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Note: During their married life, Edward and Kate lived in the following places and held the indicated positions. Source, Kate Mason and the records of the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor: Charlotte, MI............................1893-1896, Principle of Charlotte High School and Coach of the first football team in the history of the school. Clinton, IA................................1896 to August 1900, Principle on Clinton High School. Colorado Springs, CO.............August 1900 to February 1903, Principle of Colorado Springs High School. Chicago, IL, Jackson, MI..........February to September 1903 Clark Lake, MI Oklahoma City, OK..................September 1903 to July 1904 Mitchell, SD.............................July 1904 to July 1905 Jackson, MI.............................September 1904 to Spring 1905 Corunna, MI.............................Spring 1905 to Summer 1913, Superintendent of Corunna Schools (1907 - 1911), VP Fox & Mason (1911-1913) Chicago...................................Kate and the two boys July - December 1913 Lawrence, KS.........................December 1913 to 1919 (Edward L., Summer 1913 until death)
Corunna City Directory: 1907 Page 251: Mason, Edward L (Kate S), supt public schools, res 410 Shiawassee av S. 1913 Page 273: Mason, Edward L (Kate S), vice-pres Fox & Mason Furn Co), 407 S Shiawassee av.
By E.H.L. Mason, May 2000: Edward was a teacher and the first football coach at the high school in Charlotte Michigan in 1893. Superintendent of Schools in Clinton, Iowa from 1897 to 1899. Similar position in Colorado Springs in 1900. Alcoholism caused him to go twice to the Neely Institute, for alcoholics. He ended up selling life insurance which may have been his occupation in Oklahoma City and Mitchell. From 1905 or 1906 until 1911 he was Superintendant of Schools in Corunna, MI. From 1911 to 1913, he became involved in the management of the Fox Mason Furniture Company, started by Samuel Fox and Edward's brother George Davis Mason in 1895. When the furniture manufacturing company, the largest employer in Corunna, failed in June of 1913, Edward moved to Lawrence, Kansas hoping to steer clear of alcohol in what was then a dry state. The family followed, after spending about six months in Chicago, where Kate worked at the Mary Crane Nursery, part of Jane Addams' Hull House. In Lawrence, he again took up the sales of life insurance, but was, unfortunately, able to access alcohol and again take refuge in it. Edward took cyanide of potassium and ended his life in his home in Lawrence Kansas, April 7, 1916.
By E.H.L. Mason, May 2000: Most other items in print about ELM are negative. My collection includes portions of chapters one and two of ESM's autobiography, Owosso, Michigan newspaper accounts of the events surrounding the insolvency of the Fox Mason Furniture Company in 1913 and the Lawrence Kansas newspaper article about his suicide in 1916. However, in the early 1990's, there were still some people living who were taught by him in the Corunna, Michigan schools and who had some very nice things to say about him. I never had the good fortune to meet any of these people, but the information was passed on to me by Helen Harrelson, the Owosso historian. In 1981, MSM wrote a note about ELM in refutation of school essays (based on the first two chapters of my father's autobiography) by ELM's only two great granddaughters, my daughter Jennifer Mason, age 15 at the time, and my niece, Carol Manasse. Although having never met her father-in-law, MSM had the advantage of considerable knowledge of him passed on by his widow, Kate Sagendorph Mason and his other daughter-in-law, Evelyn Mason, the wife of Warren Mason, ESM's brother.
I found this article amongst items collected by my mother, Marguerite Sisson Mason (MSM). It refers to Edward Luther Mason (ELM), my grandfather, her father-in-law. The publication and date are not mentioned.
A REFUTATION, February, 1981, by Marguerite Sisson Mason
Should any descendants of Edward Luther Mason and Kate Sagendorph Mason ever read his son, Edward Sagendorph Mason's story of his life and two essays that were the result of that, I should like to make some comments. Edward S. Mason's two granddaughters, Carol Manasse and Jennifer Mason in their high school years have written essays that mention Edward Luther Mason in a very derogatory way.
Now, I never knew him personally, of course, but knowing Kate S. Mason, I learned a lot about him from her. Their marriage produced two sons, both unusual men, both in "Who's Who." My husband, Edward S. Mason, a distinguished economist and Warren Perry Mason, a distinguished physicist.
Warren Mason's wife, Evelyn McNally Mason, a psychologist, and I, often discussed the marriage of these two people. It was obvious that, in spite of the fine fruit of the marriage, that they did not make each other happy, nor either of them grow in the marriage. My mother-in-law once remarked to me that things were better for her after her husband died. To begin with, Kate and her family felt she was marrying 'beneath her." Kate was the daughter of Daniel Perry Sagendorph, a lawyer and judge. Edward Luther Mason was the son of a farmer in Michigan. His mother was Hannah (Mathella Ophelia) Davis, about whom I learned something from Kate. She seems to have been a big strong woman of considerable intelligence. The fact that her son Edward L. went to college at the University of Michigan and became a Greek and Latin scholar, seems to me to indicate some underlying qualities that were not recognized in the family.
Kate Mason was obviously not satisfied with the living her husband could make as a school teacher and urged him to go into business. He seems always to have made a failure at business but to have done well at teaching. He was principal in several schools. Newspaper clippings show him as being popular among his male contemporaries or peers. He was athletic. He was on the second football team at the University of Michigan.
His difficulties began with his business failures. He must have been a very frustrated man who knew that he was intelligent enough to do better with his life that he was doing. My first sister-in-law, Evelyn and I used to say that our husbands got their brains from their father and their "stick-to-it-ness" from their mother. Kate Mason was certainly not a brilliant woman, but when she wanted to learn something, she was like a dog burying a bone. She would keep at it until she got it. She learned French and how to swim after she was sixty. Her stubbornness must have made her difficult to live with. I found it so in the almost thirty years during which she would spend three months with us each year. Evelyn Mason would go to their country place to stay whenever Kate went to live with them.
She was a fine woman, basically, but it was easy to see why she had not made a success of the marriage. In a more sympathetic environment, Edward Luther might not have become alcoholic and so frustrated that he took his own life.
The fact that his two daughter-in-laws have great sympathy for him must be some indication that he was not "all bad." I hope his descendants will grant him some understanding and sympathy. He certainly had some fine qualities which his sons and, I hope, other descendants will inherit.
From the 1896 "Delphian," the Charlotte High School year book
As regards athletics it must be owned that we are at present somewhat weak. Doubtless the need of a gymnasium and the lack of a suitable field within a reasonable distance of the High School, are in a measure responsible for this condition, but we believe that the principal reason has been the entire absence of field days.
This statement applies particularly to track athletics and indoor games, in which line scarcely anything has been accomplished although the material at times has been very good.
In tennis a more favorable condition exists. The present club, composed almost entirely of members of the High School, was organized in the spring of '94, with Mr. Mason as president. Two clay courts directly across from the Court House are kept in excellent shape during the playing season, and the form shown in comparison with that of visiting players has been especially gratifying. Club tournaments are arranged for at frequent intervals, with now and then a brush with Olivet.
The young ladies also have a flourishing organization of sixteen members. They occupy two grass courts on Lovett street, and Miss Mary Green presides at the councils.
We present here a cut of the '93 Football Team (EHLM has the picture), the form of which may be judged from the fact that two of its members, Messrs. Cogdill and Martin, were on the '94 Olivet eleven.
Eaton County Marriage records, Volume 6, page 150 (note: although they were married in Jackson County, they probably obtained their marriage license in Charlotte where he was living at the time) "December 24, 1894, EDWARD L. MASON, age 25, white, of Charlotte, Born: Mich. Schoolteacher. Parents: EZRA MASON & MATHELLA DAVIS. Married KATE SAGENDORPH, age 24, white, of Jackson. Born: Mich. Parents: D.P. SAGENDORPH & MARY MUNSON. Married at Jackson by G. R. Foster, clergyman. Witnesses: Will Sagendorph of Jackson and G.D. Mason, of Corunna."
