Bassett Family Association Database

Edmund Ruffin Bassett

Male 1865 - 1918  (52 years)


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  • Name Edmund Ruffin Bassett 
    Born 1 Sep 1865  Stephensport, Breckinridge County, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    _UID 291655ADA50AAE448059426502A8C93C1165 
    Died 12 Jan 1918  Stephensport, Breckinridge County, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Cause: Influenza Epidemic 
    Buried Thomas Cemetery, Leitchfield, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • Edmund Ruffin Bassett died 12 Jan 1918 during the influenza epidemic.

      Edmund Ruffin Bassett was named after Edmund Ruffin, the Confederate soldier who fired the first shot at Fort Sumter. He was a prominent financier and banker in Leitchfield and Bowling Green, Kentucky, and in the real estate business in Louisville, Kentucky.

      1870 Federal Census of Stephensport, Breckenridge County, Kentucky (11 Jun 1870)
      J.H. Bassett - 37 - M - Kentucky - Farmer 1500 5000
      G.A. - 37 - F - DC - Keeping House
      Mary - 19 - F - Kentucky - At School
      Julia - 16 - F - Kentucky - At School
      G.A. - 13 - F - Kentucky - At School
      R.J. - 11 - M - Kentucky - At School
      Tryphena - 9 - F - Kentucky
      J.H. - 7 - M - Kentucky
      E.R. - 4 - M - Kentucky
      E.B. - 3- M - Kentucky

