Mason was born in New York City on May 8, 1848. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1864 and passed the examination for lieutenant on April 2, 1872. On September 1, 1872, he sailed from Philadelphia in the U.S.S. Omaha on a cruise to the Pacific. In Valparaiso, Chile, on February 14, 1873, he transferred to the U.S.S. Pensacola, a surveying vessel. In that ship, he visited other South American ports and arrived in Hawaii on February 13, 1875. After seven months in Hawaiian waters, he returned to the United States.

The journal gives a day-by-day account of Mason's cruise onboard the Omaha and Pensacola, prefaced by an outline of his previous career.

The corvette Galathea made a voyage to the Pacific in 1845-47. Bille, the commander, published a book on the subject Beretning om Corvette 'Galathea's' Reiseomkring Jorden 1845, 46, og 47, 3 vols (Copenhagen, 1849-51).

The papers largely concern the organisation and financing of the Galathea expedition. There are some letters by Bille to the Danish Admiralty and the Generaltoldkammer og Commerce Collegium concerning his visit to Hawaii. They also concern the treaty signed between Hawaii and Denmark on this occasion. All are in Danish. There are also some cuttings from The Polynesian and two printed copies of the Hawaiian-Danish Treaty.

The papers are: 1. Documents concerning the appointment of a Danish Consul in Hawaii, 1846.

2. Printed reports of the Hawaiian Minister of the Interior, Attorney-General and Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Hawaiian Legislature, dated 21 May 1845. The Attorney-General's report is entitled On the Inferences of the Constitution (31pp.)
3. Official correspondence concerning the appointment of the First Danish Consul, E.A. Suwerkrop, and his successor Ludwig Holberg Anthon in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1849-50
4. A printed Order of the Privy Council defining the instructions to be given to the diplomatic agents and consuls of the Hawaiian Islands, 25 August 1848. (5pp.)
5. A printed Whalemens' Shipping List from Bush, Makee and Company, Lahaina, Maui, 1848 (list of whalers, date of arrival at Lahaina, name of master, where owned and details of cargo. Covers 103 ships in period 18 July - 25 November 1848)
6. Correspondence of Royal Danish Consulate, Papeete, Tahiti, 1872-94.

The Manuscript Mission Histories are, in fact, mainly collections of chronologically arranged newspaper clippings, with some typescript entries, concerning the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Pacific Islands. The histories cover the following territories and periods: French Polynesia (1849-1959), Hawaii (1850-1959), Samoa (1871-1959), Tonga (1891-1959).

Zion's Ensign is a weekly publication of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Independence, Missouri. Letters and articles on the Pacific Islands.

Letters and articles on the Pacific Islands. In the period covered the church was active largely in French Polynesia, including Tahiti, Tuamotu Islands, Tuba, as well as the Hawaiian Islands, Samoa, and Tonga. For other publications by the Reorganized Church see also PMB 92, 93 and 100 for The Saints Herald; PMB 94 and 109 for Autumn Leaves; PMB 105 for Journal of History; and PMB 106 for Times and Seasons.

Captain William L. Hudson was commander of the US ship Peacock, one of the vessels of the United States Exploring Expedition to the Pacific, 1838-42, commanded by Commodore Charles Wilkes. He later transferred his flag to the Porpoise.

The journal begins when the expedition was en route from Fiji to Honolulu, and gives an account of the PEACOCK's visits to the Hawaiian Islands, Oregon, Southern California, the Line, Phoenix and Tokelau Islands, Samoa, the Ellice and Gilbert Islands (Tuvalu and Kiribati), and the wreck of the PEACOCK at the mouth of the Columbia River on the west coast of North America. After Hudson had transferred his flag to the USS PORPOISE, he crossed the Pacific to the Philippines, Sooloo Islands and Singapore. (The journal is a continuation of that filmed as PMB 146, which covers the Expedition's activities from 20 August 1838 to 8 August 1840)

Eli Bell was a missionary to Hawaii for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The journal covers Bell's career in Hawaii (Hawaiian Islands) during 1854 - 1860.

Alden was an officer in the sloop-of-war 'Vincennes', the flagship of the United States Exploring Expedition which spent four years in the Pacific under the command of Commodore Charles Wilkes.

The journal gives an account - but not a day-by-day account - of the Vincennes voyage which took in the Tuamotu Archipelago, Tahiti, Samoa, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, the Antarctic, Hawaii, the Gilbert (Kiribati), Ellice (Tuvalu) and Marshall Islands. See also PMB MS 124-146 and the Bureau's newsletter, Pambu, Dec. 1971:25, pp. 4-7.

Items on Pacific Islands from the minutes and reports of the annual general conferences (1879-1964) of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Missionaries and the Church were active in French Polynesia at the time, including Tahiti, Tubuai, and the Tuamotu Islands, as well as being active in the Hawaiian Islands, Samoa and Tonga.

Items on Pacific Islands from reports of annual and semi-annual conferences associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Church was active in French Polynesia, including Tahiti, Tuamotu Islands, and Tubuai, as well as Hawaiian Islands, Samoa and Tonga in the period covered.