Lafayette Mason first appeared in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census as a laborer living in Elizabethtown, Essex County, New York, with his wife, Mary, and their young children, John and Jane. Over the next two decades, census records documented the growth of his family as additional children were born and boarders, including Moses Gerrish, became part of the household. Although his recorded age and birth year varied between censuses, Lafayette consistently appeared as the head of his family and worked to provide for them through farming and labor. By 1860, he was identified as a farmer with real and personal property valued at $1,350, and his race was recorded as “mulatto,” illustrating the changing and sometimes inconsistent racial classifications found in nineteenth-century records.
During the Civil War, Lafayette answered the Union’s call to service. He enlisted on December 21, 1863, in Elizabethtown as a private in the 118th New York Infantry, Company G, and mustered into service two days later. His military experience included the hardship of becoming a prisoner of war after his capture at Fair Oaks, Virginia, on October 27, 1864. Despite this ordeal, he survived the conflict and was honorably mustered out on June 14, 1865, in Albany, New York. His service reflects the contributions and sacrifices made by North Country soldiers during one of the nation’s defining conflicts.
Following the war, Lafayette resumed family life in New York before moving west. The 1865 New York State Census recorded an even larger household, and by 1870 he had relocated with his family to Vernon Springs, Howard County, Iowa, where he worked as a laborer. This migration mirrored the westward movement of many American families seeking new opportunities after the Civil War.
Lafayette Mason’s final known record appears in the Minnesota death index, which states that he was born on March 20, 1827, in Ellenburg, Clinton County, New York, and died on July 10, 1879, in what is now Minnehaha County, South Dakota. He was buried in Shaman Cemetery. Although historical records contain inconsistencies regarding his age, birthplace, and family members, they reveal the remarkable story of a North Country resident whose life encompassed family, military service, westward migration, and perseverance during a transformative period in American history.