YOUNGEST - Governor in United States History
N 42° 19.981 W 083° 02.965
17T E 331156 N 4688786
Statue of Stevens T. Mason in Capitol Park commemorating him as the first Governor of Michigan from 1835 - 1840.
Waymark Code: WM16WQ4
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 10/19/2022
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Stevens Thomson Mason (October 27, 1811 – January 4, 1843) was an American politician who served as the first governor of Michigan from 1835 to 1840. Coming to political prominence at an early age, Mason was appointed his territory's acting territorial secretary by Andrew Jackson at age 19, becoming the acting territorial governor soon thereafter in 1834 at age 22. As territorial governor, Mason was instrumental in guiding Michigan to statehood, which was secured in 1837. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected as Michigan's first state governor in 1835, where he served until 1840. Elected at 23 and taking office at 24, Mason was and remains the youngest state governor in American history. -
Stevens T. Mason.
The text from the rear of the monument:
THE TRIBUTE OF
MICHIGAN
TO THE MEMORY OF HER
FIRST GOVERNOR
WHOSE ASHES LIE BENEATH
CALLED TO THE DUTIES OF
MANHOOD WHILE YET A BOY
HE SO ACQUITTED HIMSELF
AS TO STAMP HIS NAME
INDELIBLY ON THE HISTORY
OF THE
COMMONWEALTH
Mason was Governor at the age of 24 which continues to be the youngest of any state governor in United States history.
From
The University of Michigan Press:
In 1831, Stevens T. Mason was named Secretary of the Michigan Territory at the tender age of 19, two years before he could even vote. The youngest presidential appointee in American history, Mason quickly stamped his persona on Michigan life in large letters. After championing the territory's successful push for statehood without congressional authorization, he would defend his new state's border in open defiance of the country's political elite and then orchestrate its expansion through the annexation of the Upper Peninsula—all before his official election as Michigan's first governor at age 24, the youngest chief executive in any state's history.