(1) Welcome
(2) Bassett Bean Company of Edgewood, New Mexico
(3) Bassett Brothers Stage Lines
(4) Hubert Otto Bassett of Minocqua, Wisconsin
(5) New family lines combined or added since the last newsletter
(6) DNA project update
Section 1 - Welcome
Under the tab "Major Family Branches" at our Bassett website (http://bassettbranches.org)
we have added two new screens. This first is called "Main Page" where
you can do a name search for Bassetts currently loaded into the website.
The second is a new page for the #184 Bassetts of Chiddingston and Edenbridge
showing all known Bassetts from that line. We are currently working on loading
several other larger lines of the family to this section of the website.
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Section 2 - Featured Bassett: Bassett Bean Company of Edgewood, New Mexico
This section contains information about the Bassett Bean Co. and Bassett
Ranch of Edgewood, New Mexico.
George Ray Bassett is descended from #3B Thomas Bassett of Connecticut as
follows:
Thomas Bassett (b. 1598) and wife Joanna Beardsley
Thomas Bassett (b. 1660) and wife Sarah Baldwin
Josiah Bassett (b. 1690) and wife Alice Canfield
Samuel Bassett (b. 1723) and wife Susannah Morris
Samuel Bassett (b. 1756) and wife Jerusha Hotchkiss
William Bassett (b. 1803) and wife Margaret Reed
Leland Bassett (b. 1830) and wife nancy Priscilla Hughes
George Leland Bassett (b. 1864) and wife Elizabeth Selina Eads
George Ray Bassett (b. 1905) and wife Evelyn L. Gloss
Bassett Bean Company warehouse, Edgewood, constructed in 1940s. Courtesy
of the Bassett Family.
The Independent, July 31,
2002 (Condensed)
The Bassetts: Their story is the town's, By
Theresa M. Oderman
The history of Edgewood in the past century
is a story of families such as the Bassetts, who arrived in 1909 and ever
since have stamped Edgewood as farmers, ranchers, businessmen and community
leaders.
Their story is the story of Edgewood, intertwined
with its other founding families, with their trials and survival, and now
with the town's sometimes daunting growth.
Early in the last century, George Leland Bassett
learned of New Mexico's land from his two eldest sons, Amos and Oscar.
The brothers knew a family named Hughes in what was then called Venus and
in 1907 took the train from Missouri to visit their friends. They got off
the train in Torrance, between Duran and Corona, and walked across country
to Venus, which is now Edgewood.
The young men must have taken a favorable report
back to their father in Vienna, Mo., because in 1909 George put his family
on an immigrant train to New Mexico. His son Ray described the move in
a tape-recorded 1978 interview conducted by Fern Ueckert and Diane Arnett-Stearley.
Some family members rode in the boxcar to take
car of the animals. George Leland brought with him his wife, Serena Elizabeth
Eads Bassett, and their children, Amos, Oscar, Ada, James Lee, Ethel, Leslie
Donovan (L.D.), Ray and Millie.
George filed a homestead claim on 160 acres
north of what is now Dinkle Road, in Section 14, and his Amos, filed another
160-acres claim in the same section.
The pioneer dugout, made by digging a cellar-like
hole, then covering it with a pinon-pole and dirt roof, was a snug home
in winter and cool in summer, but was not big enough for the Bassett family.
Soon, a cabin followed for the boys to sleep in, then Serena finally got
an above ground two bedroom home for her brood.
George and his sons began the arduous task
of dryland farming with horse-drawn implements.
But not every year was a good crop. In lean
times, the older Bassett brothers, Lee, Oscar and L.D., would walk to Colorado,
along with as many as 15 other local men, to take part in the potato harvest.
After several years of the annual trek, Lee announced he was tired of walking
and stayed in Colorado.
Facing the Depression, drought, and modern-day
development with pioneer toughness, the Bassett family built both a sense
of community and the buldings to serve it. The family, after arriving in
1909, has helped shape Edgewood throughout the past century.
