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Bassett Family Association - , Modern Founder (originally founded in 1897)

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Splinters From The Tree October 2008


(1) Welcome
(2) John E. Bassett & Co. Hardware of Connecticut
(3) George Marten Bassett of New York & Michigan
(4) Joseph Bassett House in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts
(5) New family lines combined or added since the last newsletter
(6) DNA project update

1 donation for a total of $50 was made toward the Bassett DNA project.

Section 1 - Welcome

There are more place names located in England with the family name Bassett than any other surname. Over the next two years, I will be featuring some of these towns along with towns in other countries that have adopted the Bassett name.

Seven male Bassetts took advantage of the reduced prices for DNA testing last month. 5 of these test kits have been returned to the lab. I will feature these results as they come back from the lab. We still have several test kits outstanding. Please return them as soon as possible so that we may all share in the results of these tests.

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Section 2 - Featured Bassett: John E. Bassett & Co. Hardware

As a follow up to the November 2005 newsletter about John E. Bassett and his hardware, Tom Harberg has sent me a copy of several pages out of book about the history of the hardware store beginning in 1784. This booklet was published in 1855.


The book is 6 inches by 7 ½ inches and 16 pages long.

Read the original entry on this family in the November 2005 newsletter.

Scanned pictures of this book were provided by Tom Harberg and will be added shortly.

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Section 3 - Featured Bassett: George Marten Bassett of Michigan

We do not yet know if George Marten Bassett was a son of Aaron Bassett of Michigan or a son of Jonathan Bassett of Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York.

If you know anything more about this George Bassett, please let us know! 


Picture of George Marten Bassett displaying his wares in Oxford, Michigan about 1900.
Courtesy of Peggy Price.

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Section 4 - Featured Bassett: Joseph Bassett House in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts

Joseph Bassett descends from #1A William Bassett of Plymouth as follows:
William Bassett and wife Elizabeth
Nathaniel Bassett and wife Dorcas Joyce
Joseph Bassett and wife Susannah Howes
Daniel Bassett and wife Elizabeth Crowell
Daniel Bassett and wife Hannah Bearse
Joseph Bassett and wife Zeviah Bearse 

  


  
Joseph Bassett House of Hyannis Port  
  Zenas Doane Bassett, son of Joseph Bassett
Pictures courtesy of Marcus M. Sherman

The Joseph Bassett House is the oldest home in Hyannis Port, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, and was built in 1786 for Joseph Bassett. The diary of Joseph's son Zenas Doane Bassett was featured in the January 2005 Bassett family newsletter.

From the website of the Bed & Breakfast, we have the following history:

Joseph Bassett, builder/owner: 1786 - 1826
 
Joseph Bassett probably built the house at #70 Marston Ave. at the time of his marriage in 1786. He was born on April 21, 1763 in Hyannis. He enlisted in the Continental Army as a soldier and served during 1775-1777 in the capacity of waiter to his father Lt. Daniel Bassett.

On April 20, 1786 Joseph Bassett, age 23, registered to marry Zerviah (Sophie) Bearce also age 23, born about 1762/63 in Barnstable. She was 3/16 Wampanoag/Narragansett Indian, from both parents. Six months later, on Oct. 14, 1786 their first child, Zenas Doane Bassett was born, most likely at 70 Marston Ave. By 1801, They had nine more children, in birth order: Hannah C. Bassett, Sophia Bassett, Delia Bassett and 6 others unknown, all born in Hyannis. Zerviah Bearse Bassett died in 1805 at age 42, 4 years after the birth of her last child.

Read more about the house.

Read more about this branch of the Bassett family.

This home is now the Marston Family Bed & Breakfast

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Section 5 - New family lines combined or added since the last newsletter

        The following family lines have been combined/eliminated since the last newsletter.

101B.  Bassetts of Marton, Lincolnshire into the 201B. Bassetts of Glentworth, Lincolnshire family
283B.  Henry Richard Bassett of Alabama into the 13B. Richard Bassett of Maryland family
308B.  William Daniel Bassett of North Carolina into the 91B. James Bassett of North Carolina family
414B.  Clifford Bassett of Wimbledon into the 144B. Thomas Bassett of Speldhurst family
   
        The following family lines have been added since the last newsletter.

 308B. Daniel Bassett of Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts (b. 1854)

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Section 6 - DNA project update.

10 kits remain either outstanding or are currently at the lab being tested. Results will posted as they come available.

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:

http://www.bassettbranches.org/dna/

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 address link in header above