Your institution does not have access to this content. For questions, please ask your librarian.
Often known as the “forgotten Founder,” the Virginia planter and statesman George Mason was born on December 11, 1725, in Fairfax County, Virginia. Because his father died in a boating accident when young George was just ten years old, he spent considerable time with his uncle, John Mercer, a prominent Virginia lawyer, poring over his uncle’s law books. Although he never attended college or sought political office, he was appointed to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1758 and served until 1761.