, 1819) was an American medical doctor and legislator who served in the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1804 to 1814, where he was speaker from 1812 to 1814. Elected to Congress in November 1814, he represented one of Rhode Island's two at-large congressional districts from 1815 until 1819.
==Early life== [[File:The Grosvenor Boys by James Sullivan Lincoln.jpg|thumb|right|The Grosvenor Boys, Mason's nephews, by James Sullivan Lincoln]] Mason was born on January 28, 1775, in the small rural town of Thompson in the Connecticut Colony.<ref name="BDC" /> He was the son of John and Rose Anna (née Brown) Mason.<ref name="RMRI" />
As a young man, James pursued classical studies and graduated from Rhode Island College (the future Brown University) in 1791.<ref name="BDC" /><ref name="RMRI" /><ref name="HCBU" /> He studied medicine and was admitted to practice.<ref name="BDC" />
==Career== Mason moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he practiced medicine from 1795 to 1798.<ref name="BDC" /><ref name="RMRI" /> While in South Carolina, he met and married his first wife. Upon her death in 1798, he returned to Rhode Island.<ref name="RMRI" />
In Providence, Mason engaged in mercantile pursuits between 1798 and 1819.<ref name="BDC" /> He served as a trustee of Brown University from 1804 to 1819.<ref name="BDC" /><ref name="HCBU">{{cite book|title=Historical Catalogue of Brown University|date=1914|publisher=Brown University|location=Providence|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924030629087/page/n66 61]|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030629087|accessdate=August 14, 2016}}</ref>
===Political career=== He served as member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1804 to 1814 and served as Speaker of the House from February 1812 to May 1814.<ref name="BDC" />
Mason was elected as a Federalist to the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Congresses (March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1819).<ref name="BDC" /> He was not a candidate for renomination in 1818 to the Sixteenth Congress.<ref name="BDC">{{cite web|title=Mason, James Brown (1775-1819)|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000215|website=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|publisher=US Congress|accessdate=August 14, 2016}}</ref>
==Personal life== [[File:Dr. William Grosvenor by George Peter Alexander Healy.jpg|thumb|right|Dr. William Grosvenor, Mason's son-in-law, by George Peter Alexander Healy]] On July 16, 1800, Mason married Alice Brown (1777–1823), the youngest daughter of John Brown and Sarah (née Smith) Brown.<ref name="RMRI" /> Her father was a wealthy merchant, slave trader, and statesman from Providence, and a founder of Brown University. James and Alice's children were:<ref name="rihs">{{cite web |title=Grosvenor Family Correspondence (part of the Grosvenor Family Papers) |url=http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/Mss001.htm |website=www.rihs.org |publisher=Rhode Island Historical Society |accessdate=July 12, 2019}}</ref>
* Abby Mason (1800–1822), who married Nicholas Brown III (1792–1859) in 1820 * Zerviah Mason (1801–1802), who died in infancy * Zerviah Mason (1803–1812), who died in childhood * Sarah Brown Mason (1804–1864), who married first George Benjamin Ruggles (1804–1833) in 1825. After his death, she married secondly to Levi Curtis Eaton (1812–1852) * Rosa Anna Mason (1817–1872), who married Dr. William Grosvenor (1810–1888)<ref name="RMRI">{{cite book|title=The Biographical Cyclopedia of Representative Men of Rhode Island|date=1881|publisher=National biographical publishing Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/biographicalcycl00nati/page/189 189]|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalcycl00nati|accessdate=August 14, 2016}}</ref>
Six months after leaving Congress, Mason died in Providence at the age of 44 and was interred in North Burial Ground.<ref name="BDC" />
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{Portal|Rhode Island|Biography}} * {{find a Grave|6947452}} * {{CongBio|M000215}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Rhode Island | district=AL | before= Elisha R. Potter | after= Nathaniel Hazard | years=1815-1819 }} {{s-end}}
{{United States representatives from Rhode Island}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, James Brown}} Category:1819 deaths Category:Brown University alumni Category:1775 births Category:Federalist Party United States representatives from Rhode Island Category:Burials at North Burying Ground (Providence) Category:People from colonial Connecticut Category:Medical doctors from Rhode Island Category:18th-century American medical doctors Category:People from Thompson, Connecticut Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:19th-century members of the Rhode Island General Assembly