12 Facts About Samuel Mason

Samuel Mason is best known as the leader of the Mason Gang, a notorious group active along the lower Ohio River and Mississippi Rivers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Samuel Mason's gang was involved in various illegal activities, including piracy and robbery, and was associated with notorious sites such as Red Banks, Cave-in-Rock, Stack Island, and the Natchez Trace.

Samuel Mason's motivations have been the subject of much speculation, since personal anecdotes and firsthand accounts of his life are scarce to nonexistent.

Samuel Mason was raised in what is Charles Town, West Virginia, which was part of Virginia prior to the Civil War.

Samuel Mason moved from Charles Town to what is Ohio County, West Virginia, at that time a part of Virginia, in 1773.

Samuel Mason appeared at the courts-martial and was present as a witness for military proceedings against other soldiers.

Samuel Mason's surname was spelled interchangeably as "Meason" in many of the early frontier records.

Samuel Mason later settled downriver on Diamond Island and engaged in river piracy.

Samuel Mason had a brief association with the first known serial killers in America, Micajah and Wiley Harpe, as well as Peter Alston, and possibly John Duff, the counterfeiter.

Samuel Mason then moved his operations down the Mississippi River and settled his family in the territory of Spanish Louisiana and became a highwayman along the Natchez Trace in the Mississippi Territory.

Samuel Mason would leave a message after each crime proudly stating, "Done by Mason of the Woods".

Samuel Mason was later accused of being the leader of an outlaw gang, the Innocents, who stole gold shipments from Bannick, and was hanged by Bannick vigilantes.