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Bassett Family Association - , Modern Founder (originally founded in 1897)

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Splinters From The Tree February 2013

(1) Welcome
(2) Dr. Jared Bassett of Evanston, Illinois
(3) Gauhn & Bassett Plumbing Supply, Rochester, New York
(4) Freeman C. Bassett, Sea Captain of Connecticut
(5) George Henry Bassett of New York
(6) Isaac Bassett, soldier at Bunker Hill, American Revolution
(7) Lyman Augustus Bassett of Ohio
(8) New family lines combined or added since the last newsletter
(9) DNA project update

Section 1 - Welcome

Significant progress is being made of getting all of my Bassett material into the website. More than 4,000 descendants of #1B John Bassett of Connecticut have now been loaded.

The following trees were added to the Bassett website database since the last newsletter:

    1B.  John Bassett of Connecticut (4,195 individuals)
  58B.  Nelson Bassett of Clinton County, New York (47 individuals)
  64B.  Samuel T. Bassett of Pennsylvania (45 individuals)
  67B.  Archibald Bassett of Pennsylvania (62 individuals)
  68B.  Charles H. Bassett of Grand Junction, Iowa ( 24 individuals)
  69B.  John Wesley Bassett of New York (19 individuals)
  70B.  William Henry Bassett of Essex, England (7 individuals)
  71B.  William O. Bassett of Michigan (125 individuals)
  72B. Samuel Bassett of Vicksburg, Mississippi (33 individuals)

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Section 2 - Featured Bassett: Dr. Jared Bassett of Evanston, Illinois

Jared Bassett descends from #6B William Bassett of Connecticut as follows:

William Bassett and wife Hannah Dickerman
John Bassett (b. 1652) and wife Mercy Todd
John Bassett (b. 1691) and wife Elizabeth Thompson
William Bassett (b. 1718) and wife Mabel Goodyear
Jared Bassett (b. 1749) and wife Sarah Goodyear
Joel Bassett (b. 1783) and wife Ruby Metcalf
Jared Bassett (b. 1813) and wife Harriet Sherman

Chicago Daily Tribune, May 11, 1905
Obituary

        Dr. Jared Bassett of Evanston died yesterday at his residence, 1304 Forest avenue. He was 91 years of age. Since 1847 Dr. Bassett had been a resident of Chicago and Evanston. He was born in East Montpelier, Vt., and came to Illinois fifty-nine years ago. Dr J.F. Loba of the First Congregational church will conduct the funeral services, which will be held at the residence at 2 o’clock tomorrow. The burial will be at Graceland.

Jared Bassett residence, Evanston, Illinois
Jared Bassett residence, Evanston, Illinois
Inland Architect, 1895

Dr. Jared Bassett
(Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Evanston)
(1906)

