Notes:

He is listed as a farmer in his will, Bedford Co., PA, File Box J, July 14, 1786. He names wife Mary, and children David, Margaret, Jacob, Daniel, Samuel, Joseph, and Benjamin. He bequeathed 2 acres of land in Little Cove, PA for Josesph Powell, Minister and David Bowen to be used by the Baptist Church of Conoloway as a place for worship. It was signed by Joseph Powell and witnesses by Thomas and Jean Harrod. (C-2317)

Jacob married Mary BOWEN in 1769 in PA. Mary (daughter of David BOWEN, Sr. and Hannah DAVIS) was born in 1747 in , Augusta, VA; died on 14 Jul 1786 in Marietta, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: HANNAH DAVIS. HANNAH was born in 1740 in Cumberland Co, Pennsylvania; died on 27 Nov 1768 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

David emigrated from Little Cove, Franklin Co., PA to Madison Twp., Montgomery Co., Ohio in the spring of 1810. Sons Joseph and Jacob John were the administrators for David John's estate on Jan. 5, 1814 after he had died in Nov. of 1812. Securities were given by Enoch Bowen & Benjamin Bowen for this process. In the Guardianship records, #204, p. 25, in 1815, his heirs under age 21 were listed. They included: Powell age 20, Bowan, age 18, Mary age 16, Samuel age 14, Anna age 12, Daniel age 10, Sally age 8, Eleanor, age 5, minors of David John. (C-2317, 2320)

David married Elanor POWELL on 15 Jan 1785 in , Bedford, PA, USA. Elanor (daughter of Rev. Joseph POWELL and Rachel ROSE) was born on 10 Feb 1767 in Cove Gap, Franklin, PA; died on 22 Jun 1848 in Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA; was buried after 22 Jun 1848 in Greencastle Cem., Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

His wife's likely name is Rebecca as he and an unaccounted for Rebecca John are witnesses to his brother Benjamin's will.

Family/Spouse: Owen DAVID. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She and her brother David were administrators for her husband's estate in 1813. She's in a land settlement for land given to David John's children nearly 35 years previously in 1848.

Rachel married George Washington DAVIS on 3 Sep 1812. George (son of David DAVIS and Elizabeth BOWEN) died about 1813. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Rachel married Samuel J. BOWEN on 16 Feb 1815. Samuel (son of David BOWEN, Sr. and Hannah DAVIS) was born in 1745 in Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States; died after 14 Jun 1830 in Springhill, Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He is probably the David John who was the administrator along with Rachel Davis for the estate of George Washington Davis, in 1813 in Montgomery Co., Ohio By most accounts, his father David had died by this point. Security for the administration was given by David Bowen and Joseph John. He was in the 1816 tax lists for Montgomery Co., Ohio His death date was estimated as 1819 in an 1848 deed transaction involving his siblings. He died without having issue according to this Chancery Record. (C-2318)

David married Unknown MISHLER before 1812. Unknown was born on 22 Sep 1792 in , York, PA, USA; died on 24 Aug 1823. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Jacob was a Captain in the War of 1812 according to Beers History of Darke Co., Ohio He was honorably discharged after 2 year's service. He moved to Darke Co., OH in 1837 where he was a Township Trustee for 2 years and Justice of the Peace for six. (C-2319) He is listed in a court case, Jacob B. John & Powell et al vs Morris Seely, James H. Robinson wherein his siblings and their spouses are named and verified. (C-2318)

Jacob married Eleanor PHILLIPS before 1810 in , Augusta, VA. Eleanor was born on 2 Jun 1791 in Of Franklin, PA; died on 23 Jun 1871 in , Darke, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In the 1848 Chancery records for Montgomery Co., OH it lists her husbands name as Andrew Clarkson instead. (C-2318)

Rebecca married Andrew CLARK in 1816. Andrew died before 14 Jun 1830. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Joseph was the Secretary for the Dayton Bachelor's Society the same year that he married.

Joseph married Jane WAUGH after 1815. Jane (daughter of William WAUGH) died after 1819. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joseph married Sarah BOWEN before 1830. Sarah (daughter of David BOWEN, Sr. and Hannah DAVIS) was born in 1751 in Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Bowen L. John is listed as purchasing Troy, Miami Co., OH lots 102, 110-111 along with other possible siblings and children of David and Elanor John.

Family/Spouse: Catherine TODD. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Powell was one of the siblings that purchased Troy lots 102, 110-111 in 1830 that were in Miami Co., Ohio He was living in Madison Twp, Montgomery Co, OH in the 1830 census.

Family/Spouse: Mary WILLIAMSON. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The ancestry of our Mary John was unknown until the publication of the Chancery Court Records for Montgomery Co., Ohio In two different land cases, she is listed as the daughter of David John and wife of Absalom Mast along with the siblings I now have listed for her. It should be noted that there was another Mary John in Montgomery Co. that had been connected to this family instead in places like Brien's "Miami Valley Genealogies, Vol. II", but the Chancery Court records are as clear as day on this. It's this Mary married to Absalom Mast who is the d. of David John and Eleanor Powell. (C-2318) Mary's birth date is listed as Mar 5, 1797 in her husband's bible, her cemetery stone and in a published book "The Mast Family History" (Mar 3, 1797). She is listed as age 16 in the guardianship papers after her father's death in 1815 with her older brother, Bowen being listed at age 18. This would calculate his birth date at 1797 and hers at 1799. She is definitely the sibling born after Bowen (b. 1797) and before Samuel (b. 1801) in all of the court records on this family. I suspect that the earlier dates of birth, given when they were children are more correct. It should be noted that in a transcribed Bible record belonging to Gr.Gr. Aunt Jane Pickering, she was listed as a Mary Johns with an s on the end of the name.

Mary married Absalom MAST on 11 Sep 1817 in , Montgomery, OH, USA. Absalom (son of David MAST and Nancy WORRELL) was born in Nov 1796 in , Randolph, NC, USA; died on 15 Dec 1877 in West Milton, Miami, OH, USA; was buried in West Branch Quaker Burial Grounds, Union Twp., Miami, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was in the same deed record as other likely children of David and Elanor John along with a Cynthia Ann.

Samuel married Sarah YOUNT on 16 Feb 1826. Sarah was born on 20 Dec 1806 in , , OH, USA; died on 23 Mar 1865 in , Montgomery, IA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She is listed in the same 1830 transcribed Chancery records with her siblings as Anna. In the Miami Valley Index 1830 deed, it lists her as Cynthia Ann, same name her sister Mary John gives to one of her daughters. In the 1848 Chancery records it lists her as Ann. (C-2313)

Cynthia married David WILLIAMSON before 1830. David died after 1848. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

A Daniel L. and Bowen W. John are listed as purchasing Troy Lots 102, 110-111 in 1830 in the same deed record where Powell, Mary, Sarah, Samuel and Cynthia Ann John are listed. His wife is listed as Sarah in this 1830 deed. He married a Susannah Buckwalter in 1832. In the transcription of the 1830 and 1848 Chancery deed records - his middle initial is translated as S. His estate in 1846 was administered by David Clark and securities were covered by Anothony Whole and William Vernis? (Docket of Adm. A-1, #1933, p. 227 - C-2320)

Family/Spouse: Sarah UNKNOWN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Susannah BUCHWALTER. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Solomon GLOTTFELTER. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Jacob ROMENSER. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Eleanor married Enoch R. POWELL in 1836. Enoch died after 1848. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Harriet married Simon SNYDER in 1838 in Montgomery, Hamilton, Ohio, USA. Simon died after 1848. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Thomas WOODHOUSE in 1844 in Montgomery, Hamilton, Ohio, USA. Thomas died after 1848. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Johnson P. Mast is in the 1880 Ohio census in Miami Co., Union Twp. on p. 365b. He lists his birth place as Ohio and both his parent's as North Carolina. (This is probably incorrect as other data I have on his mother, Mary Johnn, says she was born in Pennsylvania.) He lived with his wife, Caroline, and children Lola, Dora D, and Hattie M. (C-385) He and his brother Wesley founded the Ohio Lightning Rod Co. in West Milton, Ohio as well as invented the circuit system of lightning rods that gained worldwide usage. In the 1870 census for Union Twp., Miami Co, Ohio, he is listed as being employed in putting up lightning rods. (C-374, 756, EL) He lived next to George W. and Marcus Lafayette Harb in this 1870 census.

Johnson married Caroline DYE in 1859 in , Miami, OH, USA. Caroline was born in 1839 in , Miami, OH, USA; died after 1880 in Of Union Twp., Miami, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Wesley worked on his father's farm until age 21. He started life by opening a Hotel in West Milton in 1846, which building still stands across the street from the McDonalds Restaurant in West Milton, Ohio. His home was where the McDonald's was built about 1994. They have a beautiful oil painting of his home in that fast food restaurant.

After a ten year period, he changed to dealing in stock and a livery stable. He is in the deed records for Union Twp., Miami Co., Ohio in 1850, 1851, 1860. He appears to have two wives in the county records. He and Nancy sold lot 38 in Milton, Miami Co., Ohio in 1851. In 1860, he and Sarah sold land in Union Twp., Miami Co., Ohio. This does not coincide with the marriage date I have for him and Sarah of 1847, so it's a mystery yet to be determined. In 1855 he was in a criminal Probate Court case in that same county. In 1859, he became a dealer in lightning rods called "The Mast Lightening Rod Company." (C-670)

An account of this families life and their lightening rod business comes from a large article in the Troy Daily News entitled "First Lightning Rods made at Early West Milton Shop". I'll quote the most significant parts. "When in 1801 the group of Quakers and their friends decided to quit North Carolina and seek new homes in the Northwest Territory, among them was David Mast. He brought along with him, his wife Nancy and their six children, the youngest, Absalom, being about 5 years old. In 1817 Absalom married Mary John and they became the parents of four sons and five daughters. Two of the sons, Wesley J. and Johnson P. became early businessmen of the village.... Wesley J. Mast , together with his brother Johnson P. became interested in Rayburn and the lightning rod business and came to the aid of this man with financial backing and started what is believed to be the first plant in the world for the manufacturing of lightning rods. ... The concern grew and prospered, and in the hey-dey of its career, boasted of having more than thirty lightning rod wagons traversing Ohio and adjoining states. Thousands of residents of the middle west can remember these long, narrow wagons, loaded with bright and shining copper rods, glistening weather vanes and prancing steel horses in miniature, the latter serving as ornaments of rods erected above the roofs of those considered "well-to'do".

For years the name of "Mast" led the field, despite the fact that competition sprang up throughout the east. ... Always the West Milton plant ... kept steadily ahead of all others in the way of new inventions and patents. ... To get raw materials from the Pennsylvania mills where it was rolled, the Masts had to bring it in ... down the Ohio River and up to Dayton by canal boat. Louis LaVake Mast, in the year 1900, succeeded his father, taking over the plant bearing his name with which he was quite familiar, since he was born and brought up with the business. ... " (C-374) (Note, the Mast family seemed to own the plant through the undated time of this article at least 1943 or later, and had spread their business to include the making of sign posts and other patents.)

C.Z. Mast's 1911 history summarizes his life this way: In the year 1808 he gave up the wonderfully busy life when in the same year his neighbors carried his body out of his old home and buried it in a quiet spot on the broad acres he had tended and loved. His grave is marked with a carved sandstone bearing inscription near the Northwest corner of the wall of what is known as Pine Grove Cemetery. His wife, Magdalene Holly, died Oct 26, 1820, aged 80 years, and is buried by his side.

However, according to a 1978 newspaper article by Judy Ireton in "The Independent", Wesley J. Mast and his wife are buried in Riverside Cemetery in West Milton instead.

Wesley married Sarah PICKERING on 7 Jul 1847 in , , OH, USA. Sarah (daughter of Burrill PICKERING and Lurana COOK) was born on 26 Oct 1831 in West Milton, Miami, OH, USA; died on 24 May 1908 in West Milton, Miami, OH, USA; was buried in West Milton Cem., West Milton, Miami, OH. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She is called Cyntha Ann in the 1848 Chancery records for Montgomery Co, OH as a child of Mary John and Absolom Mast. She and her husband had seven children. (C-756)

Cynthia married Barton PICKERING on 16 Sep 1847 in , Montgomery, OH, USA. Barton (son of Burrill PICKERING and Lurana COOK) was born on 8 Feb 1828 in Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA; died after 1848. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Asher was a manufacturer. He and his wife had 8 children, most of whom were thought to be born in Montgomery Co., Ohio He lived in Union Twp., Miami Co., Ohio in the 1880 census. He is indexed in an 1893 Probate Court Record as taking guadianship in Miami Co., Ohio. (C-756, 1025)

Asher married Lucinda HARTZELL in 1853 in Greenville, Darke, OH, USA. Lucinda was born on 3 Aug 1835 in Of Greenville, Darke, OH, USA; died on 20 Jun 1917; was buried in Riverside Cemetery, West Milton, Miami, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Hannah Jane lived a long life and died at age 94 due to complications of a fall and hip fracture two months previous to her death. Her obituary sent to me by Richard W. Sims, stated that there were probably no persons of West Milton held in higher esteem than she and her husband. Though they had no children of their own, they raised Ida Jane Pickering, their niece after her mother died when she was around 5 years of age. Mary Jane Pickering at her decease had cemetery lots sold to John H. Coate, Albert P. Coate, Lenna I. Cress, Margaret Fuller, Grace A. Wilson and Mamie J. McKinley. Dated 26th May 1928. Executor was D.H. Mast.

I've heard her called Hannah Jane, Mary Jane and Aunt Jane Pickering.

Mary married Albert PICKERING on 25 Jan 1855 in Greenville, Darke, OH, USA. Albert (son of Burrill PICKERING and Lurana COOK) was born on 13 Sep 1829 in Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA; died on 29 Dec 1891 in West Milton, Miami, OH, USA; was buried in Riverside Cemetery, West Milton, Miami, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Arabelle married Marquis Lafayette HARB, * on 15 May 1859 in , Miami, OH, USA. Marquis (son of William HARB, * and Rhoda MARTIN, *) was born on 27 Mar 1835 in West Milton, Miami, OH, USA; died on 18 Jun 1918 in West Milton, Miami, OH, USA; was buried on 21 Jun 1918 in Riverside Cemetery, West Milton, Miami, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]