Masten family

Nancy Law Hastings was born September 20, 1796, to Jonas Hastings and Nancy Emerson in Warwick, Massachusetts. The Hastings’ other children included Caroline (Pennell), Samuel, Oliver, and two girls that died in infancy.

In November 1815, Nancy married Ephraim Masten (1786-1840) of Sutton, New Hampshire, and in 1819, they settled on a farm in Ridgeway, New York. They had 11 children, the youngest of whom was Henry Masten, born September 28, 1840. During the Civil War, Henry likely served with the 90th New York Infantry and frequently wrote home to his sister, Maryetta. He survived the war and settled in Grandville, Michigan, in the 1870s, during which time he married a woman named Sarah (whom he refers to as “Sate”). By 1892, he was running a grocery called Masten & Hammond in Kent County. He last appears on the Census in 1900.

From the guide to the Masten family papers, 1799-1899, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)