Wheeler Amasa Bassett descends from #1B John Bassett of Connecticut as follows:
John Bassett and wife Margery
Robert Bassett and wife Mary
Robert Bassett (b. 1640) and wife Elizabeth Riggs
Robert Bassett (b. 1699) and wife Eunice Clark
Daniel Bassett (b. 1743) and wife Elizabeth Bassett
Lemuel Bassett (b. 1788) and wife Julia Bennett
Wheeler Amasa Bassett (b. 1858)
A newspaper clipping found in the Josiah Colby Bassett collection.
Interlaken, Feb. 2 – The early history and genealogy of the Bassett family, together with a biography and genealogy of Lemuel Bassett and his descendants has been published in book form by Wheeler Bassett of this village. Members of the family live in Rochester.
“The people who settled the Finger Lakes region, and Seneca County in particular, came from Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the counties around New York City.” Mr. Bassett writes. “here and there a family remains, with representatives still living on the same spot of ground prepared by their forbears. As a notable example we may cite the Bassett family.”
Descent of the Bassett family is traced from the Normans, for one Thurstine de Basset came over from Utica, in Normandy, with William the Conqueror when he invaded England. He was grand falconer to the Conqueror and fought by his side in the battle of Hastings, A.D. 1066. Beyond him was Osmond, in 1050 A.D.
Connecticut Origin
The Bassetts in this particular locality trace their history to Connecticut. Lemuel Bassett and his brother, Samuel Bassett, migrated on foot from that state to Seneca County in the early part of the Nineteenth Century, settling on the western part of Lot 41. A few pioneers had come as early as 1797 and located on a spot of ground which eventually became Farmerville, now Interlaken. Daniel Bassett Jr. a brother, came about 1805.
The town now called Covert was first known as Ovid, which comprised the present towns of Covert, Lodi and Ovid, and was divided into 100 lots of approximately 600 acres each. Lot 41 was adjacent to and immediately northwest of Farmerville.
This division of the town into lots resulted as a consequence of the War of the Revolution. For many years the greater portion of Central New York was known as the Onondaga Miliary Tract. By an act of Congress every soldier and noncommissioned officer who served in the army of the Revolution was granted a hundred acres of bounty land in consideration of such service.
On March 27, 1782, the Legislature of this state resolved to increase this grant to 600 acres for those who served in the New York line. The Albany treaty of 1788-89 extinguished the Indian title to the lands in Central New York east of Seneca Lake, with the exception of a few reservations.
The miliary lands were immediately located there, and the tract embracing the present counties of Cayuga, Cortland, Seneca, Onondaga, with parts of Wayne, Steuben and Oswego, were laid out into 28 townships, each divided into lots of 600 acres each.
This division was made during 1789, 1790 and 1791. After the war the soldiers “drew” these lots without regard to their location. Many of them were not adapted to the life of a pioneer who would resell for what he could get. In this way thousands of acres fell into the hands of speculators.
Sold Land to Sons
Records that have been lying in the Seneca County Clerk’s office for more than a hundred years disclose the fact that Daniel Bassett, the father, was the original owner of these lands and that he bought in one lump the wester half of Lot 41, comprising 300 acres, according to the old deed dated march 25, 1805.
Two months later Daniel, senior, resold one-half of his purchase to his sons, Daniel and Samuel, at an advance of 50 cents and acre. Daniel and his wife Phebe apparently sold out here about 1821 and went farther west. A deed now in the possession of Wheeler A. Bassett conveys 101 acres of land to Lemuel Bassett, another son of the elder Daniel. Lemuel did not come until some time after his brothers, for he was much younger.
Lemuel Bassett and Julia Bennett were married June 9, 1817. Their life began in a log cabin, but by thrifty living they were able in time to build a new house modern for those days. There is a saying that Julia Bassett was one of the first women in Seneca county to own a sewing machine, and this machine was in running order and in daily use 50 years later by her granddaughter, Miss Helen Mundy of Santa Barbara, Calif.
Wheeler A. Bassett, author of A Bassett book, was a grandson of Lemuel Bassett.
Newspaper article
Original copy of the Bassett Book, 1928
Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York
Death Takes W.A. Bassett
Interlaken – Wheeler A. Bassett, 86, retired farmer, died Thursday night. (Feb. 22, 1945), in his home in West End Avenue, after a short illness.
Mr. Bassett was born on July 24, 1858, on a farm south of the village, which has been in the Bassett family since the early part of the 19th Century.
A lifelong resident of this community, Mr. Bassett always took an active part in civic affairs. He was a member of the Baptist Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Bassett celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last January.
Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Agnes M. Thomas Bassett; three sons, Wilmer Bassett, Monticello, Fla., Henry Bassett, Watkins Glen and Cpl. Thomas Bassett, with the U.S Army in England; two daughters, Mrs. Earl Wilson, Interlaken, and Mrs. Seward Brooks, Hayts Corners; 19 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Four of his grandsons are with the armed forces overseas.
Funeral will be conducted at 3 p.m. today in the home by the Rev. George A. Cole Jr., pastor of the Baptist Church, with burial in Lakeview Cemetery.