Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Ebenzer E. Mason Diary must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Ebenzer E. Mason Diary, Ms2012-063, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

Ebenzer E. Mason Diary was purchased by Special Collections in September 2012.

Alternate Form Available

This collection has been digitized and is available online .

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Ebenzer E. Mason Diary was completed in October 2012.

Biographical Note

Ebenezer Erskine Mason was born August 29, 1829, in Maine. He married Elizabeth Thompson (1825-1913) prior to 1860. Mason later became a local magistrate and a member of the Accotink Home Guard, a company that remained loyal to the Federal Government throughout the Civil War. Notably, Mason served as a delegate to the Second Wheeling Convention and was sergeant of arms to the Senate in 1863. In 1864, Mason served as delegate to the Restored Virginia Government Convention where a new constitution was put in place that abolished slavery and recognized West Virginia as a loyal state. Mason died in 1910 was buried in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Scope and Content

The collection includes the diary of Ebenezer E. Mason, a standard leather bound pocket size edition with three dates per page that covers his experiences from January through August 1864 as well as a few entries in February 1865. The entries typically note the weather of the day as well whether or not Congress was in session. The diary also includes a short poem (original?) and some account information in the back. The diary contains a pocket that holds a period newspaper clipping of an article Mason wrote for the State Journal, making a defense for adopting a new constitution, as well as several receipts and clippings.

Index Terms

Subjects:

• Civil War
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Diaries

Genre and Form Terms:

• Diaries.