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- Portrait and Biographical Record of Leavenworth, Douglas and Franklin Counties
Honorable Walter B. Bass
Honorable Walter B. Bass, deceased, formerly a successful grain and stock farmer of Ottawa Township, Franklin County, was born in Williamstown, Orange County, Vermont, December 4, 1828. His father, Joel, was a son of Joel Bass, Sr., who was a son of one of three brothers that came to this country from England and settled in the New England states. The education of our subject was obtained in the common schools and Kimball Union academy. In 1850 he went to Kentucky and there he taught school for two years, after which he engaged in farming in Will County, Illinois, for about fifteen years, buying and improving one hundred and sixty acres of land that was raw prairie and engaging largely in the stock business. In December, 1868, he came to Kansas and settled in Ottawa Township, Franklin County, where his family still resides. All around this locality he found the land raw and destitute of improvements, not even having fences. Beginning with a half section, he broke the land, put the best of it under the plow, so that one hundred acres were in cultivation. Most of the property was used for hay and grazing purposes. He gave considerable attention to the stock business, raising cattle and handling other stock.
In public affairs Mr. Bass was active, affiliating in his earlier days with the Republican party, but becoming somewhat independent in later life. He was a champion of the free silver cause. While in Illinois he served for some time as township supervisor, a position similar to that of county commissioner. After coming to Kansas he was township trustee for many years. In the fall of 1880 he was elected to the state legislature on the Republican ticket. During his term of service he was a member of the committee that drafted the Murray act and gave considerable time to the successful carrying through of the bill. From the time of his settlement in the west he was identified with the Presbyterian Church, in which he served for several years as an elder.
February 26, 1856, in Orange County, Vermont, Mr. Bass married Ellen, daughter of John and Dolly (Smith) Lynde. Her grandfather, Judge Cornelius Lynde, who was for many years a judge, descended from an English family that settled in the neighborhood of Malden, Massachusetts. John Lynde, a native of Vermont, was a farmer and a man of influence and strong character. For years he was a director in a bank at Northfield and another in Barre. In politics he was a Whig and later a Republican, and he served ably in the state legislature, both as representative and as senator. He was a strong supporter of the temperance cause. By his marriage to Miss Smith he had twelve children, all but one of whom attained mature years, Mrs. Bass being the eldest. She received good advantages in girlhood and was fitted, both by natural gifts and by training, for the responsibilities of life. By her marriage nine children were born, but only three attained maturity. Of these William assists in the management of the home farm; John, who married Sarah Ruth Tracy, also resides on the old homestead; and Ella, deceased, was the wife of George Marsh.
The latter part of the life of Mr. Bass was spent somewhat in retirement, although he continued to maintain an oversight of his property interests long after advancing years rendered manual labor unadvisable. During the existence of the Grange he was one of its best known members. Both by principle and by practice he advocated the temperance cause, regarding the licensing of liquor as an evil to be condemned. When in his seventieth year he passed from earth, March 14, 1898.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1828 - 1898 (69 years)