Robert Mason
was born in Stepheny Parish near St. Mary White Chapel, the poorest
section in London, on April 7, 1757. The area was made famous in the
1800s because of the murders of Jack the Ripper.
In 1775
Mason Left home and boarded a ship called the Adventurer as an
Indentured Servant. Upon arrival in Virginia, Mason moved to Hampshire
county Virginia to begin his work as an Indentured servant for the next
3 years.
After
finishing his indenture ship, Mason joined the Virginia 11th
regiment under the command of Col. Buford in 1779. On May 29, 1780,
Mason participated in the battle of Waxhaw near Buford SC.
Under a
white flag of Truce, 110 patriots were killed and 150 wounded when an
American patriot fired his weapon and shot Tarleton, the British
commander, and his Horse out from under him. Fearing Tarleton was dead
along with the dead horse lying on top of him, Christopher Huck, Second
in Command under Tarleton ordered the massacre. Tarleton did nothing to
stop the massacre after the dead horse was lifted off of him..
The Waxhaw
massacre would have the same effect on American Independence that the
Alamo would have on Texas Independence or the Civil war battle Fort
Pillow would have on Southern Independence. From now on after each
patriot victory, you could hear the Cry “Give them Tarleton Quarters”,
meaning Kill all the British you see. At
Kings Mountain fought five months later, over 300 Tories were killed
mostly after the British surrendered in response to what happened at the
battle of Waxhaw.
Mason
barely escaped with his life. This would be the last battle he would
participate in. In 1783, Mason met Mary King and married her later that
year. They would have 9 children from this union. In 1790 Mason moved to
Grainger county TN. In 1806, mason moved to present day Bell county KY
on a farm in the clear Creek Community. In 1819, Mason applied for a
squatter’s land grant since he had lived on the farm for more than 5
years.
On April 25,
1849, Mason died at the age of 92. Before he died He presented his
ons the land on the promise they would take
care of Mary, his wife. He also had one final request. He wanted to be
buried in the cellar of his home. Mason’s home stood at the present day
site of the Mason family cemetery. A gravestone now marks the spot where
Mason was buried.
For years,
Mason was not approved as a patriot because he had lost his discharge
papers some 50 years before and was unable to receive a pension because
of this.
In 1995
Descendents of Robert Mason proved he was a patriot by showing that
Mason knew all the names of the soldiers in Buford’s company something
he couldn’t have done if he hadn’t been there, and did a DAR graveside
service for him to honor him as a patriot. In 2005, the General Joseph
Martin SAR chapter honored him with a SAR graveside service to honor him
as a patriot as well. In 2006, DAR again refused to accept Mason as a
Patriot because he had been turned down by the pension board because he
couldn’t find his discharge papers. Descendents of Robert Mason have
taken the DAR society to court in hopes of getting this decision
overturned.