        Dr. Jared Bassett (deceased) was born in East Montpelier, Vt., January 26, 1914, the son of Joel and Ruby (Metcalf) Bassett, and grandson of Jared Bassett, who emigrated from Connecticut and became one of the early settlers of the "Green Mountain State." While the genealogy of the family is not now accessible, it is believed to have been of Huguenot origin, the first American ancestor of the name having crossed the ocean in 1621, the year after the landing of the "Mayflower" at Plymouth Rock. Dr. Bassett's mother was a devout member of the Society of Friends, while the father, who was a farmer by occupation and held many offices of honor and trust in the community, shared the faith and mode of life of his wife. Although not strictly a Quaker in religious faith and practice, the son inherited many of the traits of his ancestors, including the strength of character, simplicity of manner and quiet self-control which were marked characteristics of the followers of that faith. After having spent his boyhood and youth on the farm engaged in farm work and in attendance at the district school, at the age of twenty-two years, having decided to adopt the medical profession, he entered the office of Dr. James Spaulding, of Montpelier, as a student in that line. In 1836 he attended medical lectures at Woodstock, Vt., later took a course in the medical department of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, and in 1839 received the degree of M.D. from the Medical College at Albany, N.Y. Then having settled at Plainfield, Washington County, Vt., he engaged in practice, but later removed to Northfield in the same State, where he remained seven years, winning the experience of the old-school practitioners of that period.
        On May 29, 1844, Dr. Bassett was married to Miss Harriet Sherman, a daughter of Col. Nathaniel and Deborah (Webster) Sherman, of Barre, Vt., and sister of the late Alson S. and Oren Sherman, who were prominent business men of Chicago at an early day. Two years later his attention having been attracted to the advantages offered in the West to those entering upon a business career, Dr. Bassett, accompanied by his wife, started for Chicago, making the journey by stage to lake Champlain, across the lake to Whitehall by steamer, thence to Rochester by canal-boat, and from there to Buffalo by a newly built section of what is now the New York Central Railroad. At Buffalo they took a lake steamer for Chicago, arriving at their destination on September 10, 1846, after a lake journey of ten days. Chicago, a primitive city of some ten thousand inhabitants, was then just entering upon the development which, in the growth of the next sixty years, made it the second city in the United States with a population of two millions souls.
        In Chicago Dr. Bassett found a temporary boarding place on West Washington Street, and opened an office in the second story of a frame building on Lake Street, where he displayed a sign indicating his profession. A year later he bought a small house and lot on Clark Street, near Monroe, then a pleasant neighborhood of frame cottages in the outskirts of the town, paying for the land about fifteen dollars per front foot. After a few years residence here he converted his home into business property and removed to the West Side, taking up his residence at the corner of West Adams and Morgan streets, where he purchased a small brick cottage (the first of its kind erected west of the river), with about an acre of ground. In 1857 he removed to Waukegan, where he resided until 1868, when he returned to Chicago, in the meantime giving attention to his landed interests in Chicago, making daily trips between his suburban home and the city by the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, the pioneer suburban line for the accommodation of dwellers along the North Shore. After his return to Chicago he erected a more commodious dwelling on the site of his West Side home. After practicing his profession in Chicago for about twelve years, Dr. Bassett turned his attention to the improvement of his real estate, keeping pace with the growth of the city. In common with the mass of property holders of the city of Chicago, he was a heavy loser by the great fire of 1871, the retrievement of which cost him many years of labor and anxiety. In politics he was a zealous Republican, before the days of the Civil War maintaining the anti-slavery views of his ancestors. He was one of the founders of the People's Church, which grew out of the exclusion of Dr. H.W. Thomas from the Methodist denomination. In 1894 he removed to Evanston, where he continued to reside until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Bassett had one son, Robert J., a lawyer, who continued to reside with his parents during their latter years. Dr. Bassett died May 10, 1905, his wife having preceded him, dying August 14, 1900.

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Section 3 - Featured Bassett: Gauhn & Bassett Plumbing Supplies of Rochester, New York

William T. Bassett was the son of #305B William Bassett.

William T. Bassett, one of the partners of the firm Gauhn & Bassett, was first seen in the January 2009 newsletter associated with the firm of Howe & Bassett. Previous to that, he was associated with the Firm Gauhn & Bassett.

Click on this link to read more about this family.  http://www.bassettbranches.org/newsletters/2009/01/200901.shtml

Commerce, Manufactures & Resources of Rochester, N.Y.
GAUHN & BASSETT
Plumbing, Gas and Steam Fitting, 96 East Main Street

In a general review of the business of a city, anything and everything which tends to promote the welfare of man, or add to the comforts and  luxuries of domestic life must of necessity receive special attention at our hands, hence we need not make any further comments upon introducing to the notice of our readers the Plumbing, Gas and Steam Fitting business, as represented by the well-known firm of Gauhn & Bassett, 96 East Main street. As a sanitary measure for promoting health, the plumbing trade occupies a position in the front rank of improvements, while the supply of Gas and Steam Fittings has become a necessity in this utilitarian age of progress.

