Samuel Mason
| Samuel Mason | |
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Following his military service, in the American Revolutionary War, Samuel Mason led a gang of river pirates, from 1797 to 1799, on the Ohio River, at the infamous outlaw haunt of Cave-in-Rock.
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| Born |
Samuel Ross Mason November 8, 1739 Norfolk, Colony of Virginia |
| Died | 1803 (aged 64) Jefferson County, Mississippi Territory |
| Cause of death | gunshot wound or murder by tomahawk |
| Resting place | unknown |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Sam Mason, Meason, Samuel Meason, Captain Mason, Mason, Ensign Mason, Squire Mason, Mason of the Woods, Wilson, Bully Wilson |
| Citizenship | American |
| Occupation | horse thief, soldier, state militia officer, frontiersman, tavern keeper, burglar, bandit, justice of the peace, criminal gang leader, river pirate |
| Employer | Virginia state government, self-employed |
| Home town | Charles Town, Frederick County, Virginia, present-day Charles Town, Jefferson County, West Virginia |
| Spouse(s) | Rosanna or Rosannah Dorsey |
| Children | 9 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 Virginia,  United States
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| Service/branch | Virginia State Forces |
| Years of service | 1777–1779 |
| Rank | captain |
| Unit | Ohio County Militia |
| Commands held | Captain Samuel Mason's Company |
| Battles/wars |
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Samuel Ross Mason also, spelled Meason (1739–1803) was a Virginia militia captain, on the American western frontier, during the Revolutionary War, who following the war became the leader of a gang of river pirates and highwaymen on the lower Ohio River and the Mississippi River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was associated with outlaws around Red Banks, Cave-in-Rock, Stack Island, and the Natchez Trace.
Mason was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised in what is now Charles Town, West Virginia, formerly a part of Virginia.
Samuel Mason was thought to have been "born bad." According to Lyman Draper, in the 1750s Mason got his earliest start in crime as a teenager, by stealing the horses of Colonel John L. Hite, in Frederick County, Virginia, being wounded and caught by his pursuers. He moved from Charles Town to what is now Ohio County, West Virginia, also at that time a part of Virginia, in 1773.
During the American Revolution, Samuel Mason was a captain, of the Ohio County Militia, Virginia State Forces. According to Ohio County court minutes, dated 7 January 1777, Mason was recommended to the governor of Virginia to serve as captain of the militia. On 28 January, he was present and cited as a captain from Ohio county at a "council of war" held at Catfish Camp. Catfish Camp was located at or near present-day Washington, Pennsylvania. On 8 June 1777, Mason wrote a letter from Fort Henry, now present-day Wheeling, West Virginia, to brigadier general Edward Hand, at Fort Pitt, now present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The letter he wrote was signed Samuel Meason. On September 1, 1777, Captain Mason was wounded but survived an ambush by Native Americans, near Fort Henry. Most of the men in his Virginia Militia company perished during the attack.
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