Lawrence (KS) Daily Journal, Saturday, April 8, 1916 TOOK OWN LIFE IN A FIT OF DESPONDENCY E. L. Mason Swallowed Cyanide of Potassium At His Home BOUGHT POISON TO KILL A CAT Was Found in Dying Condition By Members of Family Graduate of University of Michigan - Had Formerly Been in School Work
E.G. Mason in a fit of despondency committed suicide at 1110 Vermont street yesterday afternoon by swallowing cyanide of potassium. The poison was taken while Mr. Mason was in the dining room of his home at about 3 o'clock. Members of the family who were about their tasks in the house discovered his condition shortly afterward and physicians were summoned, but could do nothing. No reason was ascribed for the act other than the fact that Mr. Mason had been despondent for a considerable period recently.
Dr. R. E. Barnes was summoned as soon as members of the family had found Mr. Mason lying on the sofa in the dining room and behind him the deadly box, which had contained the poison. Dr. Barnes said that life was extinct about a half hour after his arrival. Mr. Mason was unconscious from the time he swallowed the poison. The box originally had contained a half ounce of cyanide and it was empty when found.
Dr. Barnes summoned Coroner H. T. Jones as soon as he learned the nature of the case and Dr. Jones was present at the time of death. An examination of the circumstances showed that death had been caused from poison self administered and Dr. Jones decided that no inquest or further inquiry was necessary. Mrs. Mason and one son, Edward, a student at the University of Kansas, were at home at the time of the tragedy, but neither was in the dining room at the time the poison was taken. A second son, Warren, is a student in the high school.
The poison with which Mr. Mason ended his life was purchased at the Round Corner drug store December 25, 1915, and Mr. Mason told the druggist he wished to kill a cat, at the time of purchase. Dr. H.T. Jones said today that it is probable the poison was not purchased with suicidal intent last December, but that Mr. Mason found it or remembered it while the despondent fit was upon him and that its use was the result of a sudden impulse.
Mr. Mason had been a resident of Lawrence for the last three years and had been a representative of the Farmers and Bankers Life Insurance Company for that time. He was 46 years old. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan and came to Lawrence with his family. Previous to that time Mr. Mason had been in educational work and had served as principal of a number of schools. The last position he held in school work was that of principal of the Colorado Springs High School. (Not true. His last position was Superintendent of the high school in Corunna, MI. Perhaps that family did not want to mention that because of ELM's problems there.)
From an Owosso paper, April 17, 1916: EDWARD MASON ENDS LIFE IN LAWRENCE: Former Owosso man Swallows Cyanide of Potassium With Suicidal Intent, According to Word:
Corunna, April 17 - News of the recent death of Edward L. Mason, at his own hands, has been received here from Lawrence, Kas. He swallowed cyanide of potassium. Mr. Mason had been in the south (Kansas) for three years, in the insurance business.
The deceased was former superintendent of the Corunna schools and was vice president of the Fox and Mason Furniture Co. After the furniture company went into bankruptcy, he went south (Kansas). Shortly afterwards, he was arrested and brought back to face a charge of obtaining a loan by making a false statement in writing of the company's financial condition. The case was dropped, however, as was another similar charge later preferred by a Saginaw company.
Surviving Mr. Mason are a widow and two sons, Edward, a student in the University of Kansas, and Warren, as student of the Lawrence high school. He also leaves a brother, George Mason, formerly of Corunna but now of Detroit. (I wonder why they don't mention Fred, who lived locally and survived another eleven years?)
From: Bentley Reference, Bentley.ref@@umich.edu, Date: Mon, 04 Oct 2004 I reviewed The Palladium (yearbook) from 1891 through 1893, the vertical file for the class of 1893, the records of the Michigan Athletic Department (which did not go that far back in this area), and Edward�s necrology file, but I was unable to locate any record indicating that he played on a tennis team.
By E.H.L. Mason, 2002: To me, the defining moment for the Mason family in the 20th century was the failure of the Fox and Mason Furniture factory in 1913. Up until that time, George and Mary and their seven children were living in an ideal situation. Then had been pillars of the community and were highly respected. Then they were hit broadside and everything changed. Wealth turned to poverty. Respect turned to suspicion. In disgrace, they had to leave the place that had sustained them and try to start from scratch in a big, strange and uncaring city. It can�t have been easy.
