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1855 - 1928 (73 years)| Name | Charles Thomas MASON [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] | |
| Suffix | Jr. | |
| Birth | 6 Jun 1855 | Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina  [11] |
| Gender | Male | |
| HIST | At the age of 14, Jr. was recognized for his model of a steam engine at the 1869 Fair of the Agricultural and Mechanics Society of South Carolina. He was instrumental in bringing the electric light to Sumter. It is said that Miss Emmie Mason was married under the first electric lights in Sumter at the home later known as the Purdy House on the northeast corner of Hampton and Purdy. Mason Jr. is best remembered in Sumter for the manufacturing of telephones which he began in 1893. By 1899, the business had grown into a major southeastern manufacturing company. At its height, the company employed about 400 workers, including those who made the telephones and cabinets by hand, and those who performed the intricate winding of the delicate coils. During its heyday, the company shipped phones throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Cuba and other foreign countries. As a sideline, the company began building and selling magnetos for use in stationary marine and aviation engines. This section of the business eventually overtook telephone production as the largest portion of the business. Both sections of the company were eventually bought by larger companies. In 1920, the Sumter plant finally closed, and the electrical portion was transferred to New Jersey. Charles was a partner with Frederick Claude Manning in the Sumter Telephone Manufacturing Company, where they sold the famous Dixie Magnetos. ¶ C. T. Mason: The Edison of the South Rob Honeycutt of Columbia is a historian on the life and times of C. T. Mason. Mason started making telephones in Sumter in 1892 and was responsible for the building of a factory on South Harvin Street. This building (circa 1895) is now being completely remodeled for Santee-Lynches Regional Transportation Authority as its operation center. Work has already started on the building, and public hearings have been completed. The next phase will be design and layout work, and then construction will start. ¶ As Congressman James C. Clyburn has been responsible for obtaining the federal funds, the building, upon completion, will bear his name. Honeycutt and the writer would like for the building in some way also to honor Mason, who was an inventor and manufacturer. Some historians have called Mason the “Edison of the South.” Honeycutt has shared a lot of his collections and research on the Sumter Telephone Manufacturing Company with the Bubba Archives, and we in turn have shared our collection with Honeycutt. Recently he sent us a copy of a Sumter Telephone Company - not the manufacturing company - directory for 1911. It is the oldest directory we know of that is still in existence, and a good deal of this information comes from Honeycutt’s research. ¶ Telephones in Sumter began in 1892 with an ordinance passed by the intendant (Mayor) and wardens (councilmen) allowing the Sumter Telephone Company the right to furnish telephones to subscribers in the city. To use a telephone in those days, you picked up the receiver and an operator would ask, “Number, please?” Your reply would be “Number 30, please,” and the operator would make the connection and ring this number for you. In 1894 there were 36 telephones in the city, and the phone company had revenues of $80.50 per month. ¶ A review of the 1911 directory has been fun for us. This directory contains between 750 to 800 names of residents and business establishments. A few numbers are in outlying areas such as Alcolu (D. W. Alderman), Dalzell, Brogdon, Elliott, Paxville, St. Charles, Silver, Stateburg, Wedgefield and others. In the listings the address was given sometimes as “country” or near a known place like Stateburg. Street addresses are listed for subscribers that lived in the city. Some of the streets have disappeared such as Haskell (now Park Avenue) and Reardon, which is now under the First Baptist Church. The fire department number was 189, and the police station at City Hall (Sumter Opera House) was 193. The telephone number of Sumter Hospital at 16-18 Calhoun Street was 344. This became Tuomey Hospital in 1913. ¶ It is our guess that numbers were assigned from the beginning as subscribers signed on. In 1911 #1 was the W. H. Yates store at 32 N. Main. Number 2 was the residence of N. G. Osteen at 316 W. Hampton Avenue. We could not find a number 3; #4 would get you Mrs. James Graham at 6 W. Liberty Street, while #5 would ring at the corner of Church and Calhoun, the residence of H. J. Harby. ¶ Of note to the writer was Number 227 for the parsonage of the Washington Street Baptist Church - this was the Bartlette Street Baptist Church, which changed names when it moved to Washington Street and again to Grace Baptist Church. Many names in this directory were very prominent citizens of Sumter who have now either died or moved away. ¶ Dial phones came to Sumter in May 1954 when Mayor M. Pricilla Shaw dialed the first number. Her nephew, 13-year-old Bow Shaw, answered the phone. Thus ended some telephone numbers that many had enjoyed for 50 years or more. ¶ Osteen Publishing Company Number was 30. Our family home phone was 647 and was sometimes confused with the number at the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which was 247. Our telephone would ring in the middle of the night