John Mare born in New York City in about 1739. A skilled painter, Mare painted many portraits of prominent New Yorkers before moving to Edenton, North Carolina during the period of the American Revolution. There Mare became a merchant and was an active mason. In 1778 he signed an oath swearing his allegiance to the State of North Carolina and promised to report any treasonous conspiracies that might threaten North Carolina's independence. After the war, Mare later served as the town postmaster and justice of the peace. In 1784 he married Marion Boyd Wells, a signer of the Edenton Tea Party Resolves, and the couple had two children together. Mare died in Chowan County on February 17, 1803.