Excerpts from Edward S. Mason�s writings, including his autobiography, with a few small edits by Edward H.L. Mason: During our stay in Mitchell, South Dakota, negotiations were under way to obtain for my father the post of superintendent of schools in the small Central Michigan town of Corunna. Here his older brother George Mason was the part owner of a small factory, the Fox and Mason Furniture Company, and, as chief employer in the town he had a certain influence with the School Board.
Corunna, like most Middle Western towns, was amply supplied with churches and the conventional were regular in their attendance. Our church, at that stage, was the Baptist, where my uncle sang in the choir and made sizeable contributions to the upkeep of the establishment. Since Uncle George had a family of five children (Dad did not remember the two youngest. Mary and Martha, who were small children when he left in 1913), the only boy, Ezra, being about my age, my brother and I had no difficulty in entering Corunna's juvenile society (Ezra and Bessie would be the ones my father and his brother Warren would have known best). Indeed within a few weeks we had acquired a sizable group of firm friends. Corunna, in my boyhood, was about as open and classless a community as it is possible to imagine. There were a few shanties north of the river that might possibly be said to comprise a slum but the children from the area had no difficulty in asserting their equality. Most people lived in modest houses and personal connections were on the basis of inclination rather than employment. There were, it is true, a few houses on the main street more prepossessing than others, ones occupied by a judge of the county court and a few business and professional people. My Uncle George had a house in this neighborhood but the finances of the furniture company were sufficiently precarious to depress ostentation.
Such was my upbringing and such was my environment when, at the age of 13, I entered high school. But at this stage my world collapsed around me. The furniture company, caught in a mild recession, failed. Since they were the main employers in Corunna and the surrounding area, their failure was a devastating blow not only to the town but to the Mason family. Uncle George attributed the failure to the shortsighted pressure of the local bankers but there is reason to believe that the enterprise was always precariously financed. A family conclave, the tenor of which I was only peripherally aware, came to the conclusion that a new start in life had to be made. So, in the summer of 1913, our family left Corunna for another setting (Kansas) and my Uncle George and his family moved to Detroit.
On December 10, 2007 I found Edward Luther Mason listed in the University of Michigan, General Catalogue of the Officers and Students, published in 1902. On page 92 it reads: Edward Luther Mason, A.B., Princ. of High School, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
December 21, 2007, Kelly Murphy, Research Coordinator, Starsmore Center for Local History, Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, 719-385-5650 Although Edward Mason is listed as the principle in the 1902 Lever, the yearbook does not provide additional information. I have looked through our collection indices for his name and unfortunately, we do not have any additional resources. According to the city directories, he and Mrs. Mason (Kate) lived in Colorado Springs from 1901 to 1903. In 1903 he is listed as a miner.
December 22, 2007, Kelly Murphy, Research coordinator, Starsmore Center for Local History, Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum It appears that they (Edward & Kate) lived at three different addresses (in Colorado Springs); they are as follows: 1901 � 413 East San Rafael St.; 1902 � 1013 North Wahsatch St.; and 1903 � 1020 North Wahsatch St. As for his being a miner, he could have worked for a myriad of companies associated with the Cripple Creek/Victor/Goldfield area or there were several coalmines which operated in Colorado Springs at the time.
December 26, 2007, Sandy, Special Collections, PPLDS, Colorado Springs Public Library: Colorado Spring Gazette, July 25, 1900, page 3:
MASON ELECTED TO HIGH SCHOOL.
Will Accept the Principalship of the Local Institution.
MEETING HELD YESTERDAY.
Members of the Board Who are in the City Unanimously Agreed Upon Mr. Mason of Clinton, Ia. - Is a Graduate of the Michigan State University and Has Seven Year Experience.
Mr. E.L. Mason of Clinton, Iowa, who, with Mr. Turnbull of Cedar Rapids, had the local board of education guessing for several months on the election of a principal, was yesterday chosen to fill the place. The school board met in a special session yesterday afternoon and the vote for Mr. Mason was unanimous.
