Meet Mason T. Stevens,
Museum Mouse!
Hi! My name is Mason . . .
Mason T. Stevens, that is!
 Mason T. Stevens,
Museum Mouse!
"What?!" you may ask "is a MOUSE doing in a MUSEUM?!"
I will be the first to admit that most of my furry relatives are
not welcome in museums. However, I am an important exception.
Imagine that! My family has a long and interesting history,
and my family’s history makes me special to the staff at the
Michigan Historical Museum.
 You see, it all has to do with my name: Mason. Way back in the early
1800s in the state of Virginia, my family lived on property belonging to a
family named "Mason." It was in the year of 1811 that the Masons
welcomed into their family a baby boy they
named Stevens Thomson. When the Masons moved from Virginia, my family
jumped into a basket and joined them in their move to Lexington, Kentucky.
While in Lexington, Stevens grew to be a fine
young
man. The Mason family prospered and Stevens attended college. But then
Stevens’ daddy got a job from President Andrew Jackson. His daddy was
named Secretary of the Michigan Territory in 1830. The whole family,
including my ancestors, moved to Detroit. My mama nestled us softly in the
bottom of a fancy hat box and we slept comfortably as we moved to our new
home.
 Stevens’ daddy did well in his new job, but he often had to travel away
from his office. While Mr. Mason was away, Stevens took care of the office
and learned a lot about his father’s job. During all of this, my family
lived in the office where Stevens and his daddy worked. Because we often
heard his daddy call Stevens by name, our family liked the way it sounded
and we took "Stevens" as our last name.
 In 1831, Mr. Mason decided to move to Texas, so President Jackson named
Stevens as the next territorial secretary. He worked hard and studied law
and became a lawyer. Stevens encouraged people to make Michigan a state and
they elected him governor when he was only 24 years old. Imagine that! When
he moved to his new office, my family moved with him. Stevens worked hard to
improve the new state. When he visited New York to raise money for Michigan,
he met a young woman named Julia Phelps,
whom he later married. When Stevens’ term as governor was finished,
he decided to go back and live in New York.
 By then, the Stevens mice had grown mighty accustomed to living in
Michigan. It is a pretty state and they were happy here, so they said
good-bye to their friend Stevens, and wished him well. My ancestors moved to
Lansing when it became the capital of the state. Because my family knew
Stevens, historians have always been interested in the stories we tell about
him. When I was born, my parents named me
Mason Thomson Stevens and when I grew up, I joined the staff members of the
Michigan Historical Museum in sharing the interesting history of our state
with special visitors like you!
(Read about Stevens
Thomson Mason, Michigan's first governor, and see his picture in the
online version of the
Michigan Historical Museum's Settling A State gallery.)
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