with the caller wanting to know if the 4:30 train would be on time. Also, it is our observation that with the advent of cell phones, it seems that some families have more phones than were in Sumter the first few years of telephones - everyone in family has one plus land lines! Date Published: July 27, 2008 Mason should be recognized at transportation center Sumter native son and 6th District Congressman Jim Clyburn can be rightly proud of the $10 million James E. Clyburn Intermodal Transportation Center on South Harvin Street that celebrated its grand opening Saturday. It will house the Santee Wateree Regional Transportation Authority (SWRTA), which is celebrating its 30th anniversary of providing public transportation in this region that includes Sumter, Clarendon, Lee and Kershaw counties, plus Lower Richland. In addition to SWRTA, the 40,000-square-foot building will also house a Southeastern Stages (Greyhound) Intercity Bus ticket and information office, replacing the old bus station on the Florence highway. Clyburn was instrumental in securing initial congressional earmark funding of $5 million in 2003, state funding of $4 million followed, and final funding of $1.8 million came from Sumter County Council in the form of a $1.8 million bond issue. The center will not only have a positive impact on public transportation for our region but also on the southern portion of downtown Sumter. The building is a shining example of historic preservation, and all who were involved in the 10-year effort to make it a reality deserve our thanks. Also deserving recognition is the man who constructed this building at the turn of the 20th century: Charles T. Mason Jr. In later years the building became commonly known as the Moise Mini-Warehouse, but in its beginnings and in later years it housed The Sumter Telephone Manufacturing Co., known as “the telephone company” or “magneto plant” building to long-time Sumterites. Who was Charles Mason? Merely one of the foremost inventors of his era, ranking right up there with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Luther Burbank and the Wright brothers. In fact, Mason was a friend of both Burbank and Edison, who reportedly once visited Mason at his home in Sumter. He was born in Sumter in 1855 and died in 1928. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Charles T. Mason Sr., who was also an inventor while operating a jewelry store and watch repair business in Sumter for over 40 years. The elder Mason invented an electric fan, a burglar alarm system and a method of demagnetizing watches which he later sold to the Waltham Watch Co. The younger Mason lost a leg while engaged in a logging and sawmilling business, so he invented an artificial leg using cork in its construction, patented it and produced it on a small scale before selling his interest in it to another company. Funds from that invention gave him the capital to pursue other ventures, such as the creation of a mechanical cotton harvester, which was ahead of its time in the 1880s because of its expense, the abundance of cheap labor and the lack of sufficient power to drive or pull the machine. Had the internal combustion engine been available at the time instead of the mule or human labor, his cotton harvester would have revolutionized the cotton industry in the South. Ever resourceful, Mason went on to begin manufacturing telephones on a small scale in the 1890s, which grew into a major local industry by 1899, and thus was created the Sumter Telephone Manufacturing Co., whose stockholders were prominent Sumter men, such as C.G. Rowland, founder of the National Bank of South Carolina. The building he constructed on South Harvin at its height employed 400 workers who manufactured the telephones — beautifully constructed of locally harvested oak, walnut and sweetgum— that were shipped throughout the United States and around the world. The employees were comprised of blacks and whites who worked side by side and received equal wages, unusual for the Jim Crow era in the South, while female workers were situated in a separate part of the factory. He was an equal opportunity employer at a time when those words didn’t exist. The company also built magnetos used in internal combustion engines for boats and aircraft. He was instrumental in bringing the electric light to Sumter, serving as consulting engineer for the Sumter Electric Light Co. and providing technical knowledge to perfect the system. He invented an electric refrigeration system that he sold for $30,000. At the time of his death, Mason was a member of the prestigious Franklin Institute of Philadelphia and the Royal Society of Arts of London. He held more than 100 patents on items that continue to play a role in our daily lives such as the telephone, airplane, ignition systems and refrigeration. We cite the historical accomplishments of Charles T. Mason Jr. as a reminder of his illustrious life and the contributions he made through his inventions and to the economic progress of Sumter as the founder of the Sumter Telephone Manufacturing Co. The building today no longer bears that name, but it was the result of his vision and enterprise. He deserves recognition and memorialization somewhere in the confines of the now-restored building that houses the transportation center. It would be appropriate and fitting for SWRTA to do so in the museum or historical section of the center set aside for that purpose. Mr. Mason was a revered, productive Sumter citizen and a creative genius. He should be honored as such so that he will never be forgotten. EDITOR’S NOTE: Historical documentation on Mr. Mason contained in this editorial was compiled by Dr. Gene Dickerson of Sumter and first appeared in a Fortnightly Club paper. Date Published: July 27, 2008 Transit center opens Clyburn addresses crowd at ceremony Keith Gedamke / The Item Sumter native and U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn speaks to the crowd attending the opening of the Intermodal Transportation Center on Saturday. Will hub improve public transportation in Sumter? Grand Opening (video) Grand Opening ~ Inside (Video) One-on-one interview w/ Clyburn Comments: McElveen (0:29) Comments: McGhaney (0:33) Comments: Public #1 (0:44) Comments: Public #2 (0:18) Comments: Public #3 (0:20) Comments: Public #4 (0:24) Interview w/ SWRTA Executive Director Ann August Slideshow of Grand Opening By JAMIE HUDSON Item Staff Writer jhudson@theitem.com What some might consider pork-barrel spending really brought home the bacon for the Sumter community. On Saturday, area residents got their first glimpse of the $10 million James E. Clyburn Intermodal Transportation Center at the facility’s grand opening. Hundreds of people attending the morning ceremonies sat in front of the entrance to the 40,000-square-foot building as a parade of local, state and federal officials gave their blessing to the transportation hub. “Earmarks get a bad name, but we wouldn’t get anywhere without them,” said Sumter Mayor Joe McElveen. State Rep. David Weeks, D-Sumter, said he was proud the facility is located within his constituency. Weeks said the keynote speaker — Sumter native and U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D.-S.C., for whom the center was named — remembered his roots. “This homeboy sought fit not to forget his hometown,” said Weeks. “If this is pork, it’s some mighty fine barbecue.” The 68-year-old Clyburn began his speech by talking about what coming home means. “Home provides a sense of safety and security for all of us. Home is where your heart is,” he said. “We are here to dedicate a facility that will help people get to and from home.” Keith Gedamke / The Item Members of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Co. Reenactment Unit fire off a twenty-one gun salute during the grand opening of the transit center. Clyburn was instrumental in securing an initial $5 million congressional earmark in 2004 for the project in its early stages of development. “I did so at the behest of your elected officials,” he said. “What kind of representative would I be if I turned my back on helping local officials address the needs you identified as important?” At the request of city officials, Clyburn said, he became involved in the project in 2001. In the years since, he has lobbied for and received millions of federal dollars for the project. “I am proud of the more than $7 million in earmarks we were able to secure for this project,” he said. “That money was well spent.” The remainder of the center’s funding came from state agencies and private donations. Members of the public were invited to tour the building after the ceremony. The facility’s structure is a marriage of modern construction and Sumter history as the building has been renovated to its former glory. Flat-screen monitors sit on tables just a few feet above the original flooring, which has been refurbished. With the facility scheduled to be operational in the coming weeks, the intermodal center will provide a climate-controlled lobby, museum and rentable office space, as well as house the administrative and operational components of the Santee Wateree Regional Transportation Authority. Clyburn said he hoped the facility would be a catalyst of revitalization for downtown Sumter. “A lot of people — none of whom any one of us know — will get their first impressions of our hometown from this building,” he said. “However, there are those who consider this building as nothing more than pork. “I challenge that notion as a native of this community who has intimate knowledge of the socio-economic challenges facing Sumter and the surrounding rural communities,” he said. “Should I have sent your wishes to compete with the large transit systems?” The intermodal center is a stepping stone for the Sumter community, Clyburn said. “It will serve as the hub of economic development,” he said. “This facility is a treasure for us.” Charles T. Mason Jr., “The Edison of the South” Mason Jr., “The Edison of the South” Posted: Monday, July 13, 2009 12:00 am He was born in Sumter on June 6, 1855 and his parents were Charles T. Mason, Sr. and Judith G. (Britton) Mason. C. T. Mason, Sr. was born in the Darlington District in 1829 and he later moved to Camden where he grew up. In 1850 he came to Sumterville and opened a jewelry and watch repair business, which he operated for about 40 years. Mason Sr. and his friend A. Houser had invented a “gasometer,” a gaslight system used to illuminate the jewelry store. Mason was also credited with inventing an electric fan, a burglar alarm system and a process by which watches can be demagnetized. This idea would later be sold to the Waltham Watch Company, which was the largest producer of watches in the nation at that time. Charles Sr. would later be named superintendent of the telegraph service for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. A quotation by Joel Brunson illustrates the genius of C.T. Mason and his skills, “He repairs anything and everything in the line of watches, jewelry, clocks — a workman of fine ability and pleasing