A Territory Mourns: Olympia Buries Charles H. Mason
When Washington Territory's secretary and frequent acting governor died in 1859, Chief Justice McFadden and Olympia's leading men gathered at the capitol to call him a public servant 'of both soul and nerve.'
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
At a meeting of the citizens of Olympia, held at the capitol on Saturday, July 23d, 1859, the following proceedings were had:
Chief Justice G. H. McFadden was called to the chair, and Butler P. Anderson appointed secretary.
On motion of Wm. M. Bandon, Esq., a committee of three was appointed to draft resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting concerning the loss sustained in the death of our honored and distinguished fellow citizen. Wm. M. Bandon, Esq., Gen. James Tilton, and Mr. Gabriel Jones were named as the committee.
The committee retired and, after short deliberation, returned the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:
Whereas, by the decree of an all-wise and merciful Providence, our friend, associate, and companion, Hon. Charles H. Mason, the Secretary of the Territory of Washington, has been called from our midst in the prime of early manhood:
Resolved, That in his demise Washington Territory has lost a tried, faithful, and competent public officer, whose services in the capacity of acting governor for much of the time whilst a resident of this Territory were honest, faithful, impartial, energetic, and devoted to the best interests of his fellow-citizens; that his personal urbanity and kindness of demeanor to all with whom his official relations as Secretary brought him into contact has justly entitled him to the heartiest commendation of the people who now mourn his early loss.
Resolved, That in the death of Secretary Mason a void has been created in our midst, difficult indeed to supply; in all relations of life he was a true man, a man of both soul and nerve; society now mourns the loss of a most deserving member, the community is deprived of a good citizen, and the people of a tried and trusty friend.
Resolved, That we tender to the bereaved mother and family of the deceased our sincere sympathies and condolence in this sad affliction; that our sympathy is heartfelt; and that, though a fond mother learns of the early death of her brilliant son away from his early home, without mother or sister to pillow his dying head, she may be comforted by the knowledge that his last moments were in the presence of true friends.
Resolved, That Hon. Isaac I. Stevens be requested, at his earliest convenience, to pronounce a eulogy upon the character and public services of the distinguished dead.
Resolved, That these resolutions be signed by the officers of this meeting, and be forwarded to the mother of the late Charles H. Mason and to the President of the United States, and that the Puget Sound Herald and Pioneer and [other papers] be requested to publish the same.
Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect to the deceased, we will attend his funeral in a body.
“In the death of Secretary Mason a void has been created in our midst, difficult indeed to supply.”
Mason's death reminds us how thin the administrative bench was in territorial Washington: one official's death could leave a void in governance. The public mourning at the capitol also shows how civic ritual—resolutions, eulogies, processions—once did the work of official obituary.
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