Daily AncestorMason
A mason built with stone or brick, or cut and dressed stone for building; the bare word does not say which material he worked.
Wiktionary defines a mason as one whose occupation is to build with stone or brick, or who prepares stone for building. A third sense, a Freemason, is a member of a fraternity, not a trade, and is usually clear from context.
The 1860 census instructions asked for master mason when the man employed others. The 1870 instructions told enumerators to distinguish between stone masons and brick masons, and not to describe a man as a mechanic if a more exact word could be found.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1850 to 1900 census
Patk. Gormully, 40, Mason, Ireland
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Mason." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/mason. Last checked 2026-10-12.