address. If he can't fix your watch throw it in the bushes; and if he can't sell you a new one go home, for nobody else can.” Charles Jr. possessed his father's genius for invention, and by the age of 14 he was awarded a silver medal for his entry to the 1869 Agricultural and Mechanical Society of South Carolina Fair. His miniature working model of a horizontal steam engine garnered a great deal of attention from a number of accomplished inventors and mathematicians. He later moved to Baltimore and found work in the machine shops of George Page and Company. By the age of 21 he had attained the position of foreman and was supervising several thousand employees at the Farquhar Agricultural works in York, Pennsylvania. It was during his stay in Pennsylvania that Mason probably saw his first telephone, an event that would have a profound effect on his future endeavors. Posted in Reflect on Monday, July 13, 2009 Eleanor mason was CT. Mason JRS. daughter. she married William J. Crowson.They had a son Charles mason Crowson. Eleanor mason died within days of giving birth to Charles . WJ. Crowson remarried and had a son WJ. JR. 1/2 brother to Charles. Charles mason Crowson had 3 children .one is My mother " Eleanor Mason Crowson '' , [name sake] for her grandmother. thus CT mason is my great, great, grandfather. I think that I can get my mother to send you more info. but i will need a little time to get it done. Buddy Whittington Postcard printed in The Item on 23 May 1999. This is a postcard view of the Sumter Telephone Manufacturing Co., which was located at the corner of South Harvin toward Telephone Street and the railroad. This building was erected in 1900 and the picture is thought to have been taken around 1910. Charles T. Mason began the manufacture of telephones in 1895 on Harvin Street, and the business steadily increased each year. Only part of the factory, which at one time employed more than 400 hands (including women), is pictured here. The plant was expanded in 1909, and by 1912, President Taft said in an address that one half of the phones manufactured here in the United States came from the Sumter Telephone Co. Mason also manufactured magnetos, which were sold all over the world. Before starting the telephone company, he had manufactured a successful mechanical cotton picker in the 1880’s. Telephones and switchboards required men skilled in woodworking as well as those skilled in electrical parts, manufacture and assembly. Some of the switchboards manufactured there are still in use in foreigh countries. In the 1920’s the Splitdorf Co. acquired an interest in the Sumter Telephone Manufacturing Co., and then gained control of the entire company. Splitdorf closed the Sumter plant and moved the operation to New Jersey. Mason retired after the new owners bought the company, and he died in 1928. The building has had a number of uses since that time, and today it is known as the Moise Self Storage Warehouses.you all might enjoy this....Dr. and Mrs. Dickerson's home will be remembered by many as the Boyle-Brading home on Mason Croft.....the telephone manufacturing company was known to you all as the Moise Mini Warehouse on the corner of Harvin and Telephone Street.....Gene Dickerson has granted me permission to share with you....my friend Rob Honeycutt, who is an expert on the telephones and the Mason family, copied this for us. Hope you will save and read at some time....a real gem on Sumter history. Thanks to both Dr. Dickerson and Rob Honeycutt..... The Purdy Street News...Love from 208 mayorbubba@sumter.net A paper prepared by Dr. gene Dickerson for presentation to the Fortnightly literary club in Sumter, S. C. on January 10, 2001 at Dr. Dickerson's home, which was originally the home of Mr. Charles Thomas Mason, Jr. Charles Thomas Mason Jr. Born June 6, 1855. Died December 27, 1928. Father- Charles Thomas Mason Mother -Judith G. (Britton) Mason Marriages- Emma Stewart , November 16, 1875 Edith Evans, after 1923 when Emma died Introduction A "Remarkable BQY Mechanic" read the headlines of the description of Charles T. Mason, Jr. from Scientific American in 1871. A lofty portrayal of a 16 year old boy from a small southern town who had entered his steam engine in the SC agricultural and mechanical society fair in Columbia in 1869. Nevertheless, Charles Mason would rise in his chosen areas of interest and become one of Sumter's most exceptional citizens. His accomplishments were probably better appreciated by those across the country who shared his interests than by his friends and neighbors. Even today there is very little written about this man who reportedly associated with Thomas Edison and Luther Burbank and whose genius and inventiveness was commensurate with theirs. Early Years CT was born the son of Charles T" Mason, Sr. and Judith G" (Britton) Mason on June 6, 1855 in Sumter, S.C. His father operated a jewelry store and watch repair business in Sumter for 40 years" The store was illuminated by a gaslight system that a neighbor A. Houser, had invented and along with Houser, Mason developed a 'gasometer', which converted various fuel sources into fuel for the gas lights" He is credited with a number of other inventions, including an electric fan, a burglar alarm system, and a method of demagnetizing watches which he later sold to the Waltham Watch Co. His accomplishments and abilities didn't go unnoticed as he was named superintendent of telegraph service of the CSA. Early on CT displayed his father's genius for invention, at age 14 developing and building a miniature