| Notes |
- 1900 Federal Census of Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts (12 Jun 1900)
Eugene Bassett - 56 - Mar 1844 - M - MA-MA-MA - Head - Carpenter and Builder
Mary - 44 - Feb 1856 - F - VT-NY-NY - Wife
Walter - 8 - Aug 1891 - M - MA-MA-VT - Son
(Living at 48 Jackson Street)
(Married 12 years, 3 children, 1 living)
The New York Times, November 8, 1903
Boy Kills His Schoolmate
Tragedy Ends Quarrel Between Two Youngsters of Eleven
Believing He Was Not in Earnest, Clark Waited for Bassett
To Get Sword and Gun to Kill Him With
Taunton, Mass., Nov. 7 - Angered beyond his powers of control, Walter E. Bassett, an eleven-year-old boy, today shot and instantly killed Peter Clark, a schoolmate of his own age. The tragedy was the outcome of a quarrel between the two little fellows.
Young Bassett is the stepson of Eugene E. Bassett, a well-to-do carpenter, while the Clark boy was one of the children of Thomas F. Clark, a driver employed by the Taunton Ice Company. The shooting occurred this afternoon in the yard behnd the Bassett house. The Bassett boy was arrested on the charge of homicide. He admitted his guilt, and later in the evening was released on bail.
It appears that the Clark boy, with two companions, called this afternoon at a cobbler's shop in a barn in the rear of the Bassett house, for the purpose of leaving a pair of shoes, and that the Bassett boy ordered them to leave the yard. While the two boys never had any trouble before, they soon became involved in an altercation, which ended this time in the Clark boy going away.
He returned for the shoes an hour or two later, still with his two friends, and this time the Bassett boy, who apparently was on the watch, became so angry that he told them that if they did not get out he would shoot them. Still further enraged at their lingering in the yard, he seized an old cavalry sabre which was in the woodshed and tried to draw it from the scabbard, but the blade was too firmly rusted in its sheath. Then he ran back into the house and reappeared with his father's shotgun. This he found was not loaded, and again he rushed back into the house, while the other boys, scarcely believing that he was in earnest, awaited developments.
The next time the maddened youngster appeared he had three cartridges in his hand. Without pausing an instant, he thrust two of them into the two barrels of the gun, and, pointing the weapon at the Clark boy's head, pulled the trigger. The Clark boy's wounds, and the footprints in the yard all indicate that the muzzle of the gun was within ten feet of the Clark boy's head when the shot was fired.
The Clark boy fell to the ground. He had been instantly killed. The top of his head was blown completely off, and blood and brains were scattered to a considerable height over the side of the house near which he had been standing.
Seeing the result of his shot, the Bassett boy hid himself, but was later found by police. When taken into custody the boy admitted shooting his schoolmate, but further than that made no statement.
On account of his youth, District Attorney Swift of Fall River, upon being informed of the tragedy by Chief of Police, permitted his release on $10,000 bail, but not before Mr. Clark, the father of the dead boy, had called at the police station and expessed the hope that the slayer of his son be set at liberty. He said he felt certain the sad affair had not been the outgrowth of any criminal tendency.
The Bassett boy will be arraigned in the local court on Monday.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1891 - 