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48 Perhaps reluctantly, as a recent widower and suffering with gout, George Mason answered the call to serve in the Virginia Convention of 1776 in Williamsburg. There, as chief author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (see pages 46–47), he framed future discussions of rights in America. Many of his words found an echo in Thomas Jefferson’s foundational American document, the Declaration of Independence, and they still comprise the opening section of Virginia’s Constitution. As other states wrote their own constitutions, they looked to the example offered by Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights. Those state constitutions initiated the modern governmental era and inspired revolutions and other colonial revolts worldwide. 9 After the war, Mason remained involved in public service and continued to insist on the importance of codified civil rights. It was at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia that he gained the moniker “the man who didn’t sign” for his refusal to lend his name to a document lacking a Bill of Rights. 10 He also disagreed with a provision for the continued importation of slaves and made numerous other objections. Over Mason’s continued protests, Virginia ratified the Constitution. Even through hardships of health and political setbacks, George Mason persevered in his advocacy for a national Bill of Rights. He witnessed that become reality on December 15, 1791, when passages from his Virginia Declaration of Rights were encoded into the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Mason’s tenacity resulted in the creation of arguably the most cherished part of our Constitution. While his name is less known than are the names of many of his fellow Founders, his impact is enduring. Mason helped create a world where, as Article 1 of the Virginia State Constitution asserts, Americans have “the Enjoyment of Life and Liberty, with the means of acquiring This page is sponsored by Dede and Jimmy Caughman, Catherine and Scott Marquardt and Melanie and James New in honor of The Founders Board of St. John's Community Services George Mason’s will offers more insight into life at Gunston Hall. We discover, for example, that the family used its montieth (Figure 7, a bowl intended for chilling wine glasses) for christening its children. This treasured object belonged first to George Mason’s grandparents and descended through the family until it became part of the collection of Gunston Hall. MASON’S LEGACY In his Recollections, John Mason succinctly describes his father as “a profound statesman [and] a pure patriot.” 8 The short chapter he devoted to Mason’s public career outlines his father’s lifelong and influential civic engagement at local, state, and national levels. Mason served variously as a trustee of the towns of Alexandria and Dumfries, delegate to the House of Burgesses from Fairfax County, church vestryman of Truro Parish, colonel in the Fairfax Militia, and a participant in the colonial attempt to resist taxation under Britain’s 1765 Stamp Act. As the Revolution loomed, Mason authored the Fairfax Resolves in response to the closing of Boston’s port in 1774 and subsequently served as a member of the Virginia Convention the following year. His most important contribution to American political history would soon follow. Figure 10: Wine bo les, ca. 1750–1800. John Mason remembered that his father “drank a glass or two of wine every day, when wine was to be had.” Imported from Europe, wine was impossible for Mason to get during much of the Revolution, but archaeological investigation at Gunston Hall has recovered thousands of wine bo le fragments. Figure 11: Creamware sauce boat, ca. 1770–1800. Creamware, or Queen’s ware, was popular in America. Mason’s friend and neighbor, George Washington, ordered pieces on several occasions. Fragments of Gunston Hall creamware have been found through archaeological excavations. conttinued from page 44