working model of a horizontal steam engine which he exhibited at the 1869 fair of the Agricultural and Mechanical Society of SC and for which he was awarded a silver medal. The model measured about 18 inches in size and was constructed from various scrap materials including the base of a Morse telegraph, the barrel of his father's gun and the flywheel was fashioned from the end of a cannon given to his father by the famous blockade-runner, Capt. Sim Adkins. In their report of this project the authors of the Scientific American article stated, "...our predictions, that, if he lives, he will occupy a distinguished place among the engineers of our country...let Master Mason apply himself diligently to the study of mathematics, mechanics, and drawing and there can be no doubt of his future." During his later youth CT moved to Baltimore, Md. to work in the machine shops of George Page and Co. He continued his training and apprenticeship and was rewarded at the age of21 with an advancement to the foreman position, supervising 2000 employees at the Farquhar Agricultural Works in York, Pa. It was during this time that he first observed the Bell telephone at the 1876 Philadelphia centennial and this event almost certainly shaped his future. He later returned to Sumter and entered into the logging and sawmilling business but suffered a serious injury that resulted in the loss of one of his legs. Finding that the available artificial legs didn't meet his exacting needs he created a lightweight artificial leg employing cork in its construction. He patented it and entered into production on a small scale until his interest in the device was bought out by a Northern company" The financial success of this invention provided him the capital to pursue other avenues and ideas. The Cotton Harvester In the early 1880s, Mr. Mason became absorbed in the concept of picking cotton by machine rather than by hand. After several years he perfected a device that would pick cotton from the bole without damaging the plant. The first machine was called the "Eva" and picked cotton as a public demonstration in 1883" This demonstration was attended by journalists from Atlanta and Charleston. He solicited the capital interest of several prosperous gentlemen from Charleston in the building and development of a full sized working model of the Mason cotton harvester. A workshop was built and a number of harvesters were produced and tested on several farms in different states" An article in the Southern Bivouac in 1886 by H. N. Starnes elucidates the status of cotton pickers at that time " from 1870 to the present time (1886) cotton harvesters and gatherers innumerable have flooded the country. They partake of every form and configuration of which it is possible to conceive" " The article concluded that success had finally come in the form of one man, Charles Mason, who had "complete mastery of mechanics" and the qualities of "practicality, intellectual and moral force and unflagging persistency. " Mason marketed his machine primarily in the Mississippi River valley. He visited the enormous plantation of Major James S" Richardson, possibly the largest cotton grower in the country. Mr. Mason described one field paralleling the Mississippi River in an unbroken line for 20 miles. The total area under cultivation was 24,000 acres with a yield of about 2 bales per acre. Mr. Mason had g9ne through miles of picked cotton fields where a substantial amount of the cotton remained on the bole with considerable on the ground. Major Richardson purchased 50 harvesters specifically designed for the variety of cotton grown on his plantation. But like many inventions, this one was ahead of its time and failed by virtue of two insurmountable obstacles, the expense of the machine and the lack of suitable power to drive or pull the machine through the cotton fields. In later years Mr. Mason would say that had the internal combustion engine been available instead of the mule, his cotton harvester would have done for the south what the McCormick reaper had done for the grain growers of the Midwest The Sumter Telephone Company Following the disappointment of the failed cotton harvester, Mason did not retreat from ambition or ingenuity. In 1893 he began manufacturing telephones for independent telephone exchange operators who were beginning to enter into competition with the larger Bell Telephone system for customers. The initial business began with 3 employees but by 1899 had grown into a major southeastern manufacturing company and was reorganized into The Sumter Telephone Manufacturing Company. Mr. Mason served as the vice president and general manager. Other officers included Col. R M. Wallace, president; F. C. Manning, secretary; C. G. Rowland, treasurer. Many other prominent men of Sumter were stockholders. At its height, the company employed about 400 workers, including skilled workmen to finish the telephone and cabinets by hand and young ladies engaged in the intricate winding of the delicate coils This was one of the largest and best equipped telephone facilities in the country. The works were provided with private sidetracks for receiving raw material such as coal and lumber and for handling and shipping the finished telephone products. The company was equipped to make everything that entered into constructing the telephone including the tools, dies, and machinery. There were divided rooms for different jobs, a perfectly equipped tool department for developing automatic labor and time saving gadgets for use in telephone