“I Elizabeth Mason … Do Hereby Declare That I Will Not Take or Accept [the] Provision for Me Made”: A Widow Asserts Her Independence
Elizabeth M. A. B. Mason's Renunciation of Her Legacy from the Estate of George Mason V
On December 19, 1796, William, Thomson, John, and Thomas Mason traveled to the Fairfax County Courthouse to probate the will of their deceased brother, George Mason V, who had died on December 5, 1796.[1] The following month, the brothers completed an “inventory of the goods and Chattels belonging to the Estate of George Mason of Lexington,” which was one of the last steps in closing out the estate.[2] However, they were stopped from filing the inventory with the county court on account of George Mason V's widow. On November 14, 1797, Elizabeth Mason submitted a bold proclamation to the Fairfax County Court:
“Know all men by these presents that I Elizabeth Mason widow of George Mason Esquire late of Lexington in the County of Fairfax and Commonwealth of Virginia not being satisfied with the provision made for me by the will of my said Husband, do hereby declare that I will not take or accept the provision for me made by such will or any part thereof, and do by these presents renounce all Benefit which I might claim by the said Will.”[3]
“Not satisfied,” “will not take or accept,” and “renounce” were strong words. Yet Elizabeth Mason’s public proclamation is indicative of an elite woman who sought more than “the provision made” for her. According to the will of her deceased husband, Elizabeth would become the manager of all of Dogue Neck, which included the Dogue Neck Plantation and the Lexington estate. Elizabeth would be in charge of “all the Negroes stocks of Horses Cattle sheep hogs &c. and all the plantation utensils and Implements of husbandry which property belong to and were maintained” at Dogue Neck Plantation. There was also an employed overseer at Dogue Neck that would fall under Elizabeth’s supervision.[4] At Lexington, Elizabeth would be given use of “Mansion House and the garden orchards and pasture adjoining and also the saddle Horses cariage [sic] and Horses, and waggon [sic] and horses all the plate, Houshold [sic] and kitchen furniture which were in the Mansion House, and its appendages.” Of particular note, “a small piece of clared [sic] Ground adjoining nearly opposite the said Mansion House of Lexington” contained “a small apple orchard, and on which stands the smiths shop a Negro quarter (formerly a Mill House) and some other Houses”—a visual reminder that Elizabeth would be the manager of human chattel. Within these quarters dwelt thirty enslaved people, seven of which George Mason V had allotted for Elizabeth’s use for the duration her lifetime: “Sarah Phillice Betty Cook Charles, Jerry son of Occoquan Nell, George son of Phillice, and Jacob son of Dinah.” Finally, Elizabeth was to be given £40 per year for four years, as well as sufficient quantities of corn, beef, and pork to support her plantations. Both in terms of property and oversight, the will of George Mason V had the potential to give Elizabeth Mason a very secure widowhood—yet one that she was willing to risk for something more.[5]
Excerpt from Will of George Mason V
Deed of Settlement Between Elizabeth M. A. B. Mason & Executors of George Mason V's Estate
Elizabeth’s renunciation of the “the provision for me made by [George Mason V’s] will” appears to have revolved around two points of contention: the ramifications of remarriage and the inheritances of her two eldest sons, George Mason VI and William Mason. In George Mason V’s will, Elizabeth was able to use the provisions of her husband’s estate “during her Life or widowhood.” However, if Elizabeth were to remarry, she would forfeit any property that she had been given by her late husband. According to George Mason V’s will, “in case of their Mothers Death or Marriage,” Elizabeth’s allotment was “to be equally Divided between my sons George & William.”[6]
The will of George Mason V was also unclear about the inheritances of George Mason VI and William Mason. While Elizabeth was given the Dogue Neck and Lexington estates (as well as their enslaved people) for the remainder of her life, George Mason V’s will also stipulated that his sons would inherit and divide those lands equally “when they arrive at the age of twenty one years or marry whichever shall first.” In other words, it was unclear whether Elizabeth or her sons would be the ultimate beneficiaries of George Mason V’s plantations.
