Mason Garrison of Clearfield County, PA

Mason Garrison is my 3rd-great grandfather and he represents a brick-wall in my family genealogy. Mason was most likely born during the mid-1790s and died 1861 in Clearfield County, PA.

I learned about Mason from the death certificate of his son Levi Garrison. The death certificate for Levi lists his birthplace as Curwensville, Clearfield County, PA and his parents as Mason Garrison and Elizabeth Bloom.

Checking the census records I found Mason living in Pike Twp, Clearfield County during the years 1830, 1840, 1850 and 1860.  The 1830 and 1840 censuses were not very detailed in the information collected; only the head of household was listed — the other members were grouped by sex and age range.  The 1850 census recorded Mason’s age as 50 and his birthplace was left blank, while the 1860 census shows Mason to be 58 with his birthplace being Virginia.

On August 7, 1861 the Clearfield Republican reported Mason’s death. He died the previous Sunday (August 4th) and was described as “well advanced in age.”  But based on Mason’s ages listed on the 1850 and 1860 census, he would have been between 59 and 61-years old when he died.

If the census records are correct, then Mason was born in either 1800 or 1802 in Virginia. But there is information that contradicts the 1850 and 1860 censuses.  Two history books tell of Mason Garrison coming to Clearfield County from Virginia and establishing a mill.

In the 150th Anniversary of Curwensville, Pennsylvania (p. 129) Mason Garrison, along with George Leach, is said to have started one of the first woolen mills ” in the county at Hog Back Run below Curwensville” in 1815. Based on the years of birth reported on census records, Mason would have been either 13 or 15-years old; not very likely.

The Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania (1898 J.H. Beers, p.1005) says that Mason Garrison came from the “Old Diminion” (colonial name for Virginia) at about 20 years old and that he was “variously employed for three or four years” before he and George Leach built the mill. So he would have been 23 or 24 years old in 1815, making his birth year 1791 or 1792.

Attempts to find Mason’s parents have been fruitless. There were several Garrisons living in Virginia during the 1700s and, as I mentioned earlier, the census records from that period only record the name of the head of household. So, Mason’s name would not appear on a census from Virginia. The Beers book also mentioned that Mason worked in the cotton industry in Virginia, but it doesn’t say in what position. Was he the owner’s son and a foreman or was he an indentured servant who worked in the fields alongside slaves? Many terms of indentures expired when the person reached the age of 21.  The Beers book says he came to Clearfield County at about the age of 20.

I do know, from the censuses and the Beers book, that Mason married Elizabeth Bloom in about 1826 and together they had six children. Elizabeth Bloom Garrison died September 19, 1849 in Clearfield. In about 1852 Mason married Elizabeth Temple and fathered four more children.

Hopefully I will connect with somebody who knows the next bit of information that allows me to move back in time. I have posted messages on several on-line genealogy bulletin boards with the details of Mason. Perhaps somebody researching the Garrisons will find my post and have what I am looking for.  This article may also help, because anybody Googling Mason Garrison will find this entry.  I will admit that at this point I am fishing. My line is in the water of a huge ocean and all I can do is wait.

My descent from Mason Garrison is as follow:

Mason Garrison > Levi Garrison > Sturley Garrison > Charles Garrison > Charlene (Garrison) Crosby > Me.

“Mason Garrison of Clearfield, PA — Update” for new information.