David J. Mason, owner and founder of HMG ePublishing, LLC, is the great-grandson of Parson Sykes. Mr. Mason is a digital publishing entrepreneur and veteran senior executive who has been on the Internet since 1997, providing technological and telecommunication services. He has executive-level experience leading, administering, and directing scientific and technological operations in various private and public organizations. Mr. Mason's digital publishing curiosity began when he converted one of his traditional manuals into an electronic book. An advocate for digital publishing, he has perfected the processes of ebook publishing, production, promotion, and distribution.

Mr. Mason became interested in the history of the Sykes family early in life while attending family reunions and hearing stories of his mother's ancestors from Southampton County, Virginia. The family descended from Louisa Williams Sykes, an enslaved African American matriarch who had lived on Jacob Williams' farm on Barrow Road in the Cross Keys neighborhood. During the 1831 Southampton Insurrection, Nat Turner and his insurgents attacked the farm. For over 150 years, Parson Sykes' descendants passed down stories and adventures of Parson's early life at family reunions, holiday meals, weddings, and other gatherings where the ancestors met. According to passed-down stories, during Civil War, Parson and his brothers, Joseph and Henry, made a challenging escape from bondage on Jacob Williams' farm to reach Fort Monroe in early December 1864, and, after enlistment, they performed successful combat military duty with the XXV Corps in the Army of the James, composed of United States Colored Troops (USCT) regiments. Mr. Mason was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up there with his parents, John Lee Mason and Bertha Sykes Mason.

He holds a Master of Science from Hampton University in Virginia and a Bachelor of Science from Norfolk State University. He is a graduate of the United States Army War College.