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PROF. TICE D. MASON,
principal of the schools at Browns, Illinois, was born August 21, 1881, on a farm near Bone Gap. He is a son of Jacob and Mary (Smith) Mason. Jacob Mason was born in 1845, and was a native of Richland county; he was the son of George Mason, also a resident of Richland county. Jacob Mason was a farmer, prosperous and well known, and he settled in Edwards county in 1866. He owned six hundred acres of valuable Illinois farm land, which he operated in a highly successful manner until his death in 1905. His wife, Mary Smith, was a daughter of Isaac Smith, a pioneer settler of Edwards county. She is still living in West Salem. Five children were born to them, named below in the order of their birth: Anna, died at the early age of three years; Della, who became the wife of Dr. Weber; Charles, on the home farm; Tice D., of this review; Lloyd, a dentist located in Chicago.

Professor Mason was educated in the public schools of Albion and later attended the Southern Collegiate Institute and the Southern Illinois Normal at Carbondale, Illinois. In 1903 he began his teaching career. For three years he taught in country schools and for the three years following was assistant principal of the Bone Gap Schools. FOr the past four years he has been superintendent of the Browns public schools, and he has been reengaged for a fifth year with an increase of salary. Under his direction the character of the high school of Browns has taken on additional qualities of thoroughness and completeness, and the curriculum of the school is one well suited to the demands of the student body. The course is one of three years duration. The high school enrollment is in the neighborhood of twenty-five, and four assistants are employed in the school. In addition to his interests in the educational field, Mr. Mason has been able to give some attention to outs side matters, and he is now the owner of a farm of one hundred acres of land.

In 1900 Prof. Mason was united in marriage with Miss Flossie Rude, of Bone Gap, a daughter of Albert and Christine Rude. They have an adopted daughter, named Mary. The family are members of the Methodist church.