Erastus Hayes Mason was born June 10, 1859 in Monroe, Maine. He only lived for 32 years, but married twice and fathered three children. Up until his first marriage, he lived and worked on his father's (Broadstreet) farm. He first married Mary Emma ("Minnie") Hall on June 13, 1880 in Monroe. She was born in 1862, the daughter of Henry M. Hall. Erastus and Mary had one son:

Broadstreet Henry Mason, born April 8, 1881, died January 1, 1940

Mary died when her son was only 6 years old. She died in 1887 at the age of only 25. Erastus, who was not the picture of health himself, was faced with raising young Broadstreet on his own. Even today, raising a child alone is a stern challenge. It must have been terrifying for Erastus over 100 years ago!

However, there was a widow in town, Olive Warren Fogg, who's first husband, Nelson, had died some three years earlier in 1884. Erastus and Olive got together and were married on November 24, 1888.

Olive Fogg

Erastus and Olive had two children together:

Mary Minnie Mason, born July 6, 1889, died August 26, 1948

Maurice Erastus Mason, born August 14, 1891, died April 22, 1892

Erastus, however, would never see his son Maurice. He died on January 7, 1892, three months before Maurice's birth. In the diary of Betsy Libby (Erastus' mother), there is a note that Erastus suffered from 'raised blood.' It kind of makes one think that tuberculosis may have been involved, although we do not know for sure. The diaries indicate that Betsy was caring for his son at the time of his death.

Olive died in 1903. Erastus' first son, Broadstreet Henry, was 22 at the time and the surviving daughter, Mary was but fourteen years old. Olive is buried in Jackson Corner Cemetery in Jackson, Maine.

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