Bassett Family Association Database

Benjamin Harrison Bassett

Male 1831 -


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  • Name Benjamin Harrison Bassett 
    Born 24 Feb 1831  Coutreville, Louisiana Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    _UID 4EE14A231C093C42806A73279FC026B3FB55 
    Notes 
    • Benjamin Harrison Bassett and his wife Mary Burnet Bassett moved to Texas.

      Benjamin Harrison Bassett and his wife (Mary Burnet Bassett Bassett) had eight children. The records of the children are from a family Bible, a copy of which can be found at the State archives in Richmond, Virginia. The Bible is hard to read, so the names and dates of the children are not available at this time. The children were born in Brenham, Washington County, Texas. The Bible was in the possession of Mrs. Donald Kilger of Dallas, Texas, when filmed by the State archives in Richmond, Virginia. She was a granddaughter of Ben H. and Mary B. Bassett.

      Benjamin Harrison Basset has not been found in the Virginia records, but is probably a cousin to Mary Bassett.

      See Bassett Family line 59B for descendants of this line.

      On the Bassett Building, 222 East Main Street in Brenham, Texas, can be found the following historical plaque.
      Texas Historical Commission
      Official Historical Medallion
      Bassett & Bassett Banking House
      Benjamin H. and Thomas J. Bassett opened their newly created bank and located their law offices in this building soon after its completion in 1873. Built with brick manufactured by the local Wild & Co. Brickyard, the Italianate structure housed the bank until it closed in 1884. An important Brenham landmark, the building features round arches and stucco hood moldings at door and window openings. The third story was added in the early 1900's.
      Recorded Texas Historic Landmark 1985
      Entered in the National Register of Historic Places 1983.

      Diary of Lucy Breckinridge (Epilogue)
      Lucy, in spite of her apprehensions, married her Tommy on 28 January 1865, in a quiet ceremony at Grove Hill. The young couple's life together was poignantly brief. On 16 June 1865, five months after their marriage and just three weeks after the cruel war had departed the "God-scourged South" with the surrender of the last Confederate troops, Lucy died on typhoid fever. Tragically denied the peace and happiness she had longed for, Lucy was buried at the age of twenty-two at Grove Hill beside her beloved brother, Joh.
      After the war, Thomas Jefferson Bassett returned to his home in Brenham, Washington County, Texas, where he later remarried and reared a family. He maintained close ties with his Virginia family for many years.
      In a letter to Eliza, date 22 January 1868, Tommy mentioned that he was having a portrait made of Lucy from a small photograph. Efforts to locate Lucy's portrait, thus far, have been fruitless. In the course of the search, however, some interesting facts have come to light regarding Jefferson Bassett's life after Lucy's death.
      Upon his return to Brenham, Tommy and his older brother, Ben, established the Bank of Bassett and Bassett in 1866. The bank operated successfully for almost twenty years, and was finally dissolved in 1881, shortly before Tommy's death.
      Tommy and his second wife, Jodie Roberson, had four daughters, one of who he named after Lucy's mother. His esteem for the Breckinridges was such that he later sent his daughters to Grove Hill for their education in literature, art, and music.
      (NOTE: Lt. Thomas Jefferson Bassett was born in Louisiana in 1833, the son of William Henry and brother to Benjamin H. Bassett. He died 25 May 1885 in Brenham, Texas.)

      Yale Law School, 1853

      Benjamin Harrison Bassett was born in the Parish of St. Mary, La., on the 24th of February, 1831. He received his early education at the Jesuit College in Grand Coteau, La, and was a resident of Avoyelles Parish, in the same state, while in the Law School
      A few months after graduation he settled in Brenham, Washington County, Texas, in the practice of law. In 1857 he formed a partnership with the Hon. John Sales, which continued, except for the period of the war, for nearly thirty years. He served in the war, on the Confederate side, as an aid on Governor Lubbock?s staff, and later on the staff of General J.P. Major, in the Texas-Mississippi department, with the rank of major. In 1886 he entered into a new partnership, with the firm-name of Bassett, Muse & Muse, and in 1889 removed to Dallas. He had at an earlier period, in connection with his former partner, written several law books which had a side use in the State, and it was with universal approval that in June, 1893, he received an appointment to one of the chairs of law in the University of Texas. He went at once to Austin, to begin his duties, but on his arrival fell and broke an arm on the hotel stairs. He was out-of-doors again in a few days, but blood-poisoning set in, and his death followed on July 16, in his 63d year.
    Person ID I298  5B William Bassett of Viriginia
    Last Modified 25 Oct 2016 

    Family Mary Burnet Bassett,   b. 12 Aug 1834 (1839?), Fredricksburg, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 16 Jul 1873 (?) 
    Married 20 Dec 1860  Clover Lea, Hanover County, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F113  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart