Obituary for John Henry Mason

From the Durant Daily Democrat, 23 Feb 1953, Page 1:

Services For John H. Mason Here Tuesday

Funeral services will be held at the First Baptist Church Tuesday at 4 p.m. for John H. Mason, pioneer Durant businessman and former Bryan county official, who died Sunday night after a long illness. Mr. Mason had been a resident of Durant for 53 years and was 76 years old.

Services will be conducted by Rev. L. L. Armstrong, assisted by Carroll Hooper, and burial, under direction of Holmes Funeral home, will be in Highland Cemetery.

Active pallbearers will be Ralph Ownby, M.K. Staton, J.T. Davis, Bob Howard, Wallace Gates and Bill Barker.

Honorary pallbearers will be members of the First Baptist men's Bible class.

Mr. Mason, well known as "Uncle John," was born at Lone Oak, Ark., May 14, 1876, a son of Mr. and Mrs. George Washington Mason. He was married to Miss Mattie Alva Lipsey at Lone Oak in 1895.

Since coming to Durant, Mr. Mason was engaged in business and livestock production here, and had served two terms as Bryan county commissioner. He retired from active business several years ago because of poor health. 

Mr. Mason was a lifelong member of the Baptist church and was a member of the Woodmen of the World lodge.

The deceased is survived by his wife, two sons, Brans Mason, Amarillo, Texas; and Clabe Mason, Durant; one daughter, Mrs. Leo McMains, Denison, Texas; five grandchildren and four great grand children. He was a brother of the late George A. Mason and an uncle of Albert W. Mason, George Mason Jr, Hall Mason, and Elmo Mason, all of Durant.

The Newhouse (Neuhauser) Family Immigration to America

Most of my genealogical lines have been well established in the United States since before the revolution. So, the Newhouse line on my maternal side has unique significance to me. This line represents my most recent connection to immigrants coming to the United States to pursue a better life.

I was aware that the Newhouse family was residing in New York City at the time of the 1850 Federal Census. However, I was not certain exactly when they came to America. In researching the descendants of this Newhouse family, I was able to estimate that they arrived around 1835-1840, and likely came from Bavaria. Until recently, that was as far as I could get.

Last weekend, using a newly available online index, I finally uncovered the passenger list for the their voyage to America.

Sailing on the "Susan" from the port of Bremerhaven, Germany, the Newhouse family arrived in New York City 15 Aug 1840.

This document turned out to be a great source of genealogical information since each person in the family is listed with their age and native country, including the children. It was also encouraging to discover their actual German surname: Neuhauser.

Solomon Neuhauser, age 50, Merchant, native of Bavaria
Ella, his Wife, age 54, native of Bavaria
Rosette, his Daughter, age 18, native of Bavaria
David, his son, age 17, native of Bavaria
Isaac, his son, age 15, native of Bavaria
Moses, his son, age 13, native of Bavaria
Matheus Neuhauser, age 38, Tailor, native of Bavaria
Lilli Neuhauser, age 32, native of Bavaria

Previous to this record, I did not know the father's name since he had died before 1850. I had always thought it was Jacob Newhouse based on other circumstantial records. However, we now know that Solomon is the husband of Ella (Elizabeth/Eliza) Newhouse. This is confirmed using several directories listing inhabitants of New York City from 1844-1865. Solomon appears in an 1844 NYC directory as a tailor living on Attorney Street. Among other supporting evidence, in 1859 and 1865, we find Elizabeth Newhouse listed as the widow of Solomon, living on Attorney Street.

The passenger list also includes a new clue: Matthias Newhouse. Previous to this discovery, I had found him living in the same location as the Newhouse family in 1860, but I did not know how they were connected. Based on the passenger list, it can be assumed that the Matheus Neuhauser is the brother of Solomon, or some other close relation.

Moses Neuhauser is the individual from whom my line descends. We find his brother, Isaac Newhouse, and Moses in Scranton, Pennsylvania during the 1860 Federal Census - both listed as tailors. By 1870, Moses had moved to Frankfort, Kentucky, where he assumed the name "Morris." In 1871, he married my 3rd great-grandmother, Anna Partee, a native of Georgia.

It is also interesting to note that Morris was a cousin of Samuel Newhouse, a multimillionaire mining tycoon that is also credited with building the first skyscraper in Salt Lake City, Utah. Samuel's father was Isaac Newhouse, the brother of Morris.

"Susan" Passenger List, 18 Aug 1840
Sailing from Bremerhaven, Germany to New York City, New York