Bassett Family Newsletter, Volume XVII, Issue 5, 19 May 2019
(1) Welcome (2) Death of Austin Wayne Bassett (3) Bassett’s Native Herb Songster Booklet (4) Edward Drown Bassett of Providence, R.I., Lawyer (5) Bassett Safe Found in England (6) Medals made by Merton Webster Bassett (7) Family Photo of George Bassett Jr. of London (8) New family lines combined or added since the last newsletter (9) DNA project update
Section 1 - Welcome
No new trees were added this month.
Totals number of individuals loaded into the Bassett website: 158,036
Art recently for sale on ebay by Carol Bassett. Does anyone know who this Carol Bassett is?
* * * * *
Section 2 – Featured Bassett: Death of Austin Wayne Bassett
Austin Wayne Bassett descends from #7B Michael Bassett of Limpsfield, England as follows:
Michael Bassett William Bassett (b. 1755) and wife Margaret McQuiddy William Bassett (b. 1808) and wife Nancy Shreeves William Bassett (b. 1851) and wife Priscilla Hastings Puffer Austin Edwin Bassett (b. 1884) and wife Eda Wray Luce Austin Wayne Bassett (b. 1928)
The Kirksville Daily Express, May 8, 2019 Austin Wayne Bassett (1928 – 2019) (Picture included)
Austin Wayne Bassett passed away May 4th, 2019 at the Northeast Regional Medical Center in Kirksville, Missouri. Wayne was born December 5, 1928 to Austin Bassett and Eda (Luce) Bassett of Moulton, Iowa. He was united in marriage to Alice Katherine Eby on February 12, 1950. He is survived by his two daughters: Pamela Brand (Dr. Ronald) of Kirksville, Missouri and Terri Bassett (Frank Hein) of Ventura, California.
Wayne graduated from high school in Davis County, Iowa and farmed a small acreage there early in his marriage. He and his wife were members of the Moulton Methodist Church where Wayne could often be found singing at weddings and funerals. He also served in the Army National Guard becoming a second lieutenant. Later he and his wife Katherine owned and operated a family newspaper, The Moulton Tribune, in Moulton, Iowa from 1961 to 1977. He joined the third generation of his wife's family to do so. He and Katherine did it all – from linotype operation and editing to sales and printing. This operation gave rise to a photography business - Bassett Photo where he and Katherine specialized in wedding photography and were responsible for recording the happy unions of many Moultonites.
In 1977 the Tribune was sold, but Bassett Photo continued to thrive allowing Wayne time to pursue his lifelong interest in airplanes. However, Wayne sustained serious injuries in a plane crash the following year. After a long recovery period, he overcame those injuries and returned to college to graduate in 1983 beside his daughter Terri from Northeast Missouri State University (Truman) in Kirksville, MO. He graduated with a BSE in Physics, a subject he loved, and thought lost to him. Wayne taught briefly at Moulton- Udell High School, then in 1985 Wayne and Katherine started a new adventure. They moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he studied electrical engineering at the University of Dayton School of Engineering. After his graduation in 1987 the couple made their home in Warner-Robins, Georgia with Wayne working as an engineer for the U.S. Air Force at Robins Air Force Base until his retirement in 2006.
Wayne maintained a fascination with mathematics and aeronautics throughout his life, but it was singing that brought him the greatest joy. He was still singing for his family from his hospital bed only a few days before his passing. He overcame all the obstacles thrown his way to achieve much in his long life. He will be missed by his family and friends. A private graveside service will be held in Moulton, Iowa, May 10th, 2019. Late in life Wayne became an avid birder, so in lieu of flowers the family is asking that donations be made to the Audubon Society in his honor .
