First known as Number 1, the first in a line of border towns including area allotted to this state by Massachusetts upon establishment of New Hampshire as a separate state in 1741. The town's charter was granted in 1749, and in 1768, Governor John Wentworth named it in honor of New Hampshire's founder, Captain John Mason. Captain Mason was the holder of patent with title to the land that became New Hampshire. Mason is the boyhood home of Uncle Sam, Samuel Wilson.