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- History of Butler County Pennsylvania - 1883
ZELIENOPLE
Pleasantly located on the south side of the Connoquenessing, occupying an elevated plateau of wide extent, stands the borough of Zelienople. The town is regularly laid out; its streets are neatly kept, its sidewalks good, and its houses, though not stylish or imposing in appearance, yet have about them an air of homelike comfort. To the northward, the winding Connoquenessing pursues its course around wooded foothills whose gracefully arching summits in picturesque outlines against the sky offer a pleasing contrast to the level bottom-lands, teeming with agricultural wealth, which stretch backward from the river for miles.
Surely Dr. Detmar BASSE, the cultured, scholarly German, who selected this pleasant spot upon which to establish his Bassenheim and found a town, when all of it was but a wilderness, must have been attracted by a love for the beautiful as well as a desire for gain; and doubtless he foresaw how beautiful the whole might one day be made by man cooperating with nature. Detmar BASSE was a man of wealth and good taste, who had held several positions of trust in his own country; among others, he was sent as ambassador to Paris during the Napoleonic contest, representing the free city of Frankfort. In the year 1802, possibly attracted by a desire for adventure, he came to Pennsylvania and purchased an extensive tract of land (about 10,000 acres), lying in Butler and Beaver Counties. Soon after his settlement here, Dr. BASSE had a town laid out upon his land and gave it the name of Zelienople, in honor of his daughter Zelie, afterward the wife of P. L. PASSAVANT. In 1806, he went back to Germany, and, in 1807, returned, accompanied by his daughter, Mrs. PASSAVANT and her husband. In the year 1818, BASSE returned to his native country, leaving the settlement of his business affairs in the hands of his son-in-law, Mr. PASSAVANT. During his residence here, he built a large three-story house which he christened The Bassenheim. The building was of wood, built in imitation of ancient castles. The main portion of the house was three-story; there were two porches in front, one above the other, and two bow-windows. The front door was reached by a long flight of steps. Attached to the body of the house were two wings, each of two stories. The roof of the main part was flat and surrounded by railings. About the house were numerous outbuildings of peculiar shapes--circular, square, triangular, octagonal, etc. The Bassenheim mansion stood on the north side of the Connoquenessing near the spot where Joseph ALLEN's house now stands. It was destroyed by fire in 1842. Leading from it to the village, Dr. BASSE had a road cut through the woods, perfectly straight, and three rods in width.
The appellation, Doctor, was awarded Mr. BASSE by his American fellow-citizens. He had some knowledge of the use of simple drugs, and, in the early days of the settlement, when no physicians were to be had, he sometimes prescribed such remedies as he knew would be beneficial to those who were ailing. He is sometimes spoken of as Dr. MILLER. This mistake arose from the fact that he was accustomed to write his name Dr. BASSE MULLER, either to mystify the people or from some peculiar whim of his own. As he was a mill-owner, the use of the word was not inappropriate, but only a mark of eccentricity. He is remembered as a very courteous gentleman, a man of intellect and ability.
Philip Louis PASSAVANT, for years the most influential and leading citizen of Zelienople, was born in Frankfort, Germany, in 1777, and died in Zelienople in 1853. His wife, P. W. ZELIE (BASSE), was born in 1786 and died in 1871. Mr. PASSAVANT acted as agent for the disposal of the lands of the BASSE tract, and himself bought the tract on which the town stands. He was the first merchant in the place. Bringing some goods with him in 1807, he commenced business immediately after his arrival, and continued the same until 1848, when he sold out to his son, C. S. PASSAVANT, who is now the oldest merchant in the place.
The Passavant Family
A detailed account of the work accomplished by Detmar BASSE in the early history of Zelienople, will be found elsewhere in this chapter. His daughter, Zelie, became the wife of Philip Louis PASSAVANT, and the two came to America in 1807 in company with Mr. BASSE on his second visit to Zelienople. P.L. PASSAVANT was, for many years the foremost man in Zelienople, much respected as a business man on account of his integrity and fair dealing, and a prominent and influential member of society by reason of his well-known tact and ability.
The name PASSAVANT is of French origin, descended from the French Huguenots. Philip Louis PASSAVANT was born in Frankfort, Germany, in 1777, and died in Zelienople, Penn., April 15, 1853. He married Zelie BASSE in 1807. She was born 1786, and died December 29, 1871.
Mr. PASSAVANT acted as agent in disposing of the lands of the BASSE property, and himself bought the tract on which the town of Zelienople stands. He was the first merchant in the place. Bringing a quantity of goods with him from Germany in 1807, he at once commenced business. In 1810, he erected the building, an engraving of which appears on another page. To this store people resorted from all the surrounding country, and Zelienople thus became an important trading point at an early day. Mr. PASSAVANT continued in the mercantile business until 1848, when he sold out to his son, C.S. PASSAVANT, who has now been in business very much longer than any other merchant in the place.
P.L. and Zelie PASSAVANT were the parents of five children--Emma, now the wife of Rev. C.S. JENNINGS, Allegheny County; Philip Detmar (deceased); Charles Sidney, Zelienople; Virginia (deceased); and Rev. William A. PASSAVANT, D.D., a well-known Lutheran clergyman of Pittsburgh.
C.S. PASSAVANT is a well-known and prominent citizen of the place of his nativity, Zelienople. His wife is Jane, daughter of Edward V. and Catharine (BUHL) RANDOLPH, of Zelienople. Mr. and Mrs. PASSAVANT have two children--Charles S., Jr., and Emma V.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1786 - 1871 (85 years)