The house of Gauhn & Bassett, although but recently organized, is one which already has taken a forward position in this important line of business.  The partnership was formed in March last, the individual members of the firm being John E. Gauhn and Wm. T. Bassett, both natives of Rochester. They are young men who have entered upon their business career with every prospect of securing a tangible and permanent success. The premises they occupy at 96 East Main street, are in every way well adapted for their trade purposes, and possess every facility and modern appliance for the systematic prosecution of the work on hand. They have a frontage of eighteen feet by eighty-five feet deep, and consist of basement for storage, with first floor for salesroom and workshop. In the latter they possess facilities for turning out with dispatch and in good order, work of all kinds pertaining to every branch of their trade. The firm employs on an average six men, all skilled artisans, and thoroughly reliable, so that those who entrust their orders to the care of this house, may depend upon their being punctually attended to and finished with all the care and skill that superior workmanship can accomplish.

Since they have been associated together, Messrs. Gauhn & Bassett have secured to themselves quite a name; highly creditable for reliability in carrying out their contracts and all other works they undertake, their trade is consequently expanding not only throughout the city and suburbs,  but to other parts of Western New York and Pennsylvania. They employ a capital of  $5,000 to operate upon, and it is estimated that their business transactions and contracts will, during the fiscal, reach to from $12,000 to $15,000. Estimates are promptly furnished for every class of work in their line, and all the work emanating from their establishment is guaranteed. In every branch of the business, Gauhn & Bassett are prepared to compete with any other house in the same line; they are liberal in their dealings with those who are brought into business contact with them, reliable and trustworthy in the work they execute; and we anticipate for this young and enterprising firm a long period of business prosperity.

Ad provided by Kendall Bassett
Ad provided by Kendall Bassett

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Section 4 - Featured Bassett: Captain Freeman C. Bassett House for Sale

Freeman C. Bassett descends 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
Freeman Clinton Bassett (b. 1786)

Capt F C Bassett house for sale 1831
Spirit of the Times, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Wednesday, Jun 1, 1831
House For Sale

        Capt. F.C. Bassett offers for sale the place where he now lives, situated in the borough of Bridgeport, Conn. on the west side of Main street. The premises consist of about three quarters of an acre of Land, a Dwelling-House, and out-houses. The dwelling house is almost new, and sufficiently large to accommodate any ordinary family. The rooms are arranged with special regard to convenience, with a cellar kitchen, and a kitchen on the first floor; and the whole, from earlier to garret is built with the best material, in a faithful, substantial manner, and finished in good style. Beside a well of good water within, 20 feet of the door, the soft water from the golden hill spring is conducted into the cellar and wash-room. In the garden are most of the smaller fruits usually found in country gardens, and some rare varieties. There are also on the premises 16 or 17 kinds of apples; several kinds of peaches, pears and cherries, all selected, and all young, thrifty trees.
        It is situated in one of the most thriving villages in Connecticut; and its particular location is remarkably pleasant, fronting on Bridgeport harbor and Long-Island Sound. There are few places more desirable, either as a temporary retreat during the summer months, or as a permanent residence.
        Application for the purchase of the above property may be made either to ALANSON HAMLIN, Esq. Bridgeport, or to CAPT. BASSETT, No. 82 South street, New-York.  May 12, 1831.