Seven Years Experience
Mr. Mason has an experience of seven years in educational work. Four years have been in Clinton and three years in Michigan (Principal of Charlotte High School). At Clinton he has been the principal of the high school and his work has been so satisfactory that the board there, upon finding that he was considering coming to Colorado Springs, made him an offer of $500 increase in salary if he would remain at that place. His salary here will be $1,900. Two other offers have been made to Mr. Mason.
Mr. Mason is a graduate of the University of Michigan and is heartily interested in all branches of schoolwork. He is regarded as an excellent manager and director of school affairs and the unanimous feeling of the board here is that they have procured a good man. Mr. Mason is 30 years of age, is married and has one child (Warren was born in September 1900 in Colorado Springs).
Will Accept the Place.
There is no doubt about the acceptance of the position on the part of Mr. Mason. He arrived in the city on Sunday (July 22) and met members of the board on Monday, assuring them that his candidacy for the place was still good. At the meeting yesterday (Tuesday) all of the members except Mr. Humphrey, who is in Europe, were present and the business of the meeting took but little time. Mr. Mason expects to arrive in Colorado Springs with his family in about two weeks. He left yesterday morning to close up his affairs at that place.
Colorado Spring Gazette, Jan. 8, 1903, page 1: Mr. E. L. Mason has tendered his resignation as principal of the High school and Professor Myers will succeed him at the end of the present month.
On 12/22/2007 Kelly Murphy, Research Coordinator for the Starsmore Center for Local History at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum advised the three different address for the Mason family in Colorado Springs: In 1901, 413 East San Raphael St In 1902, 1013 North Wahsatch St. In 1903, 1020 North Wahsatch St. She went on to say: As for his being a miner, he could have worked for a myriad of companies associated with the Cripple Creek/Victor/Goldfield area or there were several coal mines which operated in Colorado Springs at that time.
Oklahoma City Directory for 1904-05. Edward L. Mason and family resided at 118 West Eighth. He is listed on page 280 as an Ins agt. The researcher in Oklahoma City was not able to find anything about the girl my father witnessed having her dress catch on fire outside of a broom factory. She died from her burns.
In 2008 I ordered microfilm from the State Historical Society of Iowa. Going through it, without dates, other than the years is a very time consuming and tedious job. Items found in the Tri Weekly Herald, published by the Clinton Herald Co. It seems to have been called the Clinton Herald sometime starting in late 1898. The years that I most wanted were 1896 and 1900 as that is when Edward L. Mason and Kate Sagendorph Mason arrived and departed Clinton. Neither year was available.):
Tuesday, September 3, 1895: The School Year. Assignment of Teachers in the Various Schools: Lists W. J. Greenwood as principal of the Clinton High School. He would have been Edward L. Mason�s predecessor.
Thursday, June 10, 1897: Clinton High School graduation: Presentation of Diplomas. Prin. E. L. Mason
Saturday, June 12, 1897: Seniors No More, The Class of '97 Leave the High School. The Concluding Graduation Exercise at the Davis: Superintendent O. P Bostwick and Principal E. L. Mason also were on the stage. After a few snatches of college airs by the orchestra Principal Mason gave to the graduates some words of praise and advise, and two little girls distributed the diplomas.
Tuesday, June 15, 1897: WHITE AND GREEN, These Colors Prevail at Alumni Banquet, Class of '97 is Made Welcome. "Our Graduation Hopes, Will They be Realized" was Principal E. L. Mason's theme. The popular instructor was cheered before he spoke, as afterwards, as well. He was a surprise even to those who know his splendid capabilities as a writer and orator.
Tuesday, June 22, 1897: Outline of Teachers' Meeting June 21 to July 2. Prin. E. L. Mason could not take the contemplated work on account of other engagements.
Thursday, January 9, 1898: Miss Abbot, French and German teacher in the High School, has returned, after spending a delightful time during the holidays in Chicago. (This is Ethel Abbott who later became Edward's sister-in-law, when she married Kate's Brother, Will Sagendorph.) E. L. Mason, principal of the High school, returned from Michigan last evening, where he has been ever since before Christmas. Mrs. Mason will return later.
Saturday, April 23, 1898: The Spanish American War started in April 1998. "The pupils at the High school had quite a celebration. George F. Skinner of the school board and Lyle Sutton were present and made stirring speeches which were greatly applauded by the scholars. Principal E. L. Mason said a few words in the same line and a number of the national songs were sung. The meeting was an enthusiastic one and fitly represented the feelings of the school."
