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- A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven Coun
Volume II (1918)
In the death of Samuel Andrew Bassett, New Haven lost one of its
valued citizens and representative business men, yet one whose nature was not
centered alone upon commercial interests. He found time for the higher things
of life and those interests which have cultural value. He was born in the town
of Seymour, in New Haven county, Connecticut, September 1, 1833, and was a
descendant of an old and prominent New England family. His father, Samu
Bassett, also a native of Connecticut, was a paper manufacturer of what was
then known as Humphreysville, now Seymour, and at that place spent practically
his entire life. He wedded Mary Andrew, who was also a resident of Seymour.
Samuel Andrew Bassett acquired his early education in the Glendenning
Academy at Seymour and afterward attended the William H. Russell Milita
School at New Haven, from which he was graduated. He was first employed in his
father's paper factory and after working there for a few years went to New
Milford, where he became a clerk in the store of A. W. Mygatt. After a brief
period he removed to New Haven and found a position in the shoe store of
Bristol & Hall, shoe manufacturers and dealers. When the business was sold out
to W.B. Fenn, Mr. Bassett remained with the house and when it became known as
the New Haven Shoe Company, he became one of the stock holders and was quite
active in the management of the business. He was associated with the sh
trade for over a half century and was very active in the control and direction
of the store with which he was connected. He was a thoroughgoing business man,
noted for his honorable dealings and his spirit of enterprise. No one ever
questioned the reliability of his methods, for integrity was synonymous with
his name.
Mr. Bassett was much devoted to his home and family. In Christchurch,
on the 24th day of January, 1865, the Rev. Joseph Brewster performed the
wedding ceremony that united the destinies of Samuel Andrew Bassett and Miss
Sophia Phillips, of New Haven, a daughter of Thomas and Sophia (Humphre
Phillips, the former a well known resident of this city. Mrs. Bassett is now
residing on Edgewood avenue and has many friends in New Haven, who know her as
a lady of culture and refined taste, a devoted wife and mother. She w
member of Christ Episcopal church for a number of years, later transferring
her membership to Trinity Episcopal church. By the marriage there were two
children. The daughter, Mary Elizabeth, became the wife of Joseph Leon
Langbank and now resides with her mother. Thomas Andrew was married October
30, 1895, to Natalie Wilson, of Bridgeport, and they became the parents of two
children, John Humphrey Phillips and Sophie Louise Bassett, but the latter
died young. Thomas Andrew Bassett passed away October 6, 190
The death of Samuel A. Bassett occurred at his home on High street in
New Haven, August 1, 1906, when he was approaching the seventy-third milestone
on life's journey. He was a citizen of the highest type, a man of sterling
character and actuated in all that he did by a stalwart Christian spirit. He
held membership, first, in Christ Episcopal church and, later, in Trini
church, of which he was communicant for many years, and he also belonged to
Brooks Club of Trinity church, which was named in honor of Bishop Phill
Brooks. He belonged to Wooster Lodge, A.F & A.M., of New Haven, and also to
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Seymour. In politics he was an ardent
republican but not an office seeker. He was on the contrary a man of domestic
taste, devoted to his home and family and finding his greatest happiness at
his own fireside. He was also a lover of nature and fond of things beautiful.
He enjoyed yachting and fishing, and was a great lover of the arts. He was
also much interested in music, possessed a splendid voice and for many years
was a member of Christ Church Choir. He also belonged to the Mendelsohn and
Gounod Societies, excellent choral organizations of New Haven, and he was one
of the organizers of the Apollo Club, a well known musical male club of New
Haven. He thus did much to further the interests which removed man from the
sordidness that entire concentration upon business often brings and he did
much to further an interest in those lines which uplift the individual and
bring a breadth of thought, interest and purpose. He stood as a high type of
American manhood and chivalry, and his was the nobility of a refined nature
and of Christian character.
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