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Section 5 - Featured Bassett: George Henry Bassett of New York

George H. Bassett descends from William Bassett of Plymouth as follows:

William Bassett and wife Elizabeth
Joseph Bassett (b. 1635) and wife Mary Lapham
William Bassett (b. 1667) and wife Mary Bumpus
William Bassett (b. 1694) and wife Mary Crossman
William Bassett (b. 1726) and wife Lydia Fisher
Jedidiah Bassett (b. 1751) and wife Elizabeth Chandler
John Chandler Bassett (b. 1795) and wife Martha St. John
George Henry Bassett (b. 1833) and wife Elizabeth Caroline Ketchum

Letter written from England about the estate of Samuel St.
Letter written from England about the estate of Samuel St. John

 George H. Bassett (Pictures courtesy of Bill Tweed, great grandson of George H. Bassett) George H. Bassett (Pictures courtesy of Bill Tweed, great grandson of George H. Bassett)
George H. Bassett (Pictures courtesy of Bill Tweed, great grandson of George H. Bassett)

Elizabeth Ketcham Bassett
Elizabeth Ketcham Bassett

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Section 6 - Featured Bassett: Isaac Bassett, soldier at Bunker Hill

This is Isaac Bassett has not yet been identified.

Boston Centinel, Boston, Massachusetts
August 5, 1818

        “Isaac Bassett, of Killingley, in the county of Windham, and State of Connecticut, deposeth, that he was a private soldier in Gen. Putnam’s regiment in 1775. – The day previous to the battle of Bunker Hill, a detachment had been made from that regiment, and under the command of Captain Knowlton, composed part of the force that first occupied Breed’s Hill. On the morning of the 17th June, another detachment from the same regiment, under the command of Ensign Sprague, marched from Cambridge either to relieve or reinforce the party which went on the hill over night. To this last detachment the deponent belonged, and arrived on the Hill, at the redoubt and breast-work, just as the action commenced. Here he saw Gen. Putnam with his sword drawn, encouraging and animating the troops. One of the company, Benjamin Grosvenor by name, was wounded in the shoulder, and the deponent’s father, who was also a soldier in the same regiment, was leading him from the field of action – General Putman stopped him and pricking his arm with his sword, told him the wounded man could walk of himself, and not a soldier should leave the ground. This happened at the breast-work leading from the redoubt, where our party took post. I saw Gen. Putnam in the hottest of the fight calling on the men to stand their ground, and I am sure he was at this post when the enemy scaled the walls of the redoubt. I did not myself hear the order given, but it was often said by the soldiers of our regiment, that Gen. Putnam ordered them “not to fire on the enemy till they could see the color of their eyes, and then for every man to make sure of his mark.”

(Signed)  “Isaac Bassett”
Sworn to before James Danielson, Justice of the Peace

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Section 7 - Featured Bassett: Lyman Augustus Bassett of Ohio

Lyman Augustus Bassett descends from William Bassett of Plymouth as follows:

William Bassett and wife Elizabeth
William Bassett (b. 1624) and wife Mary Rainsford
William Bassett (b. 1656) and wife Rachel Williston
Nathan Bassett (b. 1685) and wife Mary Stetson
Joshua Bassett (b. 1723) and wife Martha McCarroll
Cornelius Bassett (b. 1755) and wife Chloe Smith
Smith Bassett (b. 1804) and wife Huldah Lee
Lyman Augustus Bassett (b. 1825)

Lyman Augustus Bassett
Obituary, Source unknown
Lyman Augustus Bassett (Picture included)