manufacturing, and new and different styles of instruments were constantly being introduced The building was over 500 feet long and 36 feet wide and was built by the contractor D. J. McKiever. (It is now occupied by the Moise Miniwarehouse) During its heyday, the company shipped phones throughout the US as well as Canada, Mexico, Cuba and other foreign countries. A sawmill was linked to the building and provided wood for the construction of the telephone and switchboard cabinets. Locally harvested oak, walnut and sweetgum supplanted the use of lumber bought from the west and this practice dramatically increased the profits of the company. Sweetgum was specially treated to become an imitation mahogany known as "Sumter Mahogany." The magnificent finish given to the cabinets and the expert workmanship earned the company's Imperial phone a bronze medal at the international exposition in Paris in 1900. During the 1890's a logging operation was established west of Sumter in an especially heavy growth of pine trees to support the use of local wood. A. L, Freeland, Dr. E.J. McLaurin, and Mr. Mason who were engaged in the business established a logging headquarters that they called Pine Log later changed to Pinewood. As a sideline the company began building and selling magnetos for use in stationary. marine and aviation engines, A magneto is a permanent-magnet alternating generator that produces a small current for the ignition of compressed gases in various types of internal combustion engines, This section of the business eventually overtook telephone production as the largest portion of the business. The "Three M Magneto Company" produced the Dixie magnetos developed by Mason. Manning and McCown and many were used in World War I airplanes. It is reported that one was in the plane that Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic, Three aviators in Curtiss "Jennies"' flew into Sumter from Columbia in1919 and landed in one of Mason's fields much to the delight of the crowds of onlookers, (this has been previously discussed by Bubba McElveen). The Dean Telephone Co. bought out the telephone portion in 1913 but magneto production continued until The Splitdorf Electrical Company acquired a partial interest in the Three M Magneto Company and gradually bought controlling interest. In 1920 the Sumter plant finally closed and the entire operation was transferred to Newark, New Jersey. Mr. Mason's son, Carl, who was plant Forman, stayed with Splitdorf and moved with the company. Personal Life Mr. .Mason was married twice, His first marriage was to Emma Stewart of Baltimore, Md. in 1875 and from this arising from this union were four children; Emma, Charles Stewart. Carl T. and Eleanor. Twins were also conceived but expired at birth. Emma Stewart died in 1923 at the age of 70 and soon thereafter Mr. Mason wed the nurse who had cared for Mrs. Mason during her illness, Edith Evans "Eyy" was born in Orangeburg, S. C. and completed her nurses training at the Mood Infirmary .Rumor suggests that Mr. Mason paid Eyy who was 30 years younger, $50,000 to marry him. There were no offspring from this marriage. Eyy died in 1962 after what some describe as an illness lasting 13 years and consuming a large portion of her finances. Mr. Mason" s original home was located on S. Main St. near the old post office and also near the Sumter Telephone Co. It was of Victorian style and described as exquisitely ornate with a lightning rod on every corner and gable. Later it was pushed to the back of the lot and turned to face Harvin St. but continued to be listed in the city directory as 107 S. Main. On October 29,1904, D. James Winn, a cotton mill superintendent conveyed to Mr., Mason 116 acres bounded by Shot Pouch creek and Calhoun SL for the sum of $8000. Surrounded by orchards and fields" the home you are in tonight was built "in the suburbs"' about 1907, however this date cannot be attested to with certainty. We know that he and his wife Emma were listed in the 1909-1910 directory as living on West Calhoun Extension. The architect of this home is unknown as well but several names of builders have been mentioned although none can be given credit with any degree of certainty. Those named include Mr. D. J, McKiever who built the telephone factory; Mr. J. F. McKinney who built the home of C. G. Rowland at the corner of Main and Canal and who was a very close friend of Mr., Mason, and Mr., Walter J. Carr who was identified as the builder by Mr. Mason's late grandson Charles Stewart Mason. Landscaping design was provided by The Berckmans Company of Augusta, Ga. Charles Stewart Mason also informed me that the woodworking was performed by a piano maker, one Mr. Boatfield and that some of the interior wood is from Greece. This home remains as the only exhibit to the memory and accomplishments of a man who many say was most important person ever to live in Sumter. He continued to live here until his death in 1928 and then his second wife Edith Evans occupied the home until it was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Boyle. The Mason family traces its ancestry back to England possibly as far back as the 12th or 13th centuries. A plaque commemorating one Thomas Mason, Esq. who died in 1867 is found in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford-on-Avon and a second plaque honoring another Thomas Mason., Esq. who died in 1797 is also found there directly across from a marker dedicated to the memory of William Shakespeare who is buried in the church The Mason home allegedly still exists