Husband: Stephen BASSETT
Birthdate: Nov. 27, 1788
Birthplace: NC (1,2)
Death date: Aug. 1867
Place of death: Houston Co. GA (3)
Father: William BASSETT (4)
Mother: Mary PHILLIPS (5)

Marriage date: Feb. 12, 1815 (1)
Marriage place: Barnwell, SC (1)

Wife: Jane MORRIS
(1)
Birthdate: April 17, 1799
Birthplace: Barnwell Co. SC (1)
Death date: April 4, 1870
Place of death: Houston Co. GA (5)
Father: Elisha MORRIS (5)
Mother: Rachel (5)

CHILDREN

Child No. 1: Mary Ann Angeline BASSETT
Birthdate: Oct. 15, 1819, NC (1)
Spouses' names: Wiley CLARK (1)
Marriage date: April 25, 1836 (1)
Death date: June 23, 1905, Monroe Co. GA (5)

Child No. 2: William Francis BASSETT (1)
Birthdate: Jan. 12, 1825, Jones Co. GA
Spouses' names: Sara Ann WALKER (6)
Marriage date: July 8, 1847, Houston Co. GA
Death date: Aug. 6, 1875, Houston Co. GA (7)

Child No. 3: Harriet Jane America BASSETT (1)
Birthdate: Mar. 29, 1830, Jones Co. GA (1)
Spouses' names: Jackson C. PATTISHALL (1)
Marriage date: Dec. 17, 1844, Houston Co. GA (8)
Death date: April 16, 1898, Houston Co. GA

Child No. 4: Stephen Elisha BASSETT (1)
Birthdate: June 17, 1833, Houston Co. GA (1)
Spouses' names: [1] Frances Emmoline HICKS (1) [2] Elizabeth Thomas YOUNG (1)
Marriage date: [1] Feb. 18, 1855, Crawford Co. GA (1) [2] Mar. 4, 1890, Lee Co. AL (1)
Death date: Jul. 20, 1897, Fort Valley, GA (9)

Child No. 5: Georgia Ann BASSETT (1)
Birthdate: Sept. 19, 1835, Byron, GA (Houston Co.)
Spouses' names: Wiley M. MELVIN (1)
Marriage date: July 13, 1854, Byron, GA (1)
Death date: Feb. 4, 1915, Fort Valley, GA (Houston Co.) (10)
 
 
Documentation:
1-Family Bible.
2-1860 Census.
3-Obituary, Southern Christian Advocate, Oct. 4, 1867.
4-Will of William Bassett, 1810, Will Bk A, page 23, Barnwell, SC.
5-Obituary, Southern Christian Advocate, 1867-78, Sept. 25, 1872.
6-"Early American Marriages, Georgia to 1850" by Jordan R. Dodd.
7-Tombstone, Shiloh Methodist Churchyard, Byron, GA.
8-"First 110 Years in Houston Co, GA" 1822-1932.
9-Obituaries, Macon Telegraph Jul. 21, 1897, pg. 3 Houston Home Journal, Jul. 29, 1897, pg. 3.
10-Records of Oaklawn Cemetery, Fort Valley, GA.

Notes:
* Family tradition says that this young family arrived from South Carolina circa 1819 and settled first near old Ft. Hawkins, close to Macon, when that part of the state was still on the frontier and the Cherokee Indians were still inhabiting the area. By the 1820 Census, they had moved to Jones Co., near Clinton.
* In 1828, Stephen purchased 202 1/2 acres from Alexander B. Kennedy for Lot 33, District 5 of Houston Co. for $250. (1) This was land originally drawn by Mr. Kennedy in the 1821 Georgia Land Lottery. The property was approximately a mile and a half southeast of Byron, Ga. This is where the Bassetts settled permanently.
* There would be years of hard work ahead, but people who managed to obtain the land that was offered in the Lotteries, considered themselves fortunate, indeed. The land in Houston County was rich. It was also forested and needed to be cleared and fenced in order to plant their crops and orchards. At this point, roads were few and primitive. Railroads would not arrive in the area until the 1840's.
* Their church, assumed to have been the Shiloh Methodist Church, near their farm, was undoubtedly the mainstay of both their spiritual and social lives. Notations in the Pineola Bible (2) list the dates that each of the Bassett sons and daughters joined the Church, indicating its great importance to them. Stephen and Jane farmed, raised their family of 5 children and lived long and productive lives, accumulating a considerable amount of land in the process.
* The Civil War brought great personal tragedy to the family with the loss of 3 grandsons in service, Stephen and Will Clark (sons of daughter Mary) and Walter Pattishall, (daughter Harriet's son) as well as the death of a son-in-law, Wiley Clark, (Mary's husband). Two of their young Melvin grandchildren (children of daughter, Georgia) also died of illness during this time. (1863)
* Stephen Bassett died in 1867 (age 78) and Jane in 1870 (age 71). Family tradition says that they are buried in the Shiloh Methodist Churchyard near Byron, GA. While there are no markers for them in evidence, there are estimated to be as many as 150 unmarked graves within the cemetery. They were married for 52 years.