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- Published March 5, 1923
Iola, Kansas Doctor Bass is Dead
It is with deep regret that the Iola Register announces the death of Dr. J.S. Bass which occurred at one o'clock Sunday afternoon, March 4, 1923. Death resulting from pneumonia following an attack of the flu. Doctor Bass, a full-blood Negro, was born a slave, but he made himself a man. In the face of obstacles that innumerable multitudes of men would have deemed insuperable, he drove his unaided way through the schools until he became a college graduate and was admitted to the practice of medicine. He came to Iola many years ago and soon established himself as a good physician, a good man, and a good citizen. His professional skill was such that he numbered many white people among his patients, while his personal character was so conspicuous for lofty ideals and high-minded integrity that he very soon came to command the respect and confidence and cordial good will of the entire community. His influence among his own people was always steadying and uplifting. He was deeply devoted to them and the great motive of his life was to help them to overcome the handicap of their color and condition. For the past two years he has given all the time he could possibly spare from his own work and much that he ought not to have spared, to the effort to secure for the Colored people of Iola a community center, a place where they could gather for the promotion of their social life and to consider matters that speciallly interested them. For some time he has not been in the best of health and repeatedly he has expressed to the writer of these lines the hope that he might be spared to complete that work. That wish was not granted for there still remains some hundreds of dollars to be raised before the property will be all paid for. But the Colored People of Iola could not do anything that would so honor themselves as to press forward with this enterprise, complete it, and make it a memorial to Doctor Bass. In his last illness Dr. Bass had the constant, skilled and loving attention of his son, also a physician, who dropped his practice in Pittsburg, Kansas, in order to be with his father. The white physicians of the town were called into consultation, a call to which they readily responded, for there is not one of them who has not held Dr. Bass in the highest personal and professional esteem. Everything, therefore, was done that could be done, but in his weakened condition there was not vitality enough left to overcome the attack, and the end came at near one o'clock yesterday. The entire community will deeply sympathize with the bereaved family and will feel that Iola has lost an honored and very useful citizen. The funeral will be held Tuesday afternoon from the A.M.K. Church, and will be followed by burial in Highland Cemetery, Iola, Kansas. Published March 6, 1923
Iola, Kansas John Silas Bass, whose death on Sunday afternoon as 12:49 o'clock was noted in yesterday's Iola Register, was born in Giles County, Tennessee on December 2, 1848, and died at his home, 424 North Street, Iola, Kansas on March 4, 1923. He was born a slave, went through the Civil War as a cart boy to Captain Summer, went through the reconstruction period, Ku Klux Klan, and the drawbacks that followed his freedom. He immediately began to acquire an education, taught school for awhile, and became an ordained minister in the African Methodist Church. Then he began to study medicine. Dr. Bass lived in Tennessee until 1902. He finished the medical course at Meharry Medical College at Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Bass was the oldest living graduate of the school from which he graduated. He also was in the second class ever graduated by the school, there being only three members of the class of 1878. He practiced medicine in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, until he moved to Iola, Kansas. Here he has resided continuously, going in and out among its citizenship, making a host of friends. He has practiced medicine actively since 1878. Dr. Bass was one of the volunteers that went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, during the Yellow Fever epidemic, for which service he was highly complimented by the public in many published and oral communications. Dr. Bass was the father of six children, one which, Hattie Bass, having preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife, Fannie N. Bass, and his five children, John S. Bass, Jr., of Iola, Kansas, Dr. L.N. Bass of Pittsburg, Kansas, Mrs. Nannie M. (Bass) Gordon of Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. William George Bass of Kansas City, Missouri, and Miss Lillian F. Bass of Iola, Kansas; four grandchildren, Fannie E. Gordon, Evenlyn L. Lucas, George Bass Lucas, and Lewis Bass, Jr.; and a brother, Reverend L.N. Bass of Horatio, Arkansas. Dr. Bass's life has been one of action, and his one aim in life was to be of service to his friends and to his community. The funeral services were held this afternoon from the A.M.E. Church with a large number of friends in attendance. The floral tributes were numerous and beautiful attesting the esteem in which he was held and the sympathy of his friends and neighbors. Burial was made in Highland Cemetery, Iola, Kansas.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1848 - 1923 (74 years)