TTHK MldERIC^r* mmW J@^RN'SI<. 



453 



DR. A. B. mASON. 



This biographical slsetch was written 

 for Qleanings b}' Mrs. Mason : 



The subject of this sketch was born 

 25 miles southeast of Bufl'alo, in the 

 town of Wales, Erie Co., N. Y., Nov. 

 18, 1833. His father was born in 

 Massachusetts, and was of English, 

 Scotch, and Irish descent ; was a sold- 

 ier in the war of 1812, and assisted in 

 the capture of Fort Erie. His maternal 

 grandfather was killed bj' the Indian 

 allies of Great Britain, in the same 

 war. His maternal grandmother was 

 of the old Knickerbocker, or Dutch 

 ancestry. 



Mr. Mason liad six brothers older 

 than liimself, two j'oimger, and two 

 sisters. All were raised on a farm, 

 and tlie brothers are all farmers. The 

 only living sister is the wife of a 

 farmer, and lives at Emporia, Kansas. 

 His mother and grandparents all died 

 in their 83d year, and his father was 

 about 90 at his death. 



In DeKalb Co., 111., when about 17 

 years old. Dr. Mason taught his first 

 school, for .fl-l per month, and " board- 

 ed round." In relating some of the 

 incidents in connection with that 

 school, he says : " The three last 

 teacliers preceding me were turned 

 out l)y the ' big bjys,' the last being 

 thrown through the window with the 

 window shut. Of this I knew nothing 

 until the morning I went to begin 

 school. I made up my mind to teach 

 that school or somebody would get 

 hurt, and so I told the director. I was 

 hired for three months, but tauglit 

 four, and was offered |40 per month to 

 teach the same school the next winter. 

 A majority of the scholars were older 

 than I was." 



At the close of this school, young 

 Mason went to Beloit College," Wis- 

 consin, and attended two terms, his chum 

 and friend being the now well-known 

 Gen. Warner, of Warner "Silver Bill " 

 notoriety. With the exception of the 

 above, and a few terms attendance at 

 an academy in Wyoming, N. Y., when 

 he was either at or near the head in 

 all his classes except grammar, his 

 school education was obtained in the 

 common*<listrict school. 



In his 19th year Mr. Mason joined 

 the Baptist church of his native town, 

 and has ever since been proud to l)e 

 known as a Cliristian. Just previous 

 to his 22d birtlulay, at the earnest 

 solicitation of his parents, he com- 

 menced the study of medicine with 

 the family physician, working, as op- 

 portunity offered, to earn money to 

 help pay expenses. 



During the winter of 1857 Dr. Mason 

 attended medical lectures at the Uni- 

 versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. At 

 the close of the lecture course, he went 

 to Illinois to spend the summer, and to 

 complete his medical studies. Tlie fol- 

 lowing autumn he returned to the old 

 home in New York, and on his 25th 

 birthday was married to a Miss Cl;wk. 

 In the spring of 1859, in company with 

 several families from New York and 

 Illinois, the newly married couple 

 went west and located at Irvington, 

 Kossuth Co., Iowa, 40 miles west of 

 the present home of Mr. Eugene Secor. 

 The colony with which they went hav- 

 ing broken up, in 1862 they moved to 

 Waterloo, Iowa. Here Mr. Mason 

 commenced the practice of denistry, 

 which he has followed to the present 



Dr. MjJson has always been known 

 as an earnest temperance worker, and 

 has had his life threatened twice by 

 saloon-keepers. He still delights in 

 being a thorn to them. 



His youngest child is a daughter 16 

 years old, and the oldest is 27. His 

 children, like himself, use no tea, 

 coffee, tobacco, or liquor in any form. 



In 18t)9, a brother, in moving, left 

 2 colonies of bees with him till a more 

 favorable time for moving them. He 

 soon became interested in them, and, 

 seeing an article in a newspaper that 

 year about Mrs. Tupper's success with 

 bees, wrote to her, making some in- 

 quiries, which were kindly answered. 

 He at once became a subscriber to the 

 American Bee Journal, which he has 

 taken till the present time. 



Di: A. B. Mason, President of the Koiili American Bee-Keepers' Society. 



time. He was Secretary and Treasurer 

 of the Iowa State Dental Society, and 

 President of the Northern Iowa Dental 

 Association for two years. For four 

 terms he was Seeretai'y and a member 

 of the School Board of the city in 

 wliich he lived, and was one of the 

 originators of the city library, and 

 librarian for several 3ears. 



For years Dr. Mason was an active, 

 if not the most active member of the 

 church to whidi he Ijelonged, being 

 at one time sui)crintendent of the 

 Sabbath-school, churcli clerk, a trustee, 

 and clerk of the boanl of trustees. He 

 was a leader in Sabbath-school work 

 at home and in adjoining counties. 

 One year he was secretary of eight 

 different organizations, four of them 

 relisrious. 



The same year, Mr. Mason became a 

 member of the Central Iowa Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, and the next year was 

 elected secretary, which position he 

 held until he left the State. 



In 1873, owing to frequent attacks 

 of rlieumatism, and an increasing de- 

 sire to makf- bee-keeping more of a 

 specialty. Dr. Mason quit the office 

 practice of denistry, and the proceeds 

 of the apiary have materially aided in 

 furnisliing "bread and butter" for 

 wife and chihlren. 



In 1874, the family residence, a large 

 new house, witli all its conients, was 

 consumed liy lire. There were 18 

 first-class Italian colonies of bees in 

 the cellar. On learning of the loss, 

 some members of the Central Iowa 

 Bee-Keepers' Association offered to 



