My Genealogy Hound

W. J. MAST, dealer in lightning rods, West Milton; was born in Montgomery Co., Ohio, Feb. 13, 1825; his father Absalom Mast, was born in Randolph Co., N. C, in 1796. David Mast, father of Absalom, was probably born in Lancaster Co., Penn., in 1761, and removed with his parents to the Newberry District, N. C., where he was reared, and from which he removed to Ohio in the spring of 1831. They were parents of the following children, all deceased, viz., Obedience (Mrs. John Quilling, who gave birth to the first white child born north of Dayton), Rebecca (Mrs. David Sheets), Sarah (Mrs. Solomon Waymire), Nancy (Mrs. Yount) and Absalom. The latter was married to Mary Johnn, of Montgomery Co., in the year 1818, by whom he had ten children, six of whom, are living, viz., Elizabeth, Johnson P., Wesley J., Cynthia A., Asher C. and Mary J. The deceased are Harriet, David, Madison and Arabella. Mary Johnn, wife of Absalom Mast, was born in Lancaster Co., Penn., in 1799; and with her parents came to Ohio and settled on Wolf Creek, in Montgomery Co., in 1810; she died Aug. 23, 1846. In an early day, Absalom Mast had command of a Light Horse Company, of which he was Captain. He was a good horseman and a lover of the equine race. He died at the residence of his son, Asher C., Dec. 15, 1877. Our subject was reared on the farm, laboring for his father till his 21st year, when he opened a hotel in West Milton, which he conducted for ten years, after which he dealt extensively in stock, and was also proprietor of a livery stable. In 1859, he abandoned these pursuits and turned his attention to the lightning-rod business, and since 1870 has given his full attention to this business. July 7, 1847, he was married to Sarah, daughter of Burrell Pickering. They have four children, Josephine (now Mrs. Will H. Frink), Georgiana (now Mrs. Benson Mote), Fordney and Lewis L.