By the 1930s
and '40s the farmers had figured out dryland farming and the bean was king
of the Estancia Valley.
In 1933 Ray Bassett left the Moriarty bean
business he had begun with a partner in 1927, intending to "stay home
and farm," but by the end of the year, he was back in beans. He
traded for land on Route 66 in Edgewood with his brother L.D. "I just
tore down the highway fence and cleared out the trees and started building
the warehouse," Ray said.
While his brothers farmed and ranched and his
sisters married into other farming families in the area, Ray built a thriving
business based on pinto beans, including a Case Machinery dealership he
started in 1934.
Ray moved his farm machinery business to
Albuquerque but still owned much land in the Edgewood area. Oscar and L.D.
continued to farm and work in the community.
To read about the history of Bassett Ranch of Edwwood, New Mexico, click
on the link below. Bassett
Ranch Brochure (pdf format)
* * * * *
Section 3 - Featured Bassett William Henry Bassett and the Bassett Bros.
Stage Line
William Henry Bassett is descended from #12B Oliver Bassett as follows:
Oliver Bassett and wife Betsey
Elias Bassett (b.1800) and wife Matilda Salter
Charles Henry Bassett (b. 1828)
William Henry Bassett (b. 1858) and brothers Charles and Frank.
William Henry Bassett
by
William (Bill) Kay Bassett, grandson
William Henry Bassett was the third of nine children born to Charles
Henry and his second wife, Mary Elizabeth Knight Bassett. Little
is known of his early years, except that he spent them in Salt Lake City
attending whatever schools were available there in the 1860’s. Like
his father before him he became self sufficient at an early age. He
was entrusted to manage a branch ZCM located at Cedar Fort, Utah, a new
settlement just East of Lehi (approx. 40 miles Southwest of Salt Lake
City. It must have been a bustling community because of Camp Floyd,
and Johnson’s Army, and his father had been posted there by Brigham
Young (I don t know why). In October 1876, at the tender age of
18, he married a local girl, Marette Cook (daughter of Henry Freeman
Cook the local Bishop). He remained at Cedar Fort for the next
four years where his first four children were born: Lutie Marette, Wm.
Grantly, my father Harry Freeman, and James Clarence. Cedar Fort
was exactly that, a fort, built of rock for the protection of the Saints
against Indian raids, about a half acre square and “wide enough
for a steer to walk on top the walls”, according to Aunt Lutie. IN
her history she remembered many “Indian Scares” and the children
being snatched up in the night and carried into the fort for protection.
Section 4 - Featured Bassett: Hubert Otto Bassett of Minocqua, Wisconsin
Hubert Otto Bassett descends from #1A William Bassett of Plymouth as
follows:
William Bassett of Plymouth and wife Elizabeth
Joseph Bassett (b. 1635) and wife Martha Lapham
Jeremiah Bassett and wife Mary Felch
Jeremiah Bassett (b. 1722) and wife Sarah Alger
Jeremiah Bassett (b. 1751) and wife Hannah Woodward
Samuel Bassett (b. 1782) and wife Hannah Stone
Samuel Washington Bassett (b. 1812) and wife Jane A. Dunham
Edwin A. Bassett (b. 1856) and wife Permilia Ann Marks
Hubert Otto Bassett (b. 1879)
History of Lincoln, Oneida
and Vilas Counties, Wisconsin (1924)
Burt O. Bassett, a prominent citizen of Minocqua,
was born at DeSoto, Vernon County, Wis., Oct. 21, 1879, son of Edward
and Anna (Marx) Bassett. The father, born at Taunton, Mass., and the
mother, a native of Brdigeport, Conn., came west in their youth and were
married in Vernon County, this state in 1877, remaining there until 1897.
