Benjamin Mason (1762-1801)

He was born at Newport, Rhode Island. He studied medicine under Dr Isaac Senter and completed his studies in London. His career was "short but brilliant". After the death of Dr Senter, Mason succeeded him as Director and Purveyor-General of the Military Hospital in Rhode Island, and also succeeded to his private practice. He was made an honorary member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, being recognized in his era as "the head of the profession in Newport". In 1788, he married Peggy Champlin, daughter of the wealthy merchant Colonel Christopher Champlin and one of the much-admired society beauties of her day. They lived in a substantial timber frame house on Thames Street in Newport and were the parents of four children, including Elizabeth, the wife of 'the hero of Lake Erie,' Commodore Perry.