Bassett Family Association Database

Edgar Chafey

Male


Personal Information    |    PDF

  • Name Edgar Chafey 
    Gender Male 
    _UID B2A52829BA80DC468DCFE505F43D9DE0F87F 
    Notes 
    • HERITAGE OF THE HILLS
      A DELAWARE COUNTY HISTORY
      JAMES COMMUNITY
      THE BASSETT FAMILY
      George L. Bassett and Armelia Lewis Bassett came to Oklahoma Indiana Territory in 1900 and settled on the Line road north of Maysville, Arkansas. George rented a farm from Mrs. Ballard, a widow, but he later bought a farm on Whitewater where Arque Gann now lives. They had a family of ten children, two of whom have lived their lifetime in Delaware county. They are Hadgie who married Mark Duncan and Clara.
      The Bassett children went to Yeagain to school until a schoolhouse was built at James. They went to church at Maysville.
      Clara married Edgar Chafey, son of another pioneer couple. Clara and Edgar lived on the Ballard place for a few years, and a number of years on other farms in the area. Eventually, they moved into Jay and Edgar worked on the highway operating a grader until his death in 1937. All of their four children were born and educated in Delaware county. Alma, the oldest, died in 1977. Zella, the second child, married Joe Master, son of another early pioneer. They live on a farm near Jay. After some years as a widow, Clara married Lem Francis. They still live in Jay.
      Clara recalls that she walked three miles to school as a child. They had to cross a creek and she remembers how Bill Durham, in the manner of mischievous boys, would step on the girls' heels or splash water on them as they crossed the creek.
      Mrs. Bassett had an ash hopper where she made lye. Ashes from hardwood were put in a wooden box and water was slowly dripped through it to produce the caustic lye which was used in making soap, hominy, and to scrub and bleach floors. She also dried fruits, especially peaches and apples from their own trees, for making delicious pies during the winter. In the manner of all pioneer families, they raised most of their food, killed their own meat, raised chickens for eggs and meat, and had cows for milk, butter and cheese. After the wheat and corn were harvested, Mr. Bassett would take grain to the gristmill on the Blevins' place to convert the grain to flour and meal for their winter supply.
      Mr. Bassett was a man of many activities. He not only farmed his land and raised cattle but he raised hay on Wet Prarie. He had a hay baler which he took around the community to bale hay for others, taking part of the hay as payment and then selling it to others.
      Another activity in the fall was sorghum making. They had a cane press and boiling vat. The children often got very sore hands from cane leaf cuts as they stripped the cane for the press. The finished product was enough to make them forget the pain as they ate the sorghum on hot biscuits or pulled taffy on a winter night.
      The boys got spending money in the fall and winter by trapping or hunting animals and selling the pelts. It was often unpleasant when the boys had trapped or killed a skunk for they were usually generously anointed during the process.
      The Bassett's trace their ancestry back to the Vikings, then to England. In America, Elizabeth Bassett married Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Their son was the ninth president of the United States, their great grandson the twenty-third president of the United States. Bassetts fought in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars. All his life George Bassett was a civic-minded man, helping friends and neighbors, and generally supporting that which was good. George Bassett died in 1928, Armelia died in 1952.
    Person ID I1488  2B Thomas Bassett of Virginia
    Last Modified 21 Aug 2013 

    Family Clara Bassett,   b. 27 Oct 1895, Arkansas Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Feb 1991  (Age 95 years) 
    Children 
     1. Alma Chafey,   d. 1977
     2. James E. Chafey
     3. Zella Chafey
     4. Anna Belle Chafey
    Family ID F506  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart