John Mast, Sr. was born in Switzerland ca. 1740. Supposedly his father, a so-called Anabaptist, had been slain at the pulpit in Switzerland. He immigrated to Pennsylvania on the ship Brotherhood, which arrived in Philadelphia from Rotterdam on Nov. 3, 1750, in the company of his four sisters and brother Jacob, all in the care of their benevolent uncle Johannes Mast, who by tradition was an aged widower or bachelor.

They selected their home near the site of the Blue Mountains, northwest of Philadelphia near present day Reading, Berks Co., Pennsylvania. Because of dangers in the area due to the French and Indian War, Mast left ca. 1760 and purchased land on Feb. 17, 1763, in Rowan Co., NC. Rowan became part of Guilford Co., NC when Guilford was formed and is currently a part of Randolph Co., NC. His brother Jacob Mast remained in PA and became a well-known bishop in the Amish Mennonite Church.

There is no evidence to indicate that John Mast and his family, once in NC, ever worshiped as Mennonites or Amish. The Masts lived in the neighborhood of a Dunker settlement on the Uwharrie River in Randolph Co. It is unknown whether the family ever affiliated with the Dunkard Brethren of the area.

John Mast married a woman named Barbara. Her last name was most likely not “Harmon” as has been believed in the past. Her name might be “Lapp,” which was a common surname among the Amish Mennonite church of which Mast was a member while living in PA. John and Barbara Mast had twelve children:

John, Jr., m. Susanna Hoover
David, m. Nancy Worrell
Joseph, m. Eva Bowers
Jacob, m (1). Barbara Fouts; m (2). Nancy Sinks
Stephen, [unmarried]
Nancy, m. James Curtis
Elizabeth, m. Leonard Eller
Hannah, m. Daniel Hoover
Mary, m. Daniel Sheets
Mary Magdalena (“Molly”), m. John Waggoner
Catherine, m. Andrew Sheets
Susanna, m. Henry Fouts

The name of John Mast appears among those on the 1779 Randolph Co, NC tax list of William Cole as having refused to take the Oath of Allegiance because they were pacifists. The other families listed in this group were Quakers suggesting that Mast had similar feelings. On March 20, 1782, Mast supported the American war effort by providing corn to the American troops. He received a state pay voucher promising him six Spanish milled dollars in return for the corn supply. Recall that for nearly two years after Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown on Oct. 19, 1781, Gen. Washington would continue his efforts to keep the Continental Army intact, ready to fight if that became necessary.

It is doubtful that John Mast, Sr. ever left Randolph Co., NC. He probably died there ca. 1800. His place of burial is unknown. His son Joseph Mast is the only one of the children to have spent his entire life in NC. About 1801, ten of the children of John and Barbara Mast moved to the southern Ohio area of Miami and Montgomery Counties.