in Stratford -on- Avon and is known as Mason Croft. Mr. Mason was instrumental in bringing the electric light to Sumter. He served as the consulting engineer for the Sumter Electric Light Co. and provided the technical knowledge needed to perfect the system In addition to serving the mechanical and engineering needs in Sumter, he was also called to all parts of the southeast when problems arose in other plants He invented an electric refrigeration system that he sold for $3Q,OOO. A story was related to me by James P. Yates who is currently residing at Covenant Place that when he was a very young child he remembered his father who as a "machinist" calling on Mr. Mason to help him with a patent on a refrigeration system with cork insulation and ammonia compressor. He and his father and Mr. Mason rode together to the home of a teacher who was known to have excellent penmenship and paid her the sum of $13 to write the patent request Through this encounter with Mr. Mason he was permitted to fish in Mr. .Mason's pond. Mr. Yates stated that he was eager to go fishing "in a rich man's pond" which he and all the boys in the neighborhood were certain contained fish of a size like they had never seen. A corn liquor still was allegedly operated by Mr. Mason and Dr. Mood in the basement of his house on Calhoun extension and this would have been during the time of prohibition. When told of his father's death., it is said that Carl' s only request from the estate was this same corn liquor still. In 1910, Richard Carroll wrote an article for The State newspaper in which he described the general attitude of whites toward the African-Americans in Sumter. In this article he quoted several prominent Sumterites including Mr. Mason, "He called my attention to the fact that he worked in his factory 75 negroes, and they work side by side with the white men and there is no friction and he had never had any trouble in his life in managing negro labor profitably, both to himself and to the negro whom he hired. He took care of his old negro nurse and kept her on his premises and buried her when she died at his own expense... whenever one of his hands got sick he sent someone out to vi:-:.~ the sick one and looked after his comfort and if he died saw personally that the individual who worked in his factory got a decent burial... whenever he came in contact with the Northern men he called attention to the fact that the negroes could work side by side with the white men in his factory and could not do the same thing in the North."" His management and leadership skills were evidently recognized by Governor Manning for in 1915 Governor Manning asked that Sec. of the Navy Daniels appoint Mr. Mason to the National defense commission, which was headed by Thomas Edison. It is not known whether he was appointed to or ever served on that commission. In addition to being prolific as an inventor Mr. Mason also served on the board of directors for the Bank of South Carolina and the Bank of Sumter. He was a member of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia and the Royal Society of Arts of London. Mr. Mason died in the 74th year of his life from what is described as a brief illness lasting by most reports only several months. Charles Stewart Mason related to that when he died he was jaundiced. It evidently was a peaceful death in his home where he was surrounded and attended by his family. Although he apparently knew of the seriousness of his illness he continued to receive friends and visitors into his home and a few days prior to his death he came into town by car and greeted many of his friends. Very little of substance is written about this man who approached the talents and achievements of Thomas Edison. Although Mr. Mason toiled over his inventions and mechanical creations and produced a prodigious number of patents spanning nearly 40 years, none of his manuscripts, notes, sketches or blueprints are known to exist. Charles T. Mason, Jr. existed in the center of technical and industrial development during an age of change that has profoundly affected the lives of' everyone. He had over 100 patents on items that continue to play a role in our daily lives such as the telephone, airplane, ignition systems, and refrigeration. These contributions to society continue to influence our world into the 21st century and it is hoped that one day innovations and creative imagination will be acclaimed and his name will occupy its rightful place alongside those of Edison, Ford, Burbank, and the Wright brothers Reflections by Sammy Way: Sumter inventors were creative and numerous Sumter's most successful inventor, C. T. Mason Jr., second from left, stands with U.S. Army aviators during World War I when Mason's magnetos were widely used on military aircraft. Mason inherited his father's inventive genius and, unlike his father, was able to enjoy greater recognition and monetary rewards from his talents. SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO Posted Saturday, June 14, 2025 6:00 am By SAMMY WAY Sumter Item archivist and historian Reflections revisits several of Sumter's inventors and their impact on the growth of our nation. The data and photos were taken from The Item archives. The writings of Dr. Anne King Gregorie and Cassie Nicholes were also consulted. An article written for The Item in 1950 stated, "A bicycle coaster brake, a jet pilot's 'G' suit, a typewriter's automatic shift, vacuum-packed fruits and vegetables and demagnetized watches all have the following in common: they were all