Lot 5 letters 1840s-1850s Sumner Mason preacher teacher 1 signed by him TN CT MA

Description

Nice lot of 5 letters - one from Mason and others from folks mainly discussing religion, 2 stampless. Condition- creases and discolored and tears in some.
Sumner Redway Mason - of the Northern Mason’s and related to George Mason - the Southern Mason’s, was born in 1819 at Cheshire Massachusetts to Eddy Mason a church Deacon and Matilda Redway. His family was prominent in the early history of the Baptists in New England. His father Eddy Mason was a deacon in the Baptist Church at Cheshire. In 1826, his family moved from Cheshire to Penfield NY and in late 1828 his father died leaving a widow with a large family. Sumner was invited by his brother to Cincinnati where he taught for a few years while pursing a classical education. In 1838, he went to Yale, but left in 1840 when he decided to give himself to the ministry eventually staying with the Baptists on advice of his brother Alanson. After which, he taught for 6 years in Nashville teaching Greek and Latin and preaching. After Nashville, he taught in Huntsville AL. In 1844 he was licensed to preach by the Baptist church in Nashville and continued his theological studies while teaching. Between 1849-1849 he drifted between places in New York, but his Southern training did not open doors easily for him. In 1849, be became the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Lockport NY. In 1855, he left and became the pastor at the First Baptist Church in Cambridge MA. In August 1871 he died in a train accident when his train was run into by an express train for Portland & Bangor.