| Notes |
- CHARLES AND MARY BASSETT
LAKE COUNTY HERITAGE, Friends of the Lake County Public Libra
Copyright Curtis Media Corporation, 1990.
When Charles Hall Bassett and Mary Ann Kyger were married in
Brookville, Indiana, on August 25, 1863, they brought together families that
had been part of the earliest settlements along the Whitewater River valley in
Southeastern Indiana. The children of this marriage were to participate in the
building of a new settlement in northern Lake County named Gary. The seven
children of Charles and Mary were: Leora T. (1865-1922) m. Daniel Havens
(known to all as Lola and Doc) Ch. Mabel, Georgia, C. Howard, Madeleine. Lewis
W. (1869-1873). A. Gertrude (1872-1959) Ch. Ralph. Grace (1876-1961 m. Charles
Allison Ch. Vivian L. Orris W. (1878-1966) m. Mary Emma Hains Ch. Maxin
Harry H. (1880-1893), Walter S. (1884-1961).
About 1893 the family moved to Elwood, Indiana, where the oldest
daughter had gone to live with her husband. As the children married and
established their own homes, they either lived nearby or made the weekly trek
to spend Sunday with Charles and Mary. Charles had been a brick layer b
joined his son, Orris in the plumbing business in Elwood.
Gertrude was the first of the Bassett brother and sisters to move to
Gary where she and her husband, Frank Hodson, became socially prominent
community leaders. Encouraged by the Hodsons and the opportunity offered in
this budding city, one by one the other family members made the move. T
Allisons and Havens had moved to Indianapolis, but both families were in Gary
by 1920 with daughters Vivian Allison and Madeleine Havens enrolled in Emerson
High School. About 1920, Charles and Mary also moved to Gary and were joined
by Orris in 1925. When first arriving in Gary, the families usually lived with
or near one another -- often renting a house from the Hodsons. The addresses
include 521 Monroe, 221 W. 6th Ave., 525 and 527 Jackson. Walter was the only
Bassett off-spring to resist Gary. He and his family moved frequently and to
several different states, but resided for a number of years in Munster.
Distance, however, seldom prevented them from joining in family gatherings.
An appreciation for and talent for art and music was evidenc
several family members. Lola taught art for a time in the Gary schools and
Gertrude's hand painted china is still admired by family members. Ralph Hodson
and his daughter, Sally, were both singers and lent their voices to most of
the family weddings. Walter's pumpkin carvings were an annual art event for the
family.
Charles had served in the Union Army during the Civil War and was one
of the 14 charter members of the William A. Ketchem Post of the Grand Army of
the Republic which was organized in Gary in 1923 -- believed to be the last
post to be organized. In 1926 at age 86, he became Commander of the Post.
In their final years, Charles and Mary lived with the Hodsons at their
home at 1516 W. 6th Ave., where the regular Sunday gathering of the clan took
place.
Charles and Mary each died in 1929 but their children, grandchildren
and great-grandchildren still assembled with some regularity. They were a fun
loving group, able to create their own entertainment or adopt the latest game
craze. There were beach parties at Wells Street and "10-cent" Christmas
parties at the home of Frank or Ralph Hodson or at Walter Bassett's home in
Munster, where Walter was the first family member to discover that a basement
could be converted to a "rec-room". The younger children often produced a play
for the Christmas gathering. All of the youngsters have fond memories of
special times at the Hodson's Long Beach summer cottage. In later years, the
family gathered at Joe and Madeleine (Havens) Wildermuth's beach home or at
their farm near Leroy, Indiana.
In 1989 the descendants of Charles and Mary Bassett are far flung and
see one another only rarely. Yet each holds a special place in his childhood
memory of the Bassett family gatherings.
Written by Dorothy Wildermuth Vekasi
|
Bassett Family Association Database
1841 - Deceased