* * * * *
Section 3 – Featured Bassett: Bassett’s Native Herb Songster Booklet George W. Bassett descends from #3B Thomas Bassett of Connecticut as follows:
Thomas Bassett (b. 1598) and wife Joanna Beardsley Thomas Bassett (b. 1650) and wife Sarah Baldwin Thomas Bassett (b. 1699) and wife Sarah Pearson Joel Bassett (b. 1734) and wife Grace Livingston Enoch Bassett (b. 1760) and wife Esther Bristol Almond Abraham Bassett (b. 1798) and wife Eliza Dr. George W. Bassett (b. 1845)
Item recently for sale on ebay. Bassett’s Native Herb Songster
To read the original article about George, click on the following link. http://www.bassettbranches.org/newsletters/2007/20070520/20070520.shtml
* * * * *
Section 4 – Featured Bassett: Edward Drown Bassett of Providence, Rhode Island, Lawyer
Edward Drown 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 Sarah Sweetland William Bassett (b. 1694) and wife Mary Crossman William Bassett (b. 1726) and wife Lydia Fisher Isaac Bassett (b. 1755) and wife Methitable Makepeace Massa Bassett (b. 1781) and wife Chloe Hodges Isaac Hodges Bassett (b. 1811) and wife Amey Ann Drown Edward Drown Bassett (b. 1850)
Bassett & Raymond Letterhead
Memoirs of the Judiciary and the Bar of New England for the Nineteenth Century (1900) Biographical – Rhode Island
Edward D. Bassett, was born in Brooklyn, New York, August 14, 1852, a son of Isaac H. and Amy A. (Drown) Bassett. He is a lineal descendant of William Bassett who settled in Plymouth colony in 19621, being an immigrant passenger on the ship “Fortune”. He later removed to Bridgewater, where, with one Mitchell, he was among the first settlers. It is a curious coincidence that E.L. Mitchell, Mr. Bassett’s partner for over a decade, is a direct descendant of this settler. Mr. Bassett’s ancestors included the Bassett, Hodges, Drown and Arnold families, members of all of which were prominent in Revolutionary and Colonial times. His paternal grandfather, Massa Bassett, was a prominent citizen of Providence in his day, and his maternal grandfather, Caleb Drown, also a resident of Providence, was a colonel in the War of 1812 and prominent in military circles. Mr. Bassett’s father was a merchant in New York city and educated his son at the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic institute, Providence High school, and Brown university, from which institution he took the A.B. degree in 1873. As an undergraduate at Brown he was one of the editors of the “Brunnonian” and a member of the class and “varsity” crews. He began preparation for the law in the Providence office of that eminent practitioner and legislator, Samuel Curry, with whom he remained two years. In 1875 he was admitted and began practice with offices in the building numbered forty-nine Weybosset street, Providence, where he has ever since been located. Mr. Bassett’s practice has been largely commercial and he ranks among the foremost corporation lawyers of the State. Among the many important cases in which he has been retained as counsel are the Aylesworth and Adams will cases, and the litigation over the Joseph J. Cook estate. Early in his practice he had charge of the litigation over the Cove Foundry and Machine company of Providence. In politics he is a republican, but has never been active in political work, and, with the exception of several years’ service in the city council and as a member of the school board, has never held public office, devoting all of his time to an extensive practice. For over twenty years he has been a director of the Westminster bank. Mr. Bassett is a member of the Providence Athletic association, Elmwood club, Providence Bar club and Providence Bar association. He married, in 1877, Mary A. Salde, daughter of Jonathan Slade, of Swansea, Massachusetts. Of this union are two children: Amy H., and Edward D. Bassett, jr. Second he married Anna H. Richmond, daughter of Henry P. Richmond, of Providence, November 3, 1886.
* * * * *
Section 5 – Featured Bassett: Bassett Safe Found in England
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Basset descends from the #292 Basset family of Wales as follows:
Thomas Basset Sir Elias Basset (b. 1300) John Basset (b. 1350) and wife Joan Thomas Basset (b. 1380) and wife Alice Marcross John Basset (b. 1410) and wife Gwenllian Jenkin Basset (b. 1445) and wife Jennet Philip William Basset (b. 1477) and wife Catherine Fleming William Basset (b. 1510) and wife Catherine Mansel Richard Basset (b. 1535) and wife Mary Bowen Edward Basset (b. 1556) and wife Catherine Carne William Basset (b. 1578) and wife Cecil Vaughan Sir Richard Basset (b. 1602) and wife Elizabeth Vanne Richard Basset (b. 1638) and wife Priscilla Jones Richard Basset (b. 1690) and wife Barbara Bainbrigge Harry Basset (b.1710) and wife Catherine Bainbrigge Thomas Basset (b. 1756) and wife Elizabeth Cruikshank Richard Basset (b. 1697)
Birmingham Daily Gazette, Friday, 5 February 1932 Mystery of Safe Letters of Kings and a Queen 4/- at Auction
The mystery of a safe, which contained documents signed by Kings and a Queen, bought at an auction for 4s. and resold for 10s., has not yet been cleared up. Mr. Isaac Downes, a furniture dealer, of Rounds-lane, Daisy Bank, Coseley, bought the safe for 10s. from a man who had just previously paid 4s. for it at a Wolverhampton auction room. The safe is a small cast-iron box, and painted on it in white letters is the name “R. Bassett.” The place-name is Coalbrookdale. On the door of the safe is a piece of brass, on each edge of which there is a dot with a ring around it. At first neither keyhole nor key could be found. Mr. Downes called in his wife’s uncle, who, taking up a file, struck one of the markings on the box and lo! – a piece of the brass plate flew open, revealing a keyhole. Mr. Downes summoned a locksmith named Anslow and a key was made. On 22 January the safe door was opened. Forty-four documents were found inside. The value of these has not yet been assessed. They may be worth hundreds, perhaps thousands. Some bear the signature of William IV, George III, George IV, Queen Victoria, the Duke of Wellington, Earl Grey, Earl Mulgrave, and Lord Newcastle. There are Spanish State documents, a number of letters addressed to Thomas Bassett, Military Knight, Windsor, and a tree of the Bassett family tracing their line back to A.D. 1100. The tracing of the safe back through auction rooms and second-hand dealers’ shops is now in progress. There is a story of the safe having been stolen many years ago. Further, it is understood that members of the Bassett family are laying claim to the documents although Mr. Downes states that he had received no communication from then. Mr. Downes cannot understand, if the safe was stolen, why it was not opened. Nor can he understand why the dealers through whose hands it has passed have not opened it. “Dealers have been barking their shins and blacking their boots on it for years,” said Mr. Downes, “while I have been buying things for years in the hope of striking a fortune. Instead it seems to have brought me a lot of trouble.”
