Hist. Mss. 1-346
Samuel Mast, 1812-1883, Holmes County, Ohio
Documents, 1824-1931
1 Box (Long Gray)

Introduction

These papers of Amish Bishop Samuel Mast were deposited into the Archives by Warren Miller, Millersburg, Ohio, in 1966. Mast was Miller's great-grandfather.

In his letter of September 18, 1961, Warren Miller explains some of what he knows about this story of Samuel Mast and Friedrich Hage, and its connection with the present -day Amish and Mennonite churches in Holmes County, Ohio:

"Samuel Mast was Friedrich Hage's son-in-law. No doubt he got these papers from Hage and and then he or some one later put them in his old grandfather's clock for safe keeping. Samuel Mast lived here on the farm where we now live. His son, David Mast, was my mother's father. When my parents, Melvin Millers, retired from the farm and moved to Berlin in 1950 they took the clock with them. It was then that the papers were taken out of the bottom of the clock.

Friedrich Hage was the first bishop of Martins Creek church, but it was not the present Martins Creek [Mennonite] church. Our church [Martins Creek Mennonite] was not organized (we now think) until about 1865. Hage died in 1863... The beginning of trouble which led to a split began probably around 1861.

Jacob C. Schlabach, an Amishman near here who is interested in church history told me last week that his grandfather, Jacob Kurtz, was a minister in Hage's church, and that the church was neither Amish nor Mennonite, it was Hage's church. Jake thought that Hage was also bishop of a church in Wayne Co. He also said that on one occasion Hage went on horseback to the West Liberty area to straighten out some matters pretaining to "Hex-a-rie" or witchcraft. Jake Schlabach said that after Hage died in 1863 the church was dissatisfied and divided. His grandfather Kurtz went with a group to the Amish. My great grandfather Samuel Mast backed a group to join the Amish Mennonites.

W. L. Miller, our local church historian, thinks that Hage was Amish, and that Samuel Mast broke away from the Amish to join the Amish Mennonites. I don't know which is correct. At Walnut Creek "Gross" Mose Miller led a group into the Amish Mennonite church. "Kline" Mose Miller was a leader in the Amish group. I have a letter written, 1855, by eight Stark Co. ministers to Friedrich Hage and Christian Mast requesting that they together with John Gerber, Coblentz, and little Mose Miller come to visit their church and help in certain affairs.

Friedrich Hage is buried in a cemetery which is located on a hill top on a farm about a mile north west of us or from the Martins Creek church house. The farm is owned by Abram Mast who is also a great great grandson of Hage."

For a fuller story, see the history book Martins Creek Mennonite Church: Centennial book, 1865-1965 (Millersburg, Ohio, 1965), and Tradition and Transition: Amish Mennonites and Old Order Amish, 1800-1900, by Paton Yoder (Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 1991).

The documents in this Mast Collection have been organized chronologically. Letters without dates have been placed in appropriate chronological sequence, based on the age of the paper and its content. Most documents are original, although some folders contain only translations. John S. Umble made many translations of these letters in 1960-61.

Inventory

Box 1 (Long Gray)

1/1 Background and Introduction, 1960-61
Warren Miller correspondence with Melvin Gingerich and John Umble, 1960-61, about these Mast letters.

1/2 Hage, Friedrich, May 19, 1824
Church letter.

1/3 Formulary, by Friedrich Hage, n.d.
Formulary on life of Jesus Christ as found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and in Acts and I Corinthians 9, (no date). Includes translation. "Formulary is quite different in form and content from those originating in Alsace or the Renish Palatinate" writes John Umble.

1/4 Hage, Jacob, Forsthof, 1826
Letter to Friedrich Hage, May 30, 1826

1/5 Healing formulas, n.d.

1/6 Congregational members, May 22, 1831
List of members of the congregation of which Samuel Mast and Friedrich Hage were members.

1/7 Hage, Friedrich, May 15, 1839
Letter written from Holmes County, Ohio, Mafy 15, 1839. Hage tells of arriving in Philadelphia on August 18, 1826, and residing in Pennsylvania until 1831, when he moved to Ohio.

1/8 Hage, Friedrich, Letter, n.d.
Possibly a letter written to Europe.

1/9 Two recipes, no date.

1/10 Recipes, no date.

1/11 Beginning of the Amish service
Torn sheet, which appears to be the text for the beginning (Anfang) of an Amish service, no date.

1/12 Amish wedding, 1842
Performing an Amish wedding, written in 1842, by Friedrich Hage.

1/13 Guengerich, Jacob P., May 1844.
Writings copied by Guengerich

1/14 Hage, Friedrich, Copies, 1847
Old important church letters, 1693-1711, copied by Hage in 1847.

