Memorial Day Tribute

It's Memorial Day, the day we take a break from our daily hustle and bustle to remember those who have died in service to our country. Today as we remember our fallen soldiers, our family will be honoring two of our ancestors for their service: Captain Hays B. Mast and SGT (or CPL - we have conflicting info) Jacob Transue Mast. 

Over the years, the Mast/Shappell family has had many family members serve our country, and we've been lucky enough to lose only two family members (that we know of) to war- Hays and Jacob Mast. Today we will honor them for their service and share of bit of our family line. As you may have noticed, they share a common last name! 

We won't start at the very beginning of the family, but we'd like to introduce you to Jacob Transue Mast. Jacob was the son of Jacob and Catherine (Transue) Mast. Jacob the elder and Catherine married in Easton, PA and moved in the 1830s to Clarion County, PA to homestead in Curllsville. Jacob the elder had 3 sons, Jacob T being the youngest.

Jacob Transue Mast enlisted as a PVT on 13 Aug 1862 in Clarion County, and was mustered into Co K, 148th Reg Infantry on 7 Sep 1862 in Harrisburg, PA. He was promoted to CPL on 15 NOV 1863. According to a common descendant, Jacob survived Gettysburg and the Battle of the Wilderness, but was killed at Po River, VA. 

Jacob T's brother Isaac had a son Benjamin Franklin Mast. Ben married Letitia Hays and they had children that included Wade Hays Mast. Wade H married Merle Bigelow, and their children included our second ancestor, and the 2 times great grandson of our first.

Hays Bigelow Mast was born in Rimer, Pennsylvania, on February 26, 1909, to parents Wade Hays Mast and Merle Elizabeth Bigelow. Hays was the oldest of 5 children- his siblings were Herbert F. Mast (our direct line), Kenneth C. Mast, Dent M. Mast, and Margret R. Mast.    

Thanks to Robert Underbrink's book Somewhere We Will Find You: Search and Rescue Operations in the CBI, 1942-1945, we know that Hays was a C-87 (#800) captain flying the hump in the China-Burma-India theatre during WW II.  We also have the complete crew list.

In our years of searching for our history, we found this newspaper clipping. The date is missing, but Hays died 1 Nov 1943 so we know it is from sometime in Nov 1943.

So many families have military service to reflect on. We hope that you have been able to find yours and share in the history of your ancestor.  


** I found another note I had: Dr. Jacob Mast was a graduate of Mead College who enlisted as an Army surgeon. He was shot at Bushy Creek, VA as the Union soldiers were marching south. Source: Handwritten notes from Nettie Mast Peterson.