The Hyphen Family Lineage

Note: Researching Earl Thomas Mast

The birthdate I have for Earl T. Mast, son of John Emory and Minerva Jane (Stonebraker) Mast, is 8 Dec 1890, and is almost certainly from Bob and Dean Stonebraker's research and booklet. In doing my own research, there appear to be multiple men named Earl Mast, born in Ohio around 1890. The most likely candidate I've found thus far appears to be the one whose WWI draft registration card gives a birthdate of 21 Dec 1890, and a birthplace of King's Creek (Champaign Cty), Ohio. On it, he gives his occupation as a conductor on an interurban railroad, and states that he has a wife and child. The card is dated 5 Jun 1917.

There is also a marriage record for an Earl T. Mast from Cuyahoga Cty, Ohio, dated 1 Nov 1915, to an Austrian-born eighteen-year-old Teresa Quintus (father Peter Quintus, mother Teresa Haffer), in which Earl's parents are named J.E. (father) and Minerva Stoneberger (mother). This record almost certainly applies to the Earl in question.

In a later marriage record, dated 24 Nov 1938 in Cuyahoga Cty, Ohio, we find an Earl W. Mast marrying a Martha Stenzel. In that record, Earl gives his father's name as Earl T. and his mother's name as Theresa Quintus. This would suggest that Earl T. and Theresa had at least one child, who was named for his father.

Coming back to Theresa, there is a second marriage record for her in Cuyahoga Cty, Ohio - this one on 26 Oct 1920, to Austrian-born Adolph J. Kremzar. In that record she names her parents Peter Quintus and Theresa Pfeffer, and her year of birth is given as 1898; it seems reasonable to assume that both marriage records (to Earl T. in 1915, and this one) apply to the same Theresa Quintus.

In the 1930 US Census, we find a fourteen-year-old Earl W. Mast living with Adolph and Theresa Kremzar in Cleveland, Cuyahoga Cty, Ohio, noted as "son." (Interestingly, both Adolph and Theresa are now reporting their birthplaces as Yugoslavia.) In the 1940 US Census, Earl is living with his wife Martha (Stenzel) and her Polish-born parents, also in Cleveland.

The death record for Earl W. Mast, both in the Ohio index as well as the US Social Security Death Index, gives his birthdate as 23 Jul 1916 in Cleveland, with a death date of 25 Jun 1992, also in Cuyahoga Cty, Ohio. The Ohio index record gives his mother's name as Carsley, and FindaGrave.com has a listing for a Theresa Q. Carsley in Twinsburg, Summit Cty, Ohio, next to a Merle K. Carsley (b. 1902, d. 1972). The listing gives Theresa's birthdate as 1898, but doesn't have a death date listed, and the photo of the shared gravestone has no engraving completed for her death date. It seems possible that Earl W.'s mother is buried there, and the listing and stone certainly refer to her, but she may be buried elsewhere. Earl W.'s burial is not located as of yet.

Earl T. Mast's fate is still undetermined. It is unknown whether he and Theresa divorced, or whether he died between their marriage in 1915 and her marriage in 1920 (to Adolph Kremzar). If the 21 Dec 1890 birthdate reference is correct (from the WWI draft card), that same Earl T. completed a WWII draft card (as Earl Talmedge Mast), and died 16 Apr 1971 in Shelby Cty, Ohio. On his WWII draft card, his wife was named Catherine.

Obituaries for any of these may help clarify things.