| Notes |
- 1881 Canadian Census of St. James Ward, Toronto, York, Ontario
Thos. Bassett 48 M England Produce Buconner Church of England
Isabella 38 F Scotland Presbyterian
Eliz. Jane 17 F Ontario Church of England
Mary J.E. 14 F Ontario Church of England
Lucinda J. 12 F Ontario Going to School Church of England
Alfred Jno. W. 9 M Ontario Going to School Church of England
Thos Alex. 7 M Ontario Going to School Church of England
Chas. R.W. 5 M Ontario Church of England
Annie 3 F Ontario Church of England
Albert Jas. 1/12 M Ontario (Born March) Church of England
1891 Canadian Census of Districts #197 & #199, Southern Alberta
Thomas M. Bassett 58 M Head England Presby Hotel Manager
Isabel 47 F Wife Scotland Presby
Alfred 18 M Son England Presby Post Office Cle
Thomas 17 M Son England Presby
Harold 15 M Son England Presby
Annie 14 F Daughter England Presby
Albert 11 M Son England Presby
Harry 10 M Son England Presby
The Bassett Family
Seven Persons - Once Hundred Sixty Acres and a Dream
As the Story was Told
The Bassett name is one associated with early history of Medicine Hat and of
Seven Persons. Mr. and Mrs. Bassett came to Medicine Hat in 1881, before the
railway was constructed. It was said that Mrs. Bassett walked into the embryo
village from Dunmore. The site was marked by collections of tents, those of
Indians and those of white men too, for adventurers and employees were moving
to the west at that time.
Mr. and Mrs. Bassett began a rooming house and a restaurant for there was a
need for accommodations. This business later became the Cosmopolitan Hotel and
it continued until mid-century. The Reverend J.W. Morrow, in his book Early
History of the Medicine Hat Country said, "Many a man falling sick in h
hotel has been kindly watched and nursed. Certainly God has seen and
appreciated her sacrifices." Tom, one of the Bassett sons, managed the hotel
for numerous years.
Homesteading was becoming a popular mode of gaining possession of land. Mr.
Bassett and his sons had a homestead on the south-east hill area of the city.
Strangely, when they kept horses there they had to take them to the Sou
Saskatchewan River for water. Little did they know that contractors of houses
and, in later years, buildings such as Safeways, have had much difficulty in
shutting off water at comparatively shallow depths to complete their
construction, in this area. During a real estate boom in 1906, this homestead
was sold for $30,000, the highest price ever paid in Alberta for a quarter
section of land up until that time. They owned land at Seven Persons, too, and
raised horses and cattle.
This family had nine children, five boys: Alf, Judd, Tom, Bert and Harry, and
four girls: Mrs. McBeth, Louise Stewart, Annie Flett and Mrs. Hazel Slack.
Mrs. Slack's husband, Dr. Albert Slack was a well known dentist in the city.
Their three sons, Howard, Ted and Fred worked in the dental profession and
their daughter, Marian, was her father's dental assistant.
Harry and Bert operated the ranch. It was a big ranch and farm. They owned a
large Romley tractor, a separator and other heavy implements. Charlie Sherman
became the owner of the ranch which was in Paradise Valley. Other owners of
this holding were Fred Seitz, Gordon Herman and Harry Good. Later, Harry
Bassett chose land to the south of this original homestead.
Harry was born in 1881. When of school age he attended Toronto Street School
which was the first school in the city. At the age of fourteen he worked for
T. Jenkins, who raised polo ponies and cattle on the M.H.R. He recalled
cutting and hauling logs from Cypress Hills to build the house at his
employer's ranch. He married Annie Brooks, an English girl, who worked at the
Cosmopolitan Hotel. They decided to go to the Peace River country and beyond
to Fort St. John, and shipped up to the end of steel, then finished the trip
by team and lumber wagon. It was a difficult trip over almost nonexiste
roads. Mrs. Annie Bassett was the first white woman in that wilderness. After
battling unbelievable odds, even riding a raft down a turbulent river, they
returned to Seven Persons to continue in farming and ranching.
Seven Persons has known another generation of this family. Harry and Annie had
two sons, Richard, who has one son Jim and two daughters, Joyce and Cathy, and
Tom who has a son, Harry and a daughter, Susan. Tom served overseas, in the
Canadian Forces. He owns and operates the original Bassett ranch. Harry and
Annie had a daughter, too. She was named Winnifred. She died from scarl
fever when she was a child.
Tragedy came to the Richard Bassett home in the horror of a house fi
about 1956. The baby, David, of less than a year upset a container of high-
test gasoline in the kitchen and it was ignited by a pilot light in the
natural gas refrigerator. The house was completely consumed in a very short
time, each member of the household having time to escape, but the baby was
burned so badly he died. The family lost all their possessions and they had
this great sadness.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1833 - 1891 (57 years)
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