Our group of Masons is well documented back to the three brothers, Reason/Rezin, Bingley, and Andrew. Four male descendants of Bingley have had their yDNA (male lines of a particular surname) tested and we, in fact, are descended from the same ancestor.
For practical purposes, we know nothing about these brothers' parents. Reason/Rezin's grandson, Dr. George Mason, in Indiana in 1906 wrote a brief history of the Mason family (This brief helped a lot in many ways but it also has some obvious misstatements in it). He stated that he was named after his great grandfather who was born in Scotland. From that paper, many in our crowd believe that "George" was the father...and he very well may be. For a period of time I thought that a "Jonathan" had a good chance of being their father, but I'm open to whatever can be proven. A Jonathan showed up in a 1790 Frederick County, Maryland Federal Census (One Free White Male of 16 Years & Upward and two Free White Females); he didn't appear in the 1800 Maryland Federal Census. But the name "Jonathan" appeared in the Frederick County, Virginia Personal Property Tax Records (This was a registration for males 16 and over)) beginning in 1790. The 1800 Federal Census records for Virginia were destroyed in the early years, but the name appears on the 1810 Frederick County, Virginia Federal Census records (One Free White Male 45 and Older; One Free White Female 10 thru 15; and One White Female 45 and Older). Since Bingley's early days appeared to have been in Maryland, that boosted the thought that that Jonathan might be related, but probably not as their father.
Bingley was married in Baltimore to a Babby (Barbara) Free in 1792. Andrew was married in Frederick County, VA in 1796 to "Mary Everett from Pennsylvania", and Reason/Rezin was married in Winchester, Frederick County, VA in 1800 to a woman whose family was from Ireland and their last name was Ware/Weer/Weir. The three brothers raised their families in very close proximity to each other in Frederick County, VA; the Ware/Weer/Weir family lived in that same area and their children married into the Mason, Babb, and Clark families of that area.
Andrew showed up on the Personal Property Registration list in 1797, the year after he was married in December 1796, Bingley and Reason/Rezin showed up on the list in 1799. Interestingly, an elusive Jonathan showed up as early as 1790. These are the earliest dates I have of Andrew and Reason/Rezin's activities.
In the previous paragraph I mentioned the involvement of Babb and Clark families. The Abner Clark family moved from the Chester, PA area. Bingley bought land from Peter Babb who also moved from Chester County, PA; his father, a Quaker, had moved away from New England persecution to live in Delaware and the Babb family were successful people...and were also one of the very earliest settlers in Back Creek Valley in Frederick County, VA. But all of this background made me really wonder where the Mason family were previously; the young brothers could have come together from being in different places...Bingley in Maryland, Andrew possibly in Pennsylvania, and Reason/Rezin from who knows where.
It would seem that the given names of Reason/Rezin and Bingley are unusual enough to stand out, but since they were poor, dirt farmers and didn't read or write, only items like court records and church records would have their names listed. We don't know if the boys were born overseas or in America; we don't know where any of them are buried, but Bingley's son named Jonathan who married a local Braithwaite has a tombstone in the Heironimous Cemetery in Frederick County; it is a fairly good-sized cemetery with a wall around it, is located on private land and, for years and years, visitors were not allowed on the land. Now it is a little more accessible, and when it was cleaned up once it was noted that there were more burial lots without stones than with stones. Written evidence implies that all three brothers died in Frederick County, VA and I suspect all three...and their spouses...were buried in this cemetery. Several generations of most of the descendants of Andrew and Bingley have remained in this area while most of the descendants of Reason/Rezin moved to Ohio and a few years later to Indiana. It has been very frustrating to know that there has been so much family activity around there yet so little that can be nailed down. We have not been able to get a yDNA from any of Reason/Rezin or Andrew descendants; over several generations most of the descendants of Reason/Rezin have been dominated by females.
In 2007, Diane Mason, not a close relative, but who works with the Mason yDNA site clued me in to the Cillinois Trails History and Genealogy web site http://www/iltrails.org discussing a list of 8000 men who were prisoners British ships who were (basically) starved to death off the shores of America. In the information she sent it listed a George Mason on the Old Jersey under the title of "Some Privates of the Pennsylvania Flying Camp who perished in prison in 1776-7". It has made me wonder if this could be the George Mason that could have been the father of the 3 brothers (and maybe some other siblings) who was starved to death or killed and the boys had no one to take care of them so they disbursed and lived as best they could. The undetermined exact age would seem to fit. The Pennsylvania Flying Camps (which was new to me) were organized by George Washington similar to today's National Guard who are suppose to be prepared to go almost anywhere on a moment's notice. There are some very interesting web sites about them especially http://www.emmitsburg.net/archives. From the Pennsylvania State Archives I found a George Mason in the Revolutionary War Military Abstract Card File. It is not a very clear record, but it shows his rank as Private, Lieutenancy (residency) Chester County, 3rd Battalion, 4th Company, Captain Craig, and Class as IV (presumably Private, IV Class), and under Remarks says (and this is not clear) "CI??s & muster fines ?nc. 17??. Account Ex. Of Andrew Wilson. ?????????????.
If anyone has questions, or wants to go farther, or have any insight, please let me know. I did contact the Chester Historical Society and didn't get much from them. Perhaps I didn't approach it correctly.