John Mason (planter) - Merchant and Banking Career

Merchant and Banking Career

On June 22, 1788, Mason travelled to Bordeaux, France to conduct business for Fenwick & Mason firm there. Despite the onset of the French Revolution, Mason remained in France until 1791 and only then left due to his ill health. The Bordeaux branch of Fenwick & Mason continued to thrive, but was liquidated in 1793 because of the encroaching threat of war in Europe. Declining prices of tobacco were also partly to blame for the firm's Bordeaux closure.

By Spring 1792, Mason had established a branch of Fenwick & Mason in Georgetown. As the firm expanded, it became involved in a variety of other lucrative ventures including bankinging, international commerce, the organization of foundries, and navigation and turnpike companies. Fenwick & Mason also became involved in the flour and wheat trade in addition to its tobacco operations.

Mason also served on the board of directors of the Bank of Columbia and became its president in 1798. Around this same time, Mason purchased large tracts of land in the Federal City. His involvement with government service was enhanced through his 1807 appointment as Superintendent of the Indian Trade. Mason held this position until 1816. Mason also served as a brigadier general in the District of Columbia militia. He was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson to be the first Commander of the District of Columbia militia in 1802. Through this role, Mason became commissioner general of prisoners during the War of 1812. In 1817, he became the president of the Potomac Company. His nephew Thomson Francis Mason was later chairman of the Alexandria Canal further downstream.

Mason acquired Henry Foxall's Foxhall Cannon Foundry in Georgetown in 1815. Mason continued to operate the foundry until his death in 1849. For five years after Mason's death, the foundry remained part of the Mason estate with Mason's son Maynadier Mason as its superintendent.