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- Artemas and Sarah Bassett moved to Starksboro, Vermont in 1823 and then moved to Adrian, Michigan in 1835.
1850 Federal Census of Adrian Township, Lenawee County, Michigan
Artemis Bassett - 68 - M - Rhode Island - Farmer
Sarah - 70 - F - New Hampshire
Portrait and Biographcal Album of Lenawee County, Michigan - 1888
Nathan H. Bassett, the subject of this sketch, was born in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, March 3, 1812, and is the son of Artemas Bassett, who in early life was a tanner and currier, but after his marriage followed agriculture. He was a native of Massachusetts, being born at Uxbridge, June 19, 1782, and went to New Hampshire with his parents, William and Margery Bassett, when a child. His wife was, before her marriage Miss Sarah Harkness, daughter of Nathan and Susannah Harkness, of Richmond, New Hampshire, and they were married March 28, 1805. Of this union there were born two sons and four daughters. All the members of his family belong to the Society of Friends, and possess the conscientious and upright traits of character for which that religious sect is noted.
Our subject was the second son and fourth child of his parents, with whom he removed in 1823 to Starksboro, Vermont, where he lived until he was twenty-one years of age. He attended the district school until eleven years old, after which he assisted in the labors of the farm, going to school only in winter. When twenty-one years of age he sought his fortunes in the West, migrating to Michigan, where he arrived in the spring of 1833. For three years after coming to Lenawee County he worked as a farm hand, then in 1836 he established the woolen factory and carding-machine at Medina, this county, which was the second establishment of the kind in the county, and did the business of the farmers for forty miles south and west. This he operated successfully for about fourteen years, and in 1855 sold it to Hotchkiss & Daniels and purchased a farm in Adrian Township, about halfway between Adrian and Tecumseh, which he has greatly improved, fitted up with comfortable buildings and brought to a high state of cultivation, where he now resides in the enjoyment of comfort and plenty, and that freedom from anxiety and care which his long and active life has so richly earned.
Mr. Bassett was married, Sept. 15, 1836, to Miss Adelia Webb, a native of Hackensack, New Jersey; her parents were early settlers of Raisin Township, this county. Of this union there were four children, as follows: William J. was born in September, 1837, and died in the Indian Territory Aug. 16, 1869; Albert H. was born Sept. 15, 1842, and married Miss Hallie, daughter of Asa James, of New York, and is farming in Illinois; he has two sons. Edgar A. was born Aug. 28, 1844. and married Miss Drum, whose people were from Illinois; he resides in Ashland, Dal., and is engaged in the hardware business. Francis M. was born Nov. 21, 1849, and died Aug. 16, 1855, on the old home. Our subject assisted his sons, Albert and Edgar A., giving them both an excellent start in life. The mother of these children was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, Nov. 4, 1812, and came to Michigan with her parents in 1825. She died on the present homestead in 1880, at the age of sixty-eight years.
In 1863 Mr. Bassett turned his attention to stock-raising, and ever since that time has taken life easy, giving his attention mainly to the raising of fine stock. His sheep are of the highest grades, his horses are of very fine quality, and in fact all his stock may be classed as thoroughbred, and he has taken many premiums at the county and State fairs. About half his farm lies in Raisin Township, and the other in Adrian Township, and he has resided upon it thirty-two years. The father and mother of our subject died on the homestead here at the ages of seventy-seven and eighty-five years respectively.
In politics Mr. Bassett is a solid Republican, and exerts himself strenously for the success of that party. On the temperance question he believes in the theory of high license. He is an earnest, conscientious and upright citizen, interesting himself in every movement that looks to the improvement of society. His honesty and upright course in life have won for him a large circle of friends, whose society he now enjoys, retired from the turmoil of active life.
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Bassett Family Association Database
Abt 1779 - 1863 (84 years)