835 and elected Mason as Governor. However, the U.S. Congress refused to recognize Michigan as a state until the dispute with Ohio was resolved.
In 1836, facing financial difficulties due to Michigan not being recognized as a state, Mason agreed to a compromise reached by the U.S. Congress and agreed to cede the disputed land to Ohio in exchange for the western two-thirds of the Upper Peninsula (Michigan already included the eastern third). A convention in September 1836 refused to go along with Mason, but Mason finally prevailed in a second convention in December 1836. On January 26, 1837, Michigan was admitted to the Union.
In 1835 Mason had initiated an ambitious internal improvements program, which included development of three railroads and two canals (one of which was the Clinton-Kalamazoo Canal). Mason was re-elected in 1837, but the state’s economy soon began to suffer from the effects of the Panic of 1837. Earlier in 1837, Mason had negotiated to fund the internal improvements program through the sale of $5,000,000 in bonds. This arrangement fell apart in 1837 and following bankruptcies by both the company building the canal and the bank backing the loans, the state was left with over $2,000,000 in bad debt. During his business trips to New York to finance his internal improvements program, Mason became acquainted with Julia Phelps and the two married on November 1, 1838.
Rather than risking a contentious campaign and the possibility of an embarrassing defeat in the elections of 1839, Mason instead decided to give up politics and attempt a private law practice. His successor as governor, an old political rival, William Woodbridge, was determined to place the blame for Michigan’s financial mess on Mason, and charged Mason with corruption related to the $5,000,000 loan. Mason attempted to defend himself, but his reputation was ruined.
Retirement and death in New York
In 1841, Mason left Michigan for New York City, where his wealthy father-in-law, Thaddeus Phelps, lived. Mason tried to establish a law practice there, but struggled to build a clientele. He caught pneumonia in the winter of 1842 and died at the age of thirty-one during the night of January 4, 1843, though his date of death is sometimes listed as January 5.
Mason was initially interred at New York Marble Cemetery, but on June 4, 1905, his remains were brought from New York to Detroit, accompanied by his sister Emily Mason, then age 92; his daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Mason Wright; three grandsons; and several grand-nephews and great-grandchildren. Services were conducted by Rev. David M. Cooper, who had known Mason as Governor, 70 years earlier. Other notable attendees included then Governor, Fred M. Warner, and the mayor of Detroit, George P. Codd. His remains were interred at Capitol Park, the site of the old Michigan Capitol. Later, a bronze statue of Mason on a granite pedestal was erected over the grave. The statue was created by sculptor Albert Weinert and depicted the young Mason in a confident pose.
On September 3, 2009, officials announced that the park would be reconfigured and the monument moved several yards. But when the crews began to excavate the site, they discovered no grave. After four days of searching, the vault containing the remains was located on June 29, 2010, a few yards south of its original site. It was believed the grave was moved from its 1905 location in 1955 to make room for a bus terminal.
On the 199th anniversary of his birth, October 27, 2010, Mason was reburied for the fourth time in a newly built vault in the pedestal beneath the bronze statue designed by Albert Weinert. Mason's great-great-great grandnephew, who resides in Grosse Ile, Michigan, witnessed the reinterment. The current Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, where funeral services were held for Mason in 1843, officiated at the ceremony. Prior to the reinterment, Mason's remains were transported to Lansing where they lay in state in the Capitol Building. Mason was only the third Michigan governor to lie in state in the Capitol.
Marriage and children
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