| Notes |
- After Jacob died, Mary ran Bassett House, later to be renamed Bassett Station, for many years. She is posibly buried in Cupertino, California.
1880 Federal Census of Butte, Sierra County, California
Jacob H. Bassett 50 M NJ NJ NJ Head Roadside Inn
Mary 39 F PA IR IR Wife Keeping House
Alice A. 17 F CA NJ PA Daughter At home
John 15 M CA NJ PA Son At home
Mary 13 F CA NJ PA Daughter At home
Hattie 8 F CA NJ PA Daughter At home
Maud 5 F CA NJ PA Daughter At home
Julia Hagerty 30 F PA IR IR Sister-in-law
George W. Dixon 45 M KY KY KY Other Timberman
James Demerest 26 M CN FR EN Other Timberman
Alexander Arguet 27 M NY CN CN Other Timberman
Napoleon Einhart 25 M CN CN CN Other Timberman
Batiste Marlo 33 M CN CN CN Other Timberman
Phillip Hayes 26 M LA IR EN Other Timberman
Wan 25 M CH CH CH Other Servant-Cook
William H. Morris 53 M PA PA PA Other
(CH - China)
Not sure yet how this family related.
Record-Courier News, 4 Dec 2004
1918-2004 A memorial service for James Donald Owen will be 1 p.m. Saturday at the Carson Valley United Methodist Church, 1375 Centerville Lane, Gardnerville. Dr. Marvin Dennis of the Good Shepherd Wesleyan Church and the Carson Valley Masonic Lodge No. 33 will be conductin the services. Mr. Owen, 86, died Nov. 21, 2004 at his ranch in Garnderville. Mr. Owen was born December 31, 1918 in Sacramento, Calif. to Wesley R. and Veta Owen. He was a fourth generation native of California. His family were early pioneers who built Bassett Station, a Pony Express stop near Sierra City.
1920 Federal Census of 14 Township, Placer County, California (22 Jan 1920)
Wesley R. Owen 25 M CA WL WL Head Car Loader Fruit Shipping Farm
Vecta C. 23 F CA CA CA Wife
James D. 1 0/12 M CA CA CA Son
A History of Bassett House
By Barney Lusk as told to Candace Lusk Smallwood
Where Howard Creek runs throught he Sierra Mountain range, settled worked the land surrounding it called Howard Ranch. In 1871 Jacob and Mary Helen Hagerty Bassett bought Howard Ranch and built what was then known as Bassett House. Bassett House was a teamster stop for freight wagons so they could feed and water the horses on their way between Loyalton, Sierraville, Sattley, Sierra City and Downieville. On the same land was a sawmill operated by the Philip Hayes family. The logs were hauled to the mill by a team of oxen generally numbered to be 10 in the team.
Jacob and Mary came to California from Pennsylvania looking for gold and ended up on Sierra County in the early 1860's and remaining there until their deaths. Jacob worked for the Sierra Buttes Mine as a ditch/water tender. Mary operated Bassett House with the help of a Chinese cook once the house was built.
Bassett House was a two story wood structure with a lobby, dining room and kitchen downstairs. The remaining living quarters were upstairs. The house catered to full time sawmill workers as well as overnight miners passing through the area in their search for gold or better times.
In the lobby of the original house stood a barrel in the corner full of whiskey. When someone was "just a little thirsty", they would saunter over, fill their cup to the brim and then pay for the privilege of drinking the whiskey. If you didn't have your own cup, you didn't get the whiskey. The price of a cup of whiskey was about twenty cents.
Bassett House was built and moved four times. The original house stood on Howard Ranch on the north side of the road, it was then torn down and moved across the street in the 1930's. Then it was again torn down, and moved back to it's original spot. The final move came in 1962 where Bassett Station now stands with the motel built prior to the store. The current Bassett Lodge has a complete listing of all owners beginning with Jacob and Mary Bassett.
The Bassett children were raised at Bassett House. There were four daughters and one son. The daughters were Alice who later married Phillip Hayes, mary Helen (Mollie) who married Sam Lusk, Hattie who married Bob Babb, and Maud who married Herbert Hinkley. Their only son, John Bassett, who went deaf at the age of seven (7), never married, and was a game warden and mail carrier in the area until his death by train while walking on the railroad tracks.
The Bassett sold Bassett House in the early 1900's taking it out of the original family's hands for the first time in over thirty years.
Sam Lusk and Mary Helen (Molly) Bassett met and married on May 5, 1887 in Nevada City. They acquired Bassett House in 1900 and operated it until 1901. During the time the Lusk's operated Bassett House, Molly kept a daily log which is still in the family. On May 18, 1900, breakfast and dinner were 50 cents; supper was $1.00, to baord 2 horses for overnight and haw was $1.00, dinner by itself was 23 cents. On June 6, 1900 Molly sold eggs for 25 cents a dozen, and a long time customer, Pete Debernardi paid 75 cents for dinner, supper and bed. On August 22, 1900 they paid $1.00 for a bottle of whiskey and November 29, 1900 a bottle of sherry was purchased for 25 cents.
That same year in November, Sam and Molly bought 500 pounds of flour for $11.75, 500 pounds of potatoes for $6.25, and two boxes of apples for $2.50. On November 11 they paid $6.60 for freight and November 12, 1900 the Lusk's paid $10.10 for taxes on Bassett House.
During the time Sam and Molly Lusk operated Bassett House, Sam homesteaded 160 acres near Salmon Lakes now known as Lusk Meadows. Sam ranched Lusk Meadows and used it as summer pasture for livestock. The cattle were housed on the American River near Folsom Prsion during the winter.
Sam subdivided the meadow in 1912. That section separated from Lusk Meadows became known at the Diamond "L" Resort. There were 17 lots for summer cabins, six of them had cabins which were sold to individuals, and a few others had cabins for rent. Some lots were never built on. The lots were 105' by 60'. The remainder of Lusk meadows, one hundred and forty acres was sold to the Farrell's after Sam Lusk died.
Around 1884, prior to Sam and Molly's marriage, Sam Lusk drove stage from Downieville to Nevada City. This was about a 12 hour trip, six days a week with Sunday off. Sam changed horses at Mountain House, Camptonville, and North San Juan ending the trip in Nevada City. The teams consisted of 4 horses per team and during the snowy winter, changed to a sleigh. The horses had to wear snowshoes which were 12" x 12" metal plates, with the horses foot fitting into holes sculpted into the metal that fit the hoof. There was rubber belting between the metal and horses hoof to keep them from freezing to the metal.
During World War I, Sam was a guard at the Penryn Tunnel. There were 2 guards, one of each end so it could not be sabotaged by the eneby. From there, Sam went on to work as a guard at Folsom Prison, and then worked as a camp guard while the prisoners were building Highway 49 in 1922/23. Sam then moved to Goodyears Bar in 1923, operating a small store and gas station and renting out cabins to tourists and fishermen. The business sold in 1935 and Sam retired in Goodyear's Bar until his death on Thanksgiving day in 1936.
Sam and Molly Lusk had four sons all raised in the Sierra Mountain range. The fours boys were Marion Lusk, Howard Lusk (named after Howard Creekat Bassett House), Seton Lusk who died at the age off 11 and the youngest, Barney Lusk who now resides in the North San Juan area where his father used to stop and change horses.
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Bassett Family Association Database