They then removed to Monroe County and settled on a farm near Tomah,
where the father is still living; the mother passed away there in September,
1906. Six children were born to these parents: Burt O., subject of this
sketch; Hattie M., now Mrs. Wesley Hunt, of Tomah; Louis, who died in
1905; Ella M., who is Mrs. Fred Cain and lives in Mexico; Clarence, of
Minocqua; and Lol, living at Tomah, the wife of Richard Williams. Burt
O. Bassett attended school in Vernon County and remained at home until
he was 18 years old. He then came to Minocqua, and this village has ever
since been his home. On first coming here he worked in the woods as a
scaler until 1901, when he entered the mill of the Waykey-Bissell Lumber
Co. as a setter, remaining for one year. He then followed various occupations
until 1908, in which year he established a livery and sales stable. In
1914 he took over the Ford agency, and two years later he sold his other
interests in order to be able to devote his entire attention to the automobile
business. He built a garage in 1918, the building being 50x150 feet in
dimensions, constructed of brick and concrete blocks, and being the first
fireproof building erected in Minocqua. He carries a complete line of
accessories and his business is so extensive that he employs 15 men during
the summer months. Mr. Bassett is a thoroughly capable business man,
and he has promoted some of the largest interests of Minocqua. He was
one of the organizers of the Security State Bank, and is a stockholder
and director in this institution. He also helped to organize the Minocqua
Co-operative Creamery, and is one of the director in this enterprise.
He owns a 160-acre farm in the town of Minocqua known as Riverview Farm,
on which he has erected a fine set of buildings and which is now operated
as a sheep ranch, and with R.C. Wassenburger he owns 4 1/2 miles of very
desirable lake frontage. He erected a 7-room house, modern throughout,
in Minocqua in 1911, and in this he and his family now make their home.
Mr. Bassett was married at Minocqua, Oct. 17, 1904, to Daisy Mae Annis,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Annis, of which parents the mother is
now deceased and the father is residing in Oneida County. Three children
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bassett, as follows: Edward J., born Aug.
3, 1905, now bookkeeper for his father; Francis, born March 9, 1907,
who is attending high school at Minocqua, and Dorothea Mae, born Nov.
16, 1919. The family belong to the Methodist church, and are highly respected
in the community, a respect will-merited in view of Mr. Bassett's fine
record of service to the welfare and future of Minocqua.
From EARLY TIMES, By Daniel D. Scrobell
Minocqua Times, August 12, 1909
BASSETT BUYS LIVERY STABLE
B.O. Bassett purchased the Geo. M. Cator
livery stable and stageline yesterday. Mr. and Mrs. Cator expect to leave
shortly for Chicago where they will visit a short time before deciding
on where they will locate and may decide to return to their farm at this
place.
From EARLY TIMES, By Daniel D. Scrobell
Minocqua Times, August 8, 1912
AMERICAN LIVERY AUTOMOBILE
The American Livery now has a five-passenger
touring car to handle the trade with. People desiring to make a trip
to resorts or to any of the lakes in the Minocqua locality or tributaries
will do well by calling up the American Livery. Rates reasonable. - B.B.
Bassett, Minocqua, Wis.
From EARLY TIMES, By Daniel D. Scrobell
Minocqua Times, June 25, 1914
NEW FORD CAR
B.O. Bassett recieved his new Ford automobile
Sunday. Clarence Bassett accompanied by James McFarland drove the car
up Sunday morning. They made the trip in two hours and twenty minutes
from Rhinelander.
From EARLY TIMES, By Daniel D. Scrobell
Minocqua Times, June 24, 1915
THE PASSING OF THE STAGECOACH
The American Livery & Garage have replaced
the stage that runs between Minocqua and Woodruff by a big Pierce Arrow
seven-passenger car. The trip can be made quicker and with much more
comfort. The passing of the stage marks another epoch in the progress
of Minocqua.
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Section 5 - New family lines combined or added since the last newsletter
The following family lines have been added
since the last newsletter.
415B. The Bassetts of Atherstone, Warwickshire, England
* * * * *
Section 6 - DNA project update.
Several new participants joined the DNA project, but no new results
are back from the lab to report on this month.
Donations of any amount can be made to the Bassett DNA project by clicking
on the link below. Any funds donated will be used to fund select Bassett DNA
tests that will further our project as a whole and benefit all Bassetts worldwide.