Saturday, June 11, 1898: High School Courses Ended, Graduating Exercises Held at Economic Theatre, Thursday Night; Class of 1898 Has 31 Members. Principle E. L. Mason then presented the graduates with diplomas, with a few well-chosen words and two little girls delivered the diplomas to members of the class.
Thursday, June 16, 1898: School Teachers, Assignment of Instructors for Coming Year: (lists) E. L. Mason, principal, Latan (that is how they spelled it) and Economics; Ethel M. Abbott, German and French.
Tuesday, June 28, 1898: Normal Institute, School Teachers Annual Institute Opens: The following noted instructors are present: (includes) E. L. Mason, principal of Clinton High School.
Tuesday, December 27, 1898: Miss Ethel Abbott is visiting in Chicago.
Thursday, February 23, 1899. There is nothing in the paper about the birth of Edward Sagendorph Mason. (The paper seems to have shown some births, but not all. I looked hard for several adjacent issues to no avail)
Tuesday, March 28, 1899: Mrs. E. L. Mason is entertaining her sister, Miss Sagendorf, of Jackson, Mich. (That is incorrect. She does not have a sister. This has to be her brother, William Kent Sagendorph. His daughter, Margaret Sagendorph Hoffman, told me in about 1990 that Will arrived in Clinton sometime in the Spring of 1898 or 1899.)
Saturday, May 6, 1899: Principal E. L. Mason is reelected at a handsome increase in salary, $150.
Tuesday, May 23, 1899: I copied an illustration of young women�s fashions in the spring of 1899.
Thursday, June 8, 1899: Annual Clinton County Institute Announcement. The ten instructors will be as follows: Includes E.L. Mason, Principal of High School, Clinton, Iowa. As will be noticed by the list of instructors, the Institute this year promises to be an interesting one. In selecting instructors for his institutes, Mr. Gordon has always aimed to secure the best talent obtainable, regardless of the expense and the popularity of the past institutes fully demonstrates his good judgment in this respect.
Saturday, June 10, 1899: Liberty Gained: Thirty-seven Young People Pass Out From Active School Life. The main speaker at the High School�s graduation was President W. M. Beardshear of Iowa State Agricultural College. Upon being introduced by Mr. Mason he said that he greeted the graduates as friends in their longings for noble attainments.
Tuesday, June 13, 1899: Happy Reunion. High School Alumni Banquet Held Friday Night. Mr. Ellis, the toastmaster, in his happiest vein, then said at the last moment he and one other had persuaded one of the Clinton literary lights to respond to a toast. The consent had been reluctantly given, but he eulogized the prospective speaker in glowing terms and introduced Prof. Mason of the High School. Prof. Mason prefaced his remarks by stating that the persuasion used by the toastmaster and one other amounted to little less that coercion and with several witty anecdotes of a psychological nature relative to chickens and goats he entertained those assembled. Then in a graver tone he spoke of the dangers which beset a republic � dangers which caused the downfall of the Roman republic, momentous questions of the past which puzzled the fathers of our country, and problems which are now and will be presented to the growing generation to solve. These latter problems relate not alone to home affairs, but to those of recently acquired possessions. The teacher, he said, having closest touch with the child before all of its traits are developed, holding it through a young life filled with various impressions and influences, has most to do with the molding of that child�s character. He considered the teacher a principal factor in the work of �the Pubic School in its Relation to Citizenship.� (Having just become the father of my father less than four months earlier, I feel that this reflects on ELM�s new role as a father and his sincere intention to instill academic discipline into his children. At that he was very successful.)
1900 Microfilm is not available. This was the year that Edward L. Mason left Clinton in July and became the new principal in Colorado Springs at the beginning of the 1900-01 academic year.
On 12/31/2007 I was advised by a researcher in Oklahoma City that Edward L. Mason was listed in the 1904-05 City Directory as an Insurance Agent with an address of 118 West Eighth. 1904-05 City Directory as an Insurance Agent with an address of 118 West Eighth.
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