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- History of the American Negro and his institutions, Volume 5
Eugene Jeremiah Bass
Dr. Eugene Jeremiah Bass, a successful druggist and business man of the prosperous city of Portsmouth, was born barely a yaer after the war, on April 14, 1866. His father was Southall Bass, a junk dealer of Portsmouth, who was a son of Willis and Sarah Bass. The mother of our subject, before her marriage, was Miss Mary O. Elliott, a daughter of Josiah and Jemima Elliott. There is a strain of white blood inherited from one side and a strain of Indian blood coming down from both sides, so that Dr. Bass represents a sort of trinity of races.
He was born at Portsmouth and has resided in that city all his life with the exception of the time he has been away at school.
He attended the Portsmouth public schools and passed from there to Shaw University for his professional course, winning from Leonard School of Pharmacy the Ph. G. degree in 1896. He had considerable practical experience in the drug business before going to college, having been in the Navy Yard Dispensary at Portsmouth for a number of years.
With the growing spirit of cooperation and with the increased purchasing power of the Negro, nothing is thought of of the establishment of a drug store or of any other enterprise; but twenty-five years ago, when Dr. Bass began business in Portsmouth, it took a man of faith and of vision to launch a new business and stay by it through the starving time. That he was able to start and conduct a successful drug business at that early date in his home town is a compliment at once to his character and to his capacity. He is running the business under the name of the Eugene J. Bass Drug Store, of which he is the proprietor and manager.
On November 1, 1906, Dr. Bass was married Miss Lizzie Small, of Holland, Virginia. They have three chileren, Eugene J., Jr., Ann E., and Rebecca O. Bass.
Dr. Bass has a younger brother also in the drug business, whose story appears elsewhere in this volume.
When asked how, in his opinion, the best interests of the race may be promoted, Dr. Bass replied that the thing most needed is Christian education.
Dr. Bass is a Republican in politics and is an active member of the A.M.E. Church, of which he is a trustee. Among the secret orders he is identified with the Pythians and other local organizations.
Being a sort of pioneer in the business life of this people in Portsmouth, he has naturally become interested in a number of other enterprises apart from his drug business. His wide acquaintance and his business experience have made him a valuable man in the starting and carrying on of new enterprises such as banks, stores, etc.. He is a director in the Standard Building & Loan Association of Portsmouth, a stockholder in the Mutual Savings Bank of the same city, he is also a stockholder in the Tidewater Bank & Trust Company of Norfolk, of the Twin City Amusement Corporation and the Progressive Shoe Store of Norfolk, and is financially interested in the Tidewater Buliding & Loan Association of Portsmouth. Dr. Bass is known as a safe and conservative business man is regarded as a good citizen by the best people of both races.
He has the distinction of being the second man of his race to pass the Virginia Pharmaceutical Board.
The Druggists circular anc Chemical Gazette, November 1897
Eugene J. Bass has a successful business at Portsmouth. he got his start in the pharmaceutical professon as a nurse and general helper in the dispensary of the Navy Yard at his city. This was in 1884, and for ten years he kept his position, reading at odd times the books which he found in the medical library. The surgeons and apothecaries seeing that he was apt and ambitious encouraged and helped him. In the fall of 1894 he resigned his position at the dispensary, and in two years was a full-fledge Ph.G. He went before the Virginia Board and is one of the two coloredmen who have passed the examination of that Board.
Mr. Bass finds that the colored pharmacist takes quite well with both white and colored populations.
1910 Federal Census of Portsmouth, Virginia (22 Apr 1910)
Eugene Bass Mu 44 M VA VA VA Head Pharmacist Own Business
Lizzie S. Mu 34 F VA VA VA Wife
Eugene J. Mu 2 M VA VA VA Son
Annie E. Mu 6/12 F VA VA VA Daughter
Stella Small Mu 32 F VA VA VA SisterL
(Married 4 years)
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Bassett Family Association Database
1866 - 1944 (77 years)