1/15 Amman, Jaky, ca. 1693 (copy)
Copy of a Jacob Amman letter, after October 16, 1693. Probably copied by Friedrich Hage.

1/16 Amman, Ulli, 1698
Hage, Friedrich, copy of writings from 1698, by Ulli Amman, copied by Friedrich Hage.

1/17 Hage, Friedrich, May 31, 1848
Letter to John Stoltzfus, May 31, 1848, regarding baptism.

1/18 Fragment, ca. 1848.

1/19 Hage, Friedrich, Jan. 21 (1849?)
Letter to "My Friend", January 21, ____ (no year given, maybe 1849 ?). Letter concerns "disunity among us" and several ministers and/or lay perople are mentioned, David Troyer, Levi Miller, Christian Mast, Jacob Yoder, Christian Schanz, Christian Brand, Gideon Zug, George Yutzi, Jacob Miller. Congregations mentioned include Walnut Creek, Wooster, Lower Walnut Creek, Sugar Creek and Canton.

1/20 Baptism controversy, 1849
Writing about Baptism controversy in Wayne Co., Ohio, ca. 1849.

1/21 Letter to Hage, July 18, 1849
Letter from Michael Schrock, Samuel Schrock, Jonathan Zug, Hannes Hertzler, Stephanus Schrock and David Smoker, from Wayne County, Ohio, written to Friedrich Hage and his fellow colleagues, Holmes County, Ohio.

1/22 Ministers, August 27, 1849
Ministers involved in settling some church problems, August 27, 1849, Berlin, Ohio.

1/23 Baptism Scripture references.

1/24 Hage, Friedrich, ca. 1850s
Letter from Hage to John Stolzfus, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, ca. 1850's. Letter is about baptism controversy that split the Amish congregations, -1849-1855, and led to the beginning of the Amish Mennonite Conference in 1862.

1/25 Letter, July 28, 1853.

1/26 Letter, August 7, 1853.

1/27 Letter, October 7, 1853.

1/28 Letter, December 1853.

1/29 Letter, January 29, 1854.

1/30 Letter, April 11, 1855.

1/31 Letter, no date, re: Wenger's son
Signed by: Chistian Mast, Samuel Mast, Friedrich Hagy and Abraham Mast.

1/32 Letter, no date, re: Jacob Yoder
Regarding letter written by Jacob Yoder.

1/33 Receipt, n.d.

1/34 Brand, Christian, Nov. 13, 1855.
Letter from Brand to Christian Graber, Nov. 13, 1855. Brand was a Swiss Mennonite minister and immigrent to Wayne County, Ohio. Letter concerns controversy over baptism preformed in a house or in a stream.

1/35 Troyer, John, June 14, 1856
Letter to Samuel Mast.

1/36 Mast, September 15, 1857
Letter to Mast by a Heinrich _______ (?).

1/37 Amish church letter, Oct. 27, 1857
Amish church letter from Friedrich Hage and Samuel Mast, October 27, 1857.

1/38 Letter, November 8, 1857.

1/39 Adams County, Indiana, 1858
Huber, Heinrich Egly and Peter Moser, Adams County, Indiana, June 10, 1858 .

1/40 Hage, S., June 15, 1862
Civil War Letter to Samuel Mast, June 15, 1862, from S. Hage, Washington, Iowa .

1/41 Byler, Henry, Jan. 13, 1863
Letter to Samuel Mast.

1/42 Letter, May 28, 1865.

1/43 Elkhart County, Indiana, July 1865
Letter from John Ringenberg, Elkhart County, Indiana, after visit to Ohio, July 15, 1865.

1/44 McFarlande, James, 1867
Letter from McFarlande, Mercer Co., Pennsylvania, to Samuel Mast, Mar. 21, 1867 .

1/45 Family records, 1794-1909
Family records of Friedrich Hage, 1794-1863, and Veronica Eash, 1798-1869.

1/46 Treyer, David A., 1898
Ein unparteiischer Bericht...1850-1861.... , by David A. Treyer, 1898. Folder includes English translation entitled "An Impartial Account;" translation completed by John S. Umble, August 23, 1960, 13 pages.

1/47 Letter, December 14, 1914.

1/48 Bontrager, Jake, 1929
Letter to Brother and Family, 1929 (photocopy)

1/49 Sunday School Conf, 1931
Ohio Menn. Sunday School Conference at Martins Creek Church, Aug. 4-6, 1931.

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Documents placed in individual file folders by "sdm" in 1966
Documents organized chronologically, and listed by Nelda Nussbaum and Dennis Stoesz, June 18, 1998
Archives of the Mennonite Church, Goshen, Indiana