Noah Mason was born in Belfast, Maine on February 25, 1807. He was a prominent farm and land speculator in Sangamon County, Illinois. From his earliest years, Noah Mason was known for being ambitious. He began his business life at a young age. His earliest business venture was at age 14, while living in Pope County, Illinois, when he built and sold a boat. He also earned money by making and selling whiskey from corn. At age 22, he moved to Galena, Illinois where he worked in the region mines from 1829-1834.
In 1834, with money earned in the region’s mines, he bought five 80-acre tracts of land in Sangamon County, Illinois. He married Martha Nuckolls on February 19, 1835, in Sangamon County. During the Black Hawk War he served in four different military units. Noah and Martha raised six children, George T., Jane, John L., Mary Ann, Elmira E. and Martha C. Noah’s wife Martha died on August 25, 1852. One year later, in August 1853, he married Elizabeth Tolbert. One child was born to Noah and Elizabeth, a son named Noah D. Mason on October 3, 1854.
Throughout most of Noah’s life, he farmed his acreage in Auburn and Chatham Township. He also speculated in land in Auburn and Chatham Township. In 1874, Noah retired from farming and he and his wife moved to 908 N. 6th Street in Springfield, Illinois. Noah Mason died on January 18, 1893, in Springfield, Illinois. His wife Elizabeth died April 24, 1896 on a farm in Auburn, Illinois.