"FROM WHERE AND WHENCE THEY CAME....."

Broadstreet Henry Mason (1881-1942)
&
Rena Helen Ferguson (1892-1957)

        

Broadstreet Henry Mason was born in Monroe, Maine on April 8, 1881. Though his full name is Broadstreet Henry Mason, he went by B. Henry, so we will do the same here. He was not quite 11 years old when his father Erastus Mason passed away. He spent his childhood on the family farm in Monroe and attended the local schools. B. Henry attended Bowdoin Medical College in Maine.

Here are a couple of pictures of B. Henry in his younger days:

        
As a small child                                                                 College Graduation 1907

B. Henry had a long and rather illustrious career in hospital administration. After interning at Maine General Hospital and a stint as Assistant Physician at the Worcester State Asylum, he opened up a general practice in Portland. Three months later, in 1914, he was named Asst. Superintendent of Worcester State Hospital in Massachusetts. In 1918, he was made Superintendent at Worcester State. It was during this time, on July 15, 1915, that he married Rena Helen Ferguson. She was born in Denmark, Nova Scotia and came to the United States for training to be a nurse. She was working as a nurse in Worcester, MA when they met. They were married in Westbrook, Maine.

B. Henry and Rena had three sons:

Charles Henry Mason, born March 28, 1917, died September 6, 1960

Lloyd Ferguson Mason, born March 28, 1923, died July 13, 1976

Robert Broadstreet Mason, born February 7, 1925

When the oldest boy, Charles, was about 4, the family moved to Michigan for a couple of years. B. Henry had taken a position as Asst Director of the Ann Arbor Psychopathic Hospital. He was very busy during this time. While in Michigan, he was neuro-psychiatrist of the U.S. Veterans Bureau and also taught Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School from 1921 to 1923.

But New England has a way of getting in your blood and in 1923, B. Henry, Rena and their now six year old son, Charles, headed back east. In January of 1923, B. Henry became First Asst. Superintendent of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, which today is the prestigious Brigham and Women's Hospital. He stayed there until late 1927, when the family - now with three boys - moved to Connecticut. B. Henry had been named Superintendent of Waterbury Hospital, a position he would hold until his retitrement in August of 1941.

B. Henry was very involved in several medical associations and served as President of the Connecticut Hospital Association for two years. He was also a 32nd degree Mason. But it wasn't all work and no play. B. Henry was very family oriented. He kept a small vegetable garden, liked to fish and often on Sunday afternoons would take the family on short automobile trips. In his younger days her also played golf and tennis. Every summer, the family spent a month in Ocean Park, Maine and also take a trip to Monroe to visit B. Henry's half-sister Mary Minnie Mason and her husband Charles Quine. Rena kept busy with the Women's Club in Waterbury and all the various activities they held. The family were members of the Second Congregational Church.

B. Henry Mason passed away on January 1, 1942. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in West Hartford, CT. His wife, Rena, passed away in 1957.

     

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I have to extend a special thanks to B. Henry and Rena's son Robert for virtually all the material on this page. Bob has provided me with a wealth of information about his line of the family and many other segments of the Mason line. Another cousin I've never met - but need to soon!
Thank you Bob!!!