My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Crittenden County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1890.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

* * * *

James Bassett, merchant and farmer of Marion, was born in Vicksburg, Miss., in 1845, and is the son of Samuel and Lydia (French) Bassett, who are natives of England. They came to the United States before their marriage and were united at Vicksburg, making their home there, whence he went into the Mexican War. Soon after his return from the war he died of yellow fever, and after his death the mother and family remained at Vicksburg where Mrs. Bassett was married to David McClure, a native of Mississippi. In 1856 Mr. and Mrs. McClure moved to Memphis, and in the following year to Crittenden County, Ark., where the aged mother still lives, her husband having died in 1871. To her first marriage were born two sons, James and Samuel D., and by the second marriage was born one child (now deceased). Before the war James Bassett made his home in Memphis most of the time and at the commencement of the war joined the Confederate army as a private in the Twenty-first Tennessee Regiment, under Col. Pickett. He served three years and was not in any battles of note; was in Memphis when that city was besieged. After the war he returned to Crittenden County, where he has since lived and has been engaged in farming, and in 1883 embarked in the merchandising business at Marion, and today is one of the most prominent citizens of that place. He was married to Mary A. Fox, who was born in Memphis and reared in Arkansas, and a daughter of John H. and Eva (Echeiner) Fox, natives of Germany. The mother died in 1889 at a very old age. To Mr. and Mrs. Bassett have been born four children: Lydia E., Mary E. (who is the wife of Dr. T. O. Bridgeforth), Samuel C. and Virginia M. Politically, Mr. Bassett is a Democrat and is a member of the Knights of Honor, Lodge No. 3114 of Marion. This family is composed of fine-looking people and has been noted for some time for its remarkable health. Mr. Bassett in many ways is a typical western man, imbued with that vim, enterprise and push so characteristic of the free sons of the West, and has done much for the advancement of his county.

* * * *

This family biography is one of 82 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Crittenden County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Crittenden County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Crittenden County, Arkansas family biographies here: Crittenden County, Arkansas Biographies

Use the links at the top right of this page to search or browse thousands of other family biographies.