James W. Mason

James W. Mason (1841–1875) was a state senator, sheriff, and postmaster in Arkansas. In 1868 he was one of the first six African Americams to serve in the Arkansas House[1] He also served as the first African American postmaster in the United States.[2]

James Worthington Mason
Born1841
Chicot County, Arkansas
Died1875
OccupationPolitician
Parent(s)Elisha Worthington

Early life

James W. Mason was born in 1841 in Chicot County, Arkansas.[3] His father, Elisha Worthington, was a Kentucky-born large landowner and the owner of the Sunnyside Plantation in Chicot County.[3] His mother was an African slave owned by his father.[3] As a result, he was a mulatto. He had a sister, Martha.[3] He studied at Oberlin College in Ohio.[3] He also studied in France.[3]

Career

Mason was appointed as the postmaster of Sunnyside in 1867.[3][4] As a result, he was the first African-American postmaster in all of the United States.[3][4]

He served as a member of the Arkansas Senate from 1868 to 1869.[3]

He was appointed as Consul General to Liberia on March 29, 1870.[5] However, he failed to fill the position.[3]

He served in the Arkansas Senate a second time, from 1871 to 1872.[3] He then served as the Sheriff of Chicot County from 1872 to 1874.[3] In the summer of 1873, he was arrested under the suspicion of inciting a race war in the county.[3] The judge, Colonel John A. Williams, dismissed the trial.[3]

Personal life

He married Rachel, who was also of mixed race.[3] They had a daughter, Fannie. Mason died in 1875.[3]

References
  1. https://www.arkansashouse.org/news/post/2071/black-history-month-2021
  2. "African American Postal Workers in the 19th Century" (PDF). About: Postal People. United States Postal Service. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  3. James W. Mason (1841–1875), The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture
  4. Deanna Boyd, Kendra Chen, The History and Experience of African Americans in America’s Postal Service, National Postal Museum
  5. U.S. Department of State: Office of the Historian


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