In 1799, the matters of remarriage and inheritance were firmly settled in Elizabeth Mason’s favor. In a deed filed with the Fairfax County Court, Elizabeth Mason and the executors of her husband’s estate came to terms that preserved “the Intentions of the Testator” and that were also “most agreeable to his Widow.” The 1799 deed preserved nearly all of the language of George Mason V’s will, but removed any stipulations pertaining to Elizabeth’s widowhood or remarriage. Furthermore, “William Mason, Thomson Mason, John Mason and Thomas Mason, do agree to allot and assign unto the said Elizabeth Mary Ann Barnes Mason the following Two Tracts or parcels of Land, that is to say the plantation of the Late George Mason deceased in dogue Neck.” While her settlement came at the expense of her sons’ inheritance, Elizabeth Mason had gained more freedom and wealth for herself at a time when women’s rights were starting to diminish.[7]
[1] George Mason V’s death had been foreshadowed by years of poor health. He had been discharged from the military service in the Revolutionary War due to a “rheumatic condition,” which prompted him to seek medical treatment in France during the war and in the hot springs of the Appalachian Mountains thereafter. See George Mason to George Washington, March 8, 1779, George Mason to Richard Henry Lee, March 10, 1779, and George Mason to Richard Henry Lee, April 12, 1779, in The Papers of George Mason, Volume II, ed. Rutland, 488-490, 497-499; George Mason to John Mason, September 4, 1791, in The Papers of George Mason, 1725-1792, Volume III: 1787-1792, ed. Robert A. Rutland (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1970), 1237-1239; Will of George Mason V, Fairfax Will Book G-1, 254-261.
[2] Will of George Mason V, Fairfax Will Book G-1, 254-261; for more information about the probating process in colonial Virginia, see Butler, Patrick Henry, III. 1998. "Knowing the Uncertainties of this Life: Death and Society in Colonial Tidewater Virginia." Order No. 9832835, The Johns Hopkins University. http://mutex.gmu.edu/login?url= https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/knowing-uncertainties-this-life-death-society/docview/304419168/se-2.
[3] Renunciation of Elizabeth Mason, Fairfax Deed Book Z-1, 531-532.
[4] According to George Mason V’s will in 1795, “I Lugate” was the overseer of Dogue Neck Planation.” In 1799, in the settlement deed between Elizabeth Mason and the executors of George Mason V’s estate, the overseer is listed as “James Smith.” See Will of George Mason V, Fairfax Will Book G-1, 254-260. Historian Stephanie Jones-Rogers highlights how employing an overseer gave female slaveholders two levels of power: “[Many] slave owners throughout the South … employed an overseer to make sure that the people she kept enslaved performed the tasks delegated to them, but she also oversaw her overseer.” See Jones-Rogers, They Were Her Property, x.
[5] In 1805, Elizabeth Mason’s second husband placed an advertisement for a runaway “Mulatto Man, named Charles,” which may be the same as “Cook Charles” included in George Mason V’s will. See Advertisement by George Graham, Alexandria Daily Advertiser, Volume 5, Number 1387, September 3, 1805, 3.
[6] According to the 1799 settlement deed between Elizabeth Mason and the executors of George Mason V’s estate, Elizabeth had renounced her widow’s provisions “on account of Certain doubts which have arisen from a Construction, to be put on the Clauses that relate to her, and for other reasons.” This vague description of Elizabeth’s grievances makes it difficult to determine precisely what she hoped to gain by renouncing George Mason V’s will. However, since the only substantive differences between the 1799 deed and George Mason V’s will pertain to Elizabeth’s possibility of remarriage and her sons’ inheritances, it is certain that these were at least two of the issues that prompted Elizabeth Mason’s renunciation. See Deed Between Executors of George Mason V Estate and Elizabeth Mary Ann Barnes Mason, Fairfax Deed Book B-2, 369-373.
[7] Will of George Mason V, Fairfax Will Book G-1, 254-260; Deed Between Executors of George Mason V Estate and Elizabeth Mary Ann Barnes Mason, Fairfax Deed Book B-2, 369-373. See also Rosemarie Zagarri, Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007), 26-37; 148-149. While Zagarri’s focus is on the politics of the early republic, her work provides helpful context to the environment in which Elizabeth Mason filed her renunciation. According to Zagarri, “while political changes since the American Revolution had continued to create new possibilities for white men, there was a closing down of certain opportunities for white women. Some of these changes were deliberate; others were incidental by-products of larger structural or institutional changes in politics, culture, or society. Nonetheless, they all tended to produce the same unfortunate results: the marginalization of women in electoral politics and the more explicit exclusion of women from government.”