invented or developed by Sumterites." Sumter has had several inventors, starting with the son of man the county is named after. Thomas Sumter Jr. invented a "writing press" in 1809 and was also working on a cotton press. His wife wrote to a friend, "Mr. Sumter will make a fortune with all his machines," a prophecy which never came to pass. Jeptha Dyson invented a device in 1848 which was helpful to the cotton industry, a device designed for cleaning the teeth of the main card cylinder. Before Dyson's invention was patented, the cylinder had to be stopped at least four times daily for cleaning. Unfortunately for Dyson, who was the operator of a cotton factory in Fulton, English manufacturers pirated the design, and he never received any profit for his invention. Maj. Joseph S. Bossard produced a machine that is to agriculture what the Swiss army knife is to cutlery. In 1853, he developed a machine that could gin cotton, grind corn and pound the husks from rice. It could be powered by animal, steam or water. One horsepower was needed to conduct one of the processes; all three at once required five horsepower. More careful than Dyson, Maj. Bossard made sure to get English as well as American patents. Sumter inventors included Harmon Moise, a man with the unlikely professional combination of being both a lawyer and a surveyor. He was also a tinkerer, and he produced one of those little devices that are invaluable yet seldomly considered. Moise invented the bicycle coaster brake; he sold the invention for $500. Later, Moise developed an automatic shift for typewriters. Herbert Bell, a Sumter native, developed the clothing that jet pilots wear to protect them from the increased force of gravity experienced at high speeds. His most successful invention was a valveless, automatic vacuum sewer-flushing tank, which he experimented with in Sumter and sold to the city. By far, the most notable among Sumter inventors were a father-and-son duo, the Masons. Charles T. Mason moved to Sumter in 1850 from Darlington District when he was 21 years old. He opened a jewelry store and lit it with a gaslight system he and his neighbor A. Hauser invented. The gas was generated from any kind of grease by a "gasometer" for which Mason and Hauser obtained a patent. Incidentally, Hauser, working by himself, also developed a vacuum process for taking the air out of cans, revolutionizing the preservation of fruits and vegetables. During the 1860s, Mason was superintendent of the Confederate Telegraph Service and manufactured all new equipment for the Confederacy from his shops in Sumter. In 1869, Mason patented an electric alarm for banks and later developed an electric motor. He also discovered a way to demagnetize watches; he later sold the process to Waltham Watch Co. of Massachusetts. His son, who inherited the Mason innovation bug, became more famous than his father and made more money, also. Charles T. Mason Jr. first gained recognition for his mechanical ability when he was 14 years old; he built a complete working model of a locomotive-type steam engine. He received the silver medal at the 1869 Fair of the Agricultural and Mechanical Society of South Carolina. After an apprenticeship in the North, Mason returned to Sumter to put together what was considered to be the finest machine shop south of Philadelphia. With the funds from his invention of a prosthesis, he constructed a building in which he perfected and produced an invention known as a magneto for use in gasoline engines. Mason proved himself ahead of his time by inventing a cotton-picking machine which would, he said, harvest 4,000 bales of cotton a day. At the time, however, a surplus of labor for picking cotton existed in the South; with no viable market, Mason abandoned the idea to manufacture the machine which operated on the same plan as modern cotton harvesters. Subsequently, Mason began manufacturing telephones and founded the Sumter Telephone Manufacturing Co. which established a worldwide trade. The plant employed over 400 male and female employees. He hired both Black and white men, to whom he paid the same salary. [1, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18] | |
| Occupation | The Sumter Telephone Company | |
| _UID | 933DEEB80C2A472E9C630458674D35D53A08 | |
| Death | 27 Dec 1928 | |
| Person ID | I2618 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 17 Jun 2025 | |
| Father | Charles Thomas MASON, Sr., b. 1829/30, Darlington District, South Carolina d. Abt 29 Mar 1888 (Age 58 years) | |
| Mother | Judith Grier BRITTON, b. 12 Aug 1828 d. 16 Apr 1870 (Age 41 years) | |
| _UID | 3DC9FB19865A431C8F17F8310D3AFB2E983A | |
| _UID | 3DC9FB19865A431C8F17F8310D3AFB2E983A | |
| Family ID | F931 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 | Emma STEWART, b. Abt 1853, Of Baltimore, Maryland d. 1923 (Age 70 years) | |||||||||
| Marriage | 16 Nov 1875 [11] | |||||||||
| _UID | D8E6014CB1424192A4BE37539356008D33C8 | |||||||||
| _UID | D8E6014CB1424192A4BE37539356008D33C8 | |||||||||
| Children |
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| Family ID | F932 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||||||
| Last Modified | 4 Feb 2001 | |||||||||
| Family 2 | Edith”Edie” EVANS, b. Orangeburg County, South Carolina d. 1962 | |
| Marriage | Aft 1923 [11] | |
| _UID | 6CBA78ACB13B45DAAE3A03AD282CD5596FC3 | |
| _UID | 6CBA78ACB13B45DAAE3A03AD282CD5596FC3 | |
| Family ID | F10669 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 4 Feb 2001 | |
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