News at Masthof Press and Bookstore

Greenywalt, the immigrant father in Both My Sons, is a miller and sets up the first mill on the Pequea Creek in Pennsylvania to grind wheat into flour for local use and export to Philadelphia. This contemporary picture of Herr’s Grist and Sawmill on the Pequea is typical of early Pennsylvania gristmills. Water running down a race drives the large wheel and powers internal gears that grind grain between two huge stone millstones. The miller receives raw grain from farmers and grinds it for a percentage of the proceeds of flour. Buy Both My Sons

Both My Sons is Reed’s third novel. Previous books (also available through Masthof Press) include the controversial Mennonite Soldier and He Flew Too High. Both My Sons took seven years from inspiration to publication. Schowalter Foundation (Newton, KS) provided a grant in 2009 to start research on a Coming to America story of the Swiss-Germans. Reed and his wife took a Roots trip up the Rhine with John Ruth and Tourmagination in 2011. In 2014, he discovered the French & Indian War reenactor community, which enriches the Scots-Irish piece of the book. Below is a link to Harrisburg, PA based...

Reed likes Pannhaas (scrapple) with his eggs. However, it’s not available in Silicon Valley meat markets around his home in San Jose, California. Reed calls himself a refugee Mennonite. He spent his boyhood in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, near Swatara Gap. After eight years of education in Mennonite schools, a stint with MCC Japan and a period of free-lancing for Mennonite publications, he moved to San Francisco and became a recruiter for high-tech firms. He and his wife Patricia affiliated with the Presbyterians (ECO) in Milpitas, CA some years ago and he serves as an elder there. Click his most recent...

I’ve got some exciting news for you history buffs! On October 7, 2016, Masthof Press will publish an extraordinary novel, Both My Sons, by Ken Yoder Reed, a story of family and war in the early Pennsylvania forest. Between now and that date Masthof will be posting numerous seldom-seen photos, art-pieces and back-story on this amazing novel. I hope you join us for the ride!

Here are several titles helpful in research about Hochstetler genealogy and Northkill Settlement. Click here for the full story from the Reading Eagle