Joe Mason was born in March 1875 in Michigan. His parents later moved to Oregon and at some point he married to Emma, Mullarkey who born in Feb 1876. Her parents were originally from Ireland.

This marriage made Joseph the Brother-in-law to Burnett Mullarky, another Issaquah Marshal.

Joe worked as a coal miner for a time and in 1900 and 1902 he put on the Marshals' badge. According to Town Ordinance Number 56, enacted in February 1900, his pay was $60.00 per month.

The old wooden town jail, long since knocked down, was renovated in January 1900. The Issaquah Independent had this to say. "The City Bastille has been renovated the past week both inside and out. Instead of a leaky flat roof, a new pitched roof adorns the building and it assumes metropolitan airs".

Some interesting notes about Issaquah in those days are as follows. The population in the Gilman voting precinct was 1,060. In August 1900, the first telephone company was organized and by January 1901 there were two subscribers. Area mines with a monthly payroll of around $30,000 employed Five hundred men.

Joe was later employed by the Seattle Police Department and served with distinction as a high official with that agency.

See the Full List of Issaquah Marshals and Police Chiefs

Issaquah Law Enforcement History

Images in this article are courtesy of the Issaquah Police Department, unless otherwise noted.