Drafty Museum

‹ Back

“Abner Mason and his wife were the second family to locate in West Mecca. At last the Buttles were to have neighbors. Their son, Nobel, taught the first school west of the creek when he was eighteen years old in 1828. Two years later, he built a sawmill at a beaver dam and cut lumber, too. Meanwhile, churches began to flourish. Buildings used during the week for school became churches on Sunday. The meeting to organize the first Congregational Church was held in the winter of 1822. The Freewill Baptists were to follow, and then the Methodists. Although the Methodists started out in East Mecca, then ended up across the creek and held services in Noble Mason’s school building.”–from 'A History of Mecca Township and its Schools' by The Alpha Omega Chapter

 

Abner Mason was born on January 13, 1766, in Chesire, Mass., the son of Nathan and Mehitable (Carpenter) Mason. He married Priscilla, the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Lawrence) Gallup. Abner and Priscilla came to Boardman from Massachusetts in 1817. Eleven years later, they moved here with their children: Squire, Laura, Polly, Otis, Orrin, Emily, Ruby, and Noble. Their first daughter, Olive, died young.

 

Squire married first to Clarissa Sweetland and second to Nancy Yohn. He and his family departed for Iowa, where they were buried in West Point.

 

On Dec. 16, 1819, Laura Mason married Herman Benton, who had come to the Austintown/Poland area from Connecticut. The couple moved with Abner and Priscilla to Mecca. They had two sons, William and Orris, and two daughters, Mary, who died aged 25, and Emily, who died aged 22, less than one year apart. William married Eunice Cowdery, and Orris married Eunice Smith. Orris and Eunice were the grandparents of well-known Mecca native, Frank William Benton (1896-1989), who we will share more about in future posts.

 

“Laura Mason, wife of Herman Benton, was a loving Christian mother and was born in New York, coming from Canfield, O. to Mecca. Her son William says he wore the homespun of his mother until twenty years of age.” - Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve

 

Polly Mason married John Davidson, and they named their son after her brother, Noble. Noble Davidson invented the traction engine and was struck and killed by a car in Hardin Co., OH in 1909.

 

Otis Mason married Oriell Banning in 1823. He died in 1838, aged 39, in Mecca where he was buried.

 

Marriage license of Orrin Mason, aged 18, and Martha Chaffee, aged 14.
Orrin's brother in law, Herman Benton, applied for the license.

 

On March 17, 1834, Orrin P. Mason married 14-year-old Martha Chaffee, daughter of Jose and Theodocia Chaffee, whom we mentioned in Part 2. Unfortunately, Orrin died only a year later, aged somewhere between 19-21 years, depending on varied records. Martha married Samuel Davidson second. Orrin, Martha, and Samuel were buried in West Mecca Cemetery.

 

Gravestones of Orrin and Otis Mason in West Mecca Cemetery.
Photos by Ashley Armstrong.

 

Emily Mason married Samuel Bates. Ruby Mason married Hiram Dean.

 

Noble Mason married Lora Brown, daughter of Wheeler and Lois Brown. As the above caption states, he was the first school teacher in West Mecca. We will save his story for a future post.

 

Squire Wheeler Brown and his family were also among the first settlers who came to West Mecca. Wheeler’s wife Lois had an identical twin sister, Lucy Wilbur. They lived on property later owned by their son in law, Christopher B. Holmes, on the north end of Bazetta Rd.

 

Wheeler’s cause of death was quite tragic. This excerpt is from “Mecca” by Thomas Kachur. Pages 86-87:

 

“Wheeler was born May 1, 1776. He married Lois Ray on May 27, 1802. She was born July 18, 1777. They were the parents of 4 sons and 3 daughters: Mary T., Anna P., Alvan W., Allen N., Lora P., Lucius S., and James M.

 

On May 1, 1836, Wheeler Brown and his family left Griswold, Connecticut, for the fertile lands of the Western Reserve. They boarded a sloop at Norwich and traveled as far as Albany, NY. They traveled by canal to Buffalo, by lake to Ashtabula, and by land to Mecca. They arrived in Mecca on May 20, 1836, the entire trip taking 20 days. The Browns settled in Mecca, north of the corners.

 

Wheeler was accidentally killed in the woods while felling a tree, a limb striking him in the head. This occurred Jan. 4, 1858, at the age of 84.

 

Gravestones of Abner and Priscilla (Gallup) Mason in West Mecca Cemetery.
Photos by Ashley Armstrong.

 

Gravestones of Samuel and Martha (Chaffee) Mason Davidson and Herman and Laura (Mason) Benton in West Mecca Cemetery. Photos by Ashley Armstrong.

 

Wheeler and Lois Brown’s children:

– Mary T. married Christopher B. Holmes. They had a daughter, Mary E. Holmes, who married Burt Case.

–Anna P. married Jonathon Smith.

–Alvan W. married Lydia Ann Bennett.

–Allen N. married Emma Bennett.

–Lora P. married Noble Mason.

–Lucius S. married Elizabeth Ann Miller.

–James M. married Rachel Buck.”

 

This 1874 map overlay shows the lands that the Masons occupied on the northwest side of Bazetta Rd.,
seen here as B. Case and C.B. Holmes.

 

(This post was written for the Mecca Township Historical Society, as part of an ongoing series for Mecca.)

 

– Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve, 1896

– History of the Western Reserve by Upton, Harriet Taylor; Cutler, Harry Gardner, 1910

– 1874 and 1899 Trumbull County Atlases

–"Mecca" by Thomas Kachur, c. 1970 and 2002 editions

–Familysearch.org tax, census, and vital records