William Bassett descends from William Bassett of Plymouth, Massachusetts as follows:
William Bassett and wife Elizabeth
William Bassett (b. 1624) and wife Mary Raynesford
Nathan Bassett (b. 1667) and wife Mary Huckens
William Bassett (b. 1702) and wife Anna Mayhew
Fortunatus Bassett (b. 1742) and wife Sarah Bassett
William Bassett (b. 1772) and wife Anna Blair
Yates County, Newspaper, 1930
Basset Early Rushville Settler
Helped Found Congregational Church
The family names and stories’ connected with the early history of Rushville are of interest to all her sons and daughters, yet how few of the former are now listed among her inhabitants, and how seldom do we find new information concerning any of them.
The names of Mower, Sawyer, Morse, and Reed have gone entirely from this community; the names of Loomis, Blair, Holton, Green, Whitman and Pratt are still heard, although not always descended from the early settlers of those names; and the names Gilbert and Bassett are perpetuated only as names of two of Rushville’s streets, yet by families of these names, with a few others, were the first homes made in the wilderness.
Among these earliest settlers was William Bassett, one of the founders of Rushville Congregational church, and the first school teacher in what is now Potter. Although four of his sons and six of his daughters grew to manhood and womanhood in this village, the only descendant now residing in this section is Mrs. Frank Becker of Vine Valley; and her brother, Oscar Bassett of Rochester, is the only one of the name near here.
The name of William Bassett is one of those most often mentioned in the early records of village history; and the following obituary printed in 1862 on his death has recently been found in an old scrapbook:
An Octogenarian Gone
Died at Rushville, February 11, 1862, William Bassett, Esq., in his 90th year.
He was a native of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., and was four years old when independence was declared. His father was an officer in the war of the Revolution in which he made great sacrifices and suffered much. He was in the Battle of Saratoga and the taking of Burgoyne. In the winter of 1780 [sic 1778] which was the coldest ever known in this country, he was engaged in the service on an armed vessel which was overtaken with a snowstorm with such extreme cold that the vessel became wholly unmanageable from the large accumulations of ice upon her deck’s and in her rigging, and though near the shore so that her alarm guns were heard on the land, no help could reach them, and after suffering beyond the powers of language to describe for some days, 74 of the sufferers froze to death among whom was the father of the deceased. His body was obtained and found a resting place among the graves of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock, from whom he was a lineal descendant.
At the age of 16 the deceased (William Bassett) accompanied an uncle to
Westmoreland, a few miles west of the city of Utica, through which he passed when there were but two small houses where the city now stands. Here in the wilderness he attended the first religious meeting ever held in the country, and which he always remembered with interest.
In 1793, then being 21 years old; he left Westmoreland for a settlement; near Rushville, then the town of Augusta. Being guided by trails and Indian paths, he missed his way at Seneca Falls and reached Palmyra before he discovered his mistake. On reaching the place of his destination, he found but one white family in the present limits of the village, with a goodly number of Indian wigwams, which were more or less occupied by the natives of the forest.
At that early day he selected and purchased a most beautiful tract of (figures blurred) acres of land on which a part of the village of Rushville now stands, which he occupied and with his own hands made into one of the most desirable and valuable farms in the county, which he continued to own and to occupy till his death, a term of over 65 years.
He lived to see a beautiful village with its churches and schools spring up where he had seen only the wild Indian and the wild animals and the poisonous reptiles of the forest. In bringing about this great change, he contributed a most important share. Here he became the father of 12 children, 10 of whom lived to mature age; one of the latter is now the worthy county clerk.
He is still remembered by some of the oldest inhabitants as the first school teacher to whom they are indebted for their first rudimental instruction. In all the enterprises for the development of the county, in business, religion and education, he always took his full share of responsibility and sacrifice. He held many offices of trust, both military and civil, in which he made himself very useful, and especially as a peacemaker.
Esquire Bassett made a profession of religion in early life and united with the Congregational church whose polity he cherished with especial regard to the end of his pilgrimage. He was always earnest, sincere and active in all his religious duties, believing that Christianity could never make compromises with sin. He embraced all reforms that promised to improve the condition of men and to make them better. Slavery and intemperance never found favor with him.
With a vigorous constitution, and being temperate and regular in all his habits and thus obeying the laws of his being, he was enabled to reach a good old age, and at last yielded up life as the candle goeth out without a struggle. Having lived the life of the righteous, he died the death of the righteous and has gone to his reward. His memory will long be cherished with tender affection by the bereaved family, by the church, and by a large circle of friends and citizens.
— Rushville Editor.