John S. Mason

John Sanford Mason (August 21, 1824 – November 29, 1897) was a career officer in the United States Army who served in the Indian Wars, Mexican-American War, and as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Early life and career John S. Mason was born in Steubenville, Ohio, in the late summer of 1824. His father was a prominent physician who had been a military surgeon during the War of 1812. He was educated in the local schools began his college studies at Kenyon College in Gambier. In the winter of 1842, he transferred to Washington College in Pennsylvania. However, he withdrew when he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, on July 1, 1843. He graduated 9th of 38 cadets in the Class of 1847 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 3rd U. S. Artillery. Among his classmates were future Civil War generals A.P. Hill, Henry Heth, John Gibbon, and Ambrose Burnside. Later in May, he was promoted to a captaincy in the 11th U.S. Infantry.

From March 7, 1865 - July 21, 1865 he was commander of the District of Arizona under the Department of the Pacific. In the omnibus promotions at the end of the Civil War in 1865, he was brevetted through the Regular Army grades to that of brigadier general. He retired in 1888 as the colonel of the 9th U.S. Infantry at Fort Whipple, Arizona, and took up residence in Washington, D.C., where he died at home on November 29, 1897, from general paralysis brought about from a stroke. He was buried in Section 1, Grave 541, of Arlington National Cemetery.

One of his sons, Captain John S. Mason Jr., perished at the army post at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation from exposure in the line of duty, and is also buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Another son, Charles, also served in the Army.