| Notes |
- Homestead Recording in Arkansas - January 23, 1899 - 123 acres
WATCH NIGHT
Louis Mitchell Bass
(Includes Picture)
Patriarch of the Bass Family of Sevier County, Arkansas
Monday, December 31, 2012
Posted by Angela Y. Walton-Raji
Known to be a strict disciplinarian and a devout family man, Louis Mitchell Bass was born a slave in Giles County, Tennessee. He was the son of Irving and Nancy, who were both slaves of Major John Bass of Elkton.
Upon the death of Major Bass in 1860, some of the Bass estate was divided, and as debts were paid and gifts were made from the estate, the lives of the enslaved people were dramatically affected by this settlement. One of those affected was Mitchell. He was sent as a "gift" to one of the daughters of Major Bass, and sent to live in south west Arkansas, near the town of Horatio.
Not much was known about his life while enslaved in Arkansas forever separated from his family. It has been said that he was often working with sheep and wool, and spinning yarn. Louis Mitchell would remain in Arkansas, for most of his life, although he would often receive news and treasure news about the family that remained in Tennessee. He would later keep in touch with one of the few remaining brothers who eventually left Tennessee and moved to Kansas. Two older brothers were in Texas, but Mitchell never saw them again. Mitchell would marry twice in his lifetime, first to Susan Houston, and after she died he then married her sister Georgia Ann Houston.
He would raise a very large family in Horatio, Arkansas, even renting land to families nearby. Agriculture was how he made a living, and the family would remain in the same Arkansas community until the 1940s. In the late 1800s Mitchell Bass obtained some of his land as a homesteader. One of his sons, Irving also later acquired land and the family prospered for many years off of the combined parcels of acquired land.
It is not known how Louis Mitchell Bass found his freedom, but in honor of the Emancipation Proclamation, and his freedom, I honor this ancestor! He is one who chose to survive and I honor him on this Watch Night!
1900 Federal Census of Clear Creek, Sevier County, Arkansas (June 23, 1900)
Mitchell A. Bass - Black - 54 - Male - Mar 1846 - TN-TN-TN - Head - Farmer
Georgia A. - Black - 45 - Female - Jan 1855 - AR-??-AR - Wife
Susan A. - Black - 17 - Female - Feb 1883 - AR-TN-AR - Daughter
Rebecca J. - Black - 14 - Female - Oct 1885 - AR-TN-AR - Daughter
Emma N. - Black - 12 - Female - Jan 1888 - AR-TN-AR - Daughter
Sarah E. - Black - 9 - Female - Apr 1891 - AR-TN-AR - Daughter
John L. - Black - 7 - Male - Oct 1892 - AR-TN-AR - Son
Fanny B. - Black - 4 - Female - Mar 1896 - AR-TN-AR - Daughter
Kattie M. - Black - 2 - Female - Aug 1898 - AR-TN-AR - Daughter
Irvin - Black - 31 - Male - Aug 1868 - AR-TN-AR - Son - Farmer
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Bassett Family Association Database
1868 - 1943 (74 years)