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- Jared and Harriet (Sherman) Bassett settled in Evanston, Cook County, Illinois.
1860 Federal Census of Waukegan, Lake County, Illinois
Jerod Bassett - 46 - M - Vermont - MD
Harriett - 38 - F - Vermont
Hattie M. - 11 - F - Illinois
George E. - 3 - M - Illinois
Robert J. - 2 - M - Illinois
1880 Federal Census of Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Jared Bassett - 66 - M - VT-CT-MA - Head - Retired Doctor
Harriett - 58 - F - VT-MA-VT - Wife - Keeping House
George - 23 - M - IL-VT-VT - Son - At home
Robert - 22 - M - IL-VT-VT - Son - At home
W. G. Thompson - 62 - M - NY-NY-NY - Brother-in-Law - Clothier
Addie C. - 27 - F - IL-NY-VT - Niece - At home
Ella Crowly - 15 - F - IL-IR-IR - Other - Domestic servant
Annie Fitzpatrick - 23 - F - WI-IR-IR - Other - Domestic servant
Dr. Jared Bassett
(Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Evanston)
(1906)
Dr. Jared Bassett (deceased) was born in East Montpelier, Vt., January 26, 1914, the son of Joel and Ruby (Metcalf) Bassett, and grandson of Jared Bassett, who emigrated from Connecticut and became one of the early settlers of the "Green Mountain State". While the genealogy of the family is not now accessible, it is believed to have been of Huguenot origin, the first American ancestor of the name having crossed the ocean in 1621, the year after the landing of the "Mayflower" at Plymouth Rock. Dr. Bassett's mother was a devout member of the Society of Friends, while the father, who was a farmer by occupation and held many offices of honor and trust in the community, shared the faith and mode of life of his wife. Although not strictly a Quaker in religious faith and practice, the son inherited many of the traits of his ancestors, including the strength of character, simplicity of manner and quiet self-control which were marked characteristics of the followers of that faith. After having spent his boyhood and youth on the farm engaged in farm work and in attendance at the district school, at the age of twenty-two years, having decided to adopt the medical profession, he entered the office of Dr. James Spaulding, of Montpelier, as a student in that line. In 1836 he attended medical lectures at Woodstock, Vt., later took a course in the medical department of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, and in 1839 received the degree of M.D. from the Medical College at Albany, N.Y. Then having settled at Plainfield, Washington County, Vt., he engaged in practice, but later removed to Northfield in the same State, where he remained seven years, winning the experience of the old-school practitioners of that period.
On May 29, 1844, Dr. Bassett was married to Miss Harriet Sherman, a daughter of Col. Nathaniel and Deborah (Webster) Sherman, of Barre, Vt., and sister of the late Alson S. and Oren Sherman, who were prominent business men of Chicago at an early day. Two years later his attention having been attracted to the advantages offered in the West to those entering upon a business career, Dr. Bassett, accompanied by his wife, started for Chicago, making the journey by stage to lake Champlain, across the lake to Whitehall by steamer, thence to Rochester by canal-boat, and from there to Buffalo by a newly built section of what is now the New York Central Railroad. At Buffalo they took a lake steamer for Chicago, arriving at their destination on September 10, 1846, after a lake journey of ten days. Chicago, a primitive city of some ten thousand inhabitants, was then just entering upon the development which, in the growth of the next sixty years, made it the second city in the United States with a population of two million souls.
In Chicago Dr. Bassett found a temporary boarding place on West Washington Street, and opened an office in the second story of a frame building on Lake Street, where he displayed a sign indicating his profession. A year later he bought a small house and lot on Clark Street, near Monroe, then a pleasant neighborhood of frame cottages in the outskirts of the town, paying for the land about fifteen dollars per front foot. After a few years residence here he converted his home into business property and removed to the West Side, taking up his residence at the corner of West Adams and Morgan streets, where he purchased a small brick cottage (the first of its kind erected west of the river), with about an acre of ground. In 1857 he removed to Waukegan, where he resided until 1868, when he returned to Chicago, in the meantime giving attention to his landed interests in Chicago, making daily trips between his suburban home and the city by the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, the pioneer suburban line for the accomodation of dwellers along the North Shore. After his return to Chicago he erected a more commodious dwelling on the site of his West Side home. After practicing his profession in Chicago for about twelve years, Dr. Bassett turned his attention to the improvement of his real estate, keeping pace with the growth of the city. In common with the mass of property holders of the city of Chicago, he was a heavy loser by the great fire of 1871, the retrievement of which cost him many years of labor and anxiety. In politics he was a zealous Republican, before the days of the Civil War maintaining the anti-slavery views of his ancestors. He was one of the founders of the People's Church, which grew out of the exclusion of Dr. H. W. Thomas from the Methodist denomination. In 1894 he removed to Evanston, where he continued to reside until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Bassett had one son, Robert J., a lawyer, who continued to reside with his parents during their latter years, Dr, Bassett died May 10, 1905, his wife having preceded him, dying August 14, 1900.
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