Philip Maus was born in the year 1731 in Zweibrücken, Bavaria, on the banks of the Rhine. He lived in that country until the year 1741, when he and his father and mother came to Philadelphia, which at that time had a population of 15000 people, the great majority of whom were members of the Society of Friends, the Quakers. The old state house, Independence Hall, was then a new building. George Thomas was then and for several years afterward lieutenant governor of the province. The New World was truly new to him. At school, Phillip finished an education that prepared him for the practical duties of life; he soon became versed in the English language so that he spoke and wrote both languages with fluency. This proved of no small benefit to him in later years.

In 1750, at the age of 18 or 19, Maus was transferred from school to learn the manufacturing of stockings and other woolen fabrics, a business of much importance in the colony of that day. In five years Phillip became proficient in the business and established himself in the year 1755. He succeeded in it beyond his anticipations for nearly 20 years, when it was interrupted and suspended by the troubles with Great Britain. Philip Maus had three brothers, Frederick, Charles, and Matthew. Matthew was a physician and became a surgeon in the revolutionary army and was with General Richard Montgomery on his expedition into Canada and was at the capture of Fort Chamblee, St. John's, and Montréal, and helped carry Montgomery’s body off the field at the Battle of Quebec on December 31, 1775, during the invasion of Quebec. The invasion was a major military operation by the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. Sufferings and exposure of that campaign did not deter him from serving his country throughout the entire war. Matthew Maus was a skillful surgeon and a gentleman of culture.

In Philadelphia, Phillip Maus was good friends with both Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris, who would be among the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Dr. Franklin, before the War, was the agent or representative of the colonies in England and was highly respected and appreciated on both sides of the Atlantic. But Maus’s most valued friend was Robert Morris. Both were the same age, educated in Philadelphia, and both were known for their faithfulness and hard work for Colonial Pennsylvania. Morris was one of the partners in the mercantile firm of Willing and Morris and afterward became a strong financier of the Revolutionary War. The relationship between Maus and Morris was lifelong, and both took an active role in the fight for independence. Maus furnished the goods to the clothier general in the Quartermaster’s Department in the Continental Army. In the summer of 1776, he was actively engaged not only in manufacturing clothing for the Army but also in procuring from others whatever would help in the comfort of General Washington’s rag-tag soldiers.

While the British Army occupied Philadelphia, Maus employed all of the manufacturers of stockings in places like Reading, Lancaster, Lebanon, and others in the vicinity. Wool was purchased, and he employed spinners and weavers. As a result, he succeeded in supplying the destitute Army with 1000 pairs of stockings per week. For this, he paid in coin when the makers refused to receive Continental currency. Manufacturing operations were of the utmost importance to the Continental Army. That work continued nonstop in Philadelphia until the approach of the enemy in the summer of 1776 and was finally suspended after the Battle of the Brandywine on September 11, 1777. The Battle was a defeat for Washington’s Army, and two weeks later, General William Howe’s British forces took over the city of Philadelphia. Maus and his family, as well as others, fled the city. He went to Valley Forge and lived in the mansion of Colonel John Henry Antes. John Henry Antes built and defended Fort Antesin in 1777-1778 during the period of the "Great Runaway" on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. Through his energy and perseverance, he continued to supply the army at the same rate until the end of the war.

Before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Maus purchased hundreds of acres in the Susquehanna Valley. By a treaty with the Iroquois Indians dated November 1768, what is now Montour County was included in a large tract of land in central Pennsylvania that was opened for settlement. On April 3rd, 1769, the earliest possible day to make a purchase, Phillip Maus bought and received patents from Thomas and John Penn, the sons of William Penn, for 600 acres of land on Mahoning Creek. One writer says it was named Maus Hall. However, it would not be until 1782 that Phillip would make his first visit to the property.

The great massacre in the Wyoming Valley occurred on July 3, 1778, and as the news passed down the North Branch of the Susquehanna and spread over the hills and valleys leading to the West Branch Valley it caused a general stampede, a wild, precipitate flight of the settlers from the upper region which has ever since been known as the "Great Runaway."

In 1786, Maus returned to his land and constructed a home for his family, and the farm expanded. This was not the stone mansion that would be built in 1845 by a grandson. In 1789, Frances Maus, Phillip’s wife, died. He continued to make improvements to the land, building a sawmill in 1793, which provided most of the lumber for buildings in that area. Some of the lumber was also sold in Danville, with some rafted along with grain and flour down the Susquehanna to places like Baltimore and Philadelphia.

To prepare for the construction of a grist mill in 1800, Maus had to build a mill race to channel water from Mahoning Creek and use the force of that water to turn the wheel, which ground the grain.

Building that mill race was not without its problems for Maus. Battle’s History of Columbia and Montour Counties notes that one portion was dug by the Catholics and the other by the Protestants, and several times Mr. Maus and to take possession of the clubs and shillalas to keep them from being worn out over bloodied heads. This was called their amusement, and by way of explanation of these theological discussions, it should be pointed out that these men consumed 11 barrels of whiskey while at work and play of digging in the millrace.

Revolutionary War merchant and supporter Phillip Maus died in 1815. But the Maus’ legacy would carry on through his sons and grandchildren.