Rufus Osgood Mason

Rufus Osgood Mason (January 22, 1830 in Sullivan, New Hampshire – May 11, 1903 in New York City, New York) was a physician, surgeon, and teacher and an early researcher in parapsychology and hypnotherapy.

Mason was the son of Rufus and Prudence (Woods) Mason. He prepared for college at Thetford, Vermont and later graduated at Dartmouth College in 1854. He then entered Union Theological Seminary (1854–1855) before moving to medicine. In 1859, he graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City (now a part of Columbia University). He became one of the most noted surgeons of his day in New York City.

During The American Civil War, he became an assistant surgeon for The United States Navy. From 1861 to 1864 he served on the USS Santiago de Cuba. In 1864 he took up medical practice in New York City, where he was attending physician, Northwestern Dispensary, until 1869.

Between of leaving Union Theological Seminary and entering the medical profession, he became an instructor at a public school in Cleveland, Ohio. It was there that he met, taught, inspired, and befriended "A small Barefoot Boy," William Rockefeller (Brother of John D. Rockefeller). The relationship would endure through the years, and Mason became "A Rockefeller Patron" toward the advancing of the medical sciences.

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