        Doctor Lyman Augustus Bassett, the subject of this sketch, was one of the old pioneers of Fulton county. He located in what was known as old Swanton, (Centerville), located on the plank road one mile south of the site of the present thriving village of Swanton.        
        The Doctor there established a practice of the homeopathic school of medicine and embarked in other business; but as the railroad was built within on-half mile, from what was then the town he was one of the first to see a perspective new city and removed to the railroad station. He erected the buildings which were used s a country hotel, a general country store and drug store. He was always progressive in his ideas and was ready to extend a helping hand to persons who sought to help themselves. He was actively identified with the progress of the town from its inception and assisted many young business men to establish themselves in business, and anything proposed for the benefit of the town or its people always received his unqualified support.
        As the town grew and other people started in business he reduced his holdings in the general store business to a drug store, which he operated for a number of years, and finally sold out and confined himself to practice among some of his old friends. When the village of Swanton got large enough so that it was apparent that method of regulation was necessary, and the town was incorporated, he was unanimously chosen as its mayor, and was actively identified with the management of the new corporation, until the weight of years seemed to have grown upon him when he dropped out of active life and devoted himself to a small farm which was located inside of the corporation; but was always accessible to anybody that wanted advice or assistance which was rendered freely without charge.
        He chosen Justice of the Peace, which position he held upwards of fourteen years. In county affairs he always took an active interest in promoting harmony, and good practices and in 1887 his friends brought him out as a candidate for probate judge. Although he made no personal canvass, he developed considerable support, in ???, but was defeated, a compromise candidate being chosen. The Doctor probably had as many friends as any man in the eastern part of Fulton county, and was better known than any other man.
        Doctor Bassett was made a Master Mason by Wood County Lodge No. 112, Bowling Green, Ohio, October 21, 1863. On the organization of the Masonic Lodge at Swanton, Ohio, he became one of the charter members. He was also a member of the Wauseon Chapter No. 111, Royal Arch Masons, and Wauseon Council, No. 68, Royal and Select Masters.
        The funeral under the auspices of Swanton Lodge No. 555, F.& A.M. was held at this late residence in Swanton, O., at 1:00 o’clock, Tuesday, May 21, 1907; many friends having turned out to do honor to their departed friend and brother who has gone to his long rest, loved and honored by all whom knew him.
        Lyman Augustus Bassett was born in Lyme Township, Huron County, Ohio, on the 25th day of October, 1825; died at Swanton, Ohio, May 19th, 1907, aged 81 years, 6 months, 24 days.
        Dr. Bassett was the eldest of eleven children of Smith and Hulda Bassett. At the age of 18 he was apprenticed to learn the trade of harness making, at which he worked nearly four years. Owing to ill health he was completed to give up the trade, and, in or about the year 1846 he commenced the study of medicine under the instructions of Dr. John R. Osborne, of Wood County.
        About the year 1857 Dr. Bassett established himself in Fulton County, at a point south of and near the village of Swanton, where he continued his professional labors and engaged in other branches of business. A few years thereafter he removed to Swanton (then Centerville) where he engaged in hotel and mercantile business; having erected the buildings, eh conducted the first hotel, drug store and general store located in the village. As his mercantile interests increased he gradually went out of his medical practice, and, with the exception of the drug store, which he conducted about five years longer, his mercantile interests were disposed of in 1872.
        In his business and professional life Dr. Bassett was successful. In the affairs of the village, its improvement and development, he was a prominent figure.
        Dr. Bassett was twice married. His first wife was Cornelia Elizabeth Farrand, of Sandusky County, Ohio, who he married in January, 1850. Three children were born to this union, only one of whom is now living. In 18780, on the 9th day of December, he married Laura A. Grover, daughter of Girden Grover, and step-daughter of the late George H. Hollis, of Swan Creek Township. The widow, together with his son, Hollis S. Bassett, of Columbus, Ohio, and an adopted daughter, Emma L. Bassett, three sisters and two brothers, survive in mourn his loss.

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Section 8 - New family lines combined or added since the last newsletter

        The following family lines have been added since the last newsletter.

  203B. Sylvanie Bossett of Louisiana (b. 1816)
  288B. James H. Bassett of Michigan & Arizona (b. 1847)

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Section 9 - DNA project update

Still waiting on results for several DNA tests.

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.

http://www.familytreedna.com/group-general-fund-contribution.aspx?g=Bassett

This is just a reminder that the DNA portion of the Bassett Family Association can be found at:

http://www.bassettbranches.org/dna/

A current spreadsheet of results can be found at:

http://www.bassettbranches.org/dna/BassettDNA.xls

If you don't have Excel and can't open the spreadsheet above, you can now see the DNA test results at the following website.

http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Bassett/

Jeffrey Bassett
520 Salceda Drive
Mundelein, IL 60060 USA
email address link in header above