Sheffield Iris, Tuesday, 11 January 1842
On Friday morning, at Windsor, aged 85, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Bassett, who had filled the appointment of Governor of the Military Knights of Windsor during a period of about twenty years.
The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume XX, 1843 Captain R. Basset
Nov. 8. At Beaupre, Glamorganshire, in his 52nd year, Richard Basset, esq. Captain in the Royal Artillery, a Deputy Lieutenant of that county. He was born on the 6th Dec. 1797, the elder son of the late Lieut.- Colonel Thomas Basset, some time Governor of the Military Knights of Windsor,* by Elizabeth, daughter of the late Alexander Cruikshanks, esq. of the co. Aberdee. He entered the Royal Artillery as Second Lieutenant, Dec. 11, 1815; was promoted to be 1st Lieutenant Nov. 24, 1826; 2nd Captain, Jan. 10, 1837; and Adjutant of the 2nd battalion on the 22nd of the same month. During the contest in Spain between the Queen and Don Carlos in 1836 and 1837, Captain Basset was employed in raising the siege of Bilboa; took part in the field actions of the 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, and 16th March, assisted at the assault of the town of Hernani, and was present at the capitulation of Fontarabia. We believe the circumstances under which Captain Basset succeeded to the estate of Beaupre were of a very unexpected nature. His father, as we have already stated, was one of the poor knights of Windsor; the third son of a Lieut-Colonel; who was the son of Major Basset of Sir John Brull's regiment; the younger son of Sir Richard Basset, of Beaupre, who was knighted in 1681. (The genealogy of the family may be seen in Burke's Landed Gentry.). The estate of Beaupre had passed by sale to the family of Jones. Not very long before death of his father, Captain Basset was visiting Wales, and accidentally fell under the notice of Mr. Jones, then the owner of the property. That gentleman was so pleased with his new acquaintance, that, having no immediate heir, he came to the determination that he could not do better than restore the estate of Beaupre to the race of its ancient possessors. He died very soon after, and Lieut.-Colonel Basset became lord of Beaupre for a single day, and then transferred it to his son. Captain Basset married, Oct. 24, 1843, Ann-Maria, youngest daughter of John Homfray, esq. of Llandaff House.
* Lieut.-Colonel Basset died Jan. 7, 1842, aged 84, and is briefly noticed in our vol. XVII. p. 224. A tablet in the Cloisters at Windsor bears the following inscription: "In memory of Lt. Colonel Basset, of Beaupre, who died the 7th January, 1842, aged 84 years. And Elizabeth, his wife, who died the 4th of December, 1835. This tablet is erected to the best of parents by their affectionate children."
* * * * *
Section 6 – Featured Bassett: Medals made by Merton Webster Bassett
Merton Webster 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 Susanna Morris David Bassett (b. 1754) and wife Sarah Oviatt David Bassett (b. 1782) and wife Mary Rhoades Hezeikiah Bassett (b. 1805) and wife Laura Clark Alonzo Lorenzo Bassett (b. 1845) and wife Mary Sabrina Webster Merton Webster Bassett (b. 1871)
Medal made by Merton Webster Bassett recently on sale on ebay.
To read more on Merton, see an earlier newsletter at the link below.
http://www.bassettbranches.org/newsletters/2007/20071021/20071021.shtml
* * * * *
Section 7 – Featured Bassett: Family Photo of George Bassett Jr. of London, England
George Bassett Jr. descends from #473B Edward Bassett of London as follows:
Edward Bassett (b. 1751) and wife Sarah Field George Bassett (b. 1773) and wife Sophia Augusta Durham George Bassett Jr. (b. 1800) and wife Catherine Elizabeth Mole.
The picture below was provided by Michael Dowd of England. He is in the process of writing a book about Henry Bassett, noted English architect, who is the brother of George Bassett Jr. I will feature more about Henry Bassett and family in next month’s newsletter. Henry was the father and grandfather of two noted English chemists featured in a previous article.
To read the original article on this family, you can use the link below. http://www.bassettbranches.org/newsletters/2012/09/201209.shtml
* * * * *
Section 8 - New family lines combined or added since the last newsletter
No new lines added or combined since the last newsletter.
* * * * *
Section 9 - DNA project update.
Next month I will feature an article about mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) on the family of Elizabeth Bassett, wife of immigrant William Bassett of Plymouth. 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:
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 protected]