      Robert J. Bassett
      (From History of Kentucky)
      Robert J. Bassett - Back of every commercial and industrial undertaking of the country is to be found the banking institutions of the communities in which they are located, and consequently each man, woman and child in the United States is dependent upon these financial concerns for daily support. Were the banks to be wiped out of existence such a condition of chaos would reign as to beggar description. Business cannot be carried on without the backing, co-operation and approval of the banks; if business stops the employe is without work and his employer is without profit. The farmer has no market for his produce, so stops shipping, and the railroads no longer maintain their regular schedule. The country reverts to a worse condition than that prevailing before it was developed through civilizing influences, and the work of the ages is rendered nil. Such a condition will not prevail, there is no danger of that, but it is only just for the public to realize the importance of the banking institutions and their officials who keep them what they are. There are few communities in the country with any pretention to business importance which do not have one or more of these constructive forces at work in their midst, and in the case of Leitchfield, the county seat, there are naturally several of them. One of the leading institutions of this kind in the county is the Grayson County State Bank of Leitchfield, of which Robert J. Bassett is the president, and in his dignified and capable handling of its manifold affairs proves his ability as a financier and justifies his associates in their choice of him as the presiding official.
      Robert J. Bassett was born at Stephensport, Breckinridge County, Kentucky, a son of James H. Bassett, grandson of Jeremiah Vardiman Bassett, and a member of an old family of Delaware, from whence his great-grandfather came to Kentucky and settled in what was then Bracken County, but is now Robertson County. Here he was engaged in farming, being one of the pioneers of his neighborhood. He had thirteen sons and one daughter. Jeremiah V. Bassett was born at Bassett's Ridge, in what is now Robertson County, Kentucky and died in Missouri. He was reared in Robertson County and spent the greater part of his life at Cynthiana, Kentucky, where he was a pioneer merchant. Active in politics, he was an ardent Whig. He married a Miss Birch, a daughter of Judge James Birch.
      James H. Bassett was born at Cynthiana, Kentucky, in 1829, and died at Leitchfield, Kentucky, in 1913. Reared at Cynthiana, he moved in young manhood to Breckinridge County, Kentucky, and was there married and began farming, in which calling he attained to an enviable degree of success. His political convictions made him a Democrat. He married Georgia Houston, who was born in Washington, District of Columbia, in 1830, and died at Leitchfield, Kentucky, in 1905. Their children were as follows: Mary S., who in the widow of J.H. Kenny, a dentist, resides at Leitchfield; Julia, who resides at Louisville, Kentucky, is the widow of C.C. Chick, formerly a merchant of Leitchfield; Georgia H., who resides at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is the widow of Samr. R. Dent, formerly a merchant of Leitchfield; Robert J. whose name heads this review; Enna, who married W.F. Gregory, of the city department of Louisville, Kentucky; James H., who was with the Hegan Company of Louisville, Kentucky, died at Lynchburg, Virginia, when forty years old; Edmund R., who was a banker, died at Louisville in 1917,; Erskine B., who is a merchant of Hopkinsville, Kentucky; Florence, who died at Leitchfield, was the wife of J.Y. Johnson, formerly a merchant of Paducah, Kentucky, but now a resident of Saint Louis, Missouri, where he is employed by the City Railway Company; and Dr. Frank H., who is a physician and surgeion of Hopkinsville.
      Robert J. Bassett attended the rural schools of Breckinridge County, and then became a student of Saint Mary's College at Lebanon, Kentucky, where he remained for one year, leaving this institution in 1877. At that time he embarked in a mercantile business at Cave City, Kentucky, and reamined there until 1883, when he came to Leitchfield and established a general store, but later confined his stock to hardware and implements. Subsequently he incorporated this business with himself as president, and it is now the leading store of its kind between Elizabethtown and Princeton, Kentucky, and he still continues at its head. In 1904, Mr. Bassett entered the field of finance as cashier of Grayson County State Bank, of which he was made president in 1911, and this position he still holds to the entire satisfaction of the stockholders and general public. This is one of the strong financial concerns of this part of the state and was established in 1886 as a state bank. The officials of the bank are as follows: R.J. Bassett, president; E.B. Tilford, vice president; Gayle Praithen, cashier; Aubrey Moorman, first assistant cashier; and J.C. Pickerill, second assistant cashier. The bank has a capital of $25,000; a surplus of $18,000, and deposits of $500,000. This bank occupies a modern brick building on the northeast corner of the Public Square. Mr. Bassett is also president of the Grayson County Supply Company, which he incorporated, and served as a member of the Kentucky State Board of Agriculture for fifteen years. He owns a modern residence on West Walnut Street, where he maintains a comfortable home. In politics he is a republican. The Baptist Church holds his membership and he is serving it as a deacon.
      In 1881 Mr. Bassett married at Leitchfield Miss Hattie Moorman, a daughter of Lemuel and Martha (Worthman) Moorman, both of who died recently. For many years Mr. Moorman was a farmer of Grayson County. Mr. and Mrs. Bassett have two sons, W.M. and Carroll B. W.M. Bassett is a physician and surgeon of San Antonio, Texas, and a veteran of the World war. He was graduated from the Hospital College of Medicine at Louisville, Kentucky, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and was engaged in a general practice at the outbreak of the late war. Like so many of his profession, he volunteered, was commissioned a major and was overseas in France for nearly a year. Carroll B. Bassett is also a resident of San Antonio, Texas, where he is engaged in business as a dealer in automobile tires. He, too, served during the late war. Sent overseas to France, he served there for about a year and received his commission as a first lieutenant. President Bassett is one of the sound and dependable me of Grayson County, and one who has closely identified himself with its growth in many directions. He is proud of the progress which has been made and that he has been able to be so constructive a force in his community.
    Person ID I1016  8B John Bassett of Hunterdon County, New Jersey
    Last Modified 8 Jun 2012 

    Father James Hervey Bassett, Sr.,   b. 31 Dec 1828, Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 24 Feb 1913, Leitchfield, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 84 years) 
    Mother Georgianna Houston,   b. 1830, District of Columbia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1905, Leitchfield, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 75 years) 
    Married 13 Nov 1849  Cliffton Mill, Breckinridge County, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F195  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Myrtle Hazelip,   b. 1871,   d. 1963  (Age 92 years) 
    Married 11 Jun 1890 
    Children 
    +1. Mary Bassett,   b. 7 May 1891,   d. 1968, Leitchfield, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 76 years)
     2. Ransom Hazelip Bassett,   b. 8 Jul 1893, Leitchfield, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1924, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 30 years)
    Family ID F353  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart