Book Of The Week: A History of Kentucky

A History of Kentucky:

 Embracing Gleanings, Reminiscences, Antiquities, Natural Curiosities, Statistics, and Biographical Sketches of Pioneers, Soldiers, Jurists, Lawyers, Statesmen, Divines, Mechanics, Farmers, Merchants, and Other Leading Men, of All Occupations and Pursuits

William B. Allen

Bradley & Gilbert, 1872 - Green County (Ky.) - 449 pages

©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Notes From My Grandmother | Bass Lineage and Genealogy

Somehow, much of my grandmother's hand written and (badly) typed notes and research wound up in my possession. Traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles and back to Chicago again. It sat, in the dark of my mother's closet, until my dad passed and my mom decided to begin her great purge. Knowing I had picked up the torch, the next generation to pursue the Greatest Hobby on Earth, the papers came to live with me. Unsure for many years on just what to do with them, I have decided to bring them out and share them with you - transcribed, of course - no one can read my grandmother's handwriting! But in her own words; mistakes, rambling sentences, and all. I think she will be pleased her work and her writing are once again out in the light.

Bass Family Lineage and Genealogy .....

Grandma didn't know much about the Basses, I still don't. I wrote several posts (here) (here) and (here) about what I know. She was able to put together a spotty genealogy and a few facts, which I now present.

Robert Bass - - born in Boone County, KY, May 9, 1827. His father William L Bass, born in KY and married Margaret Roberts, who was born in KY in 1803. They moved to Bartholomew County, IN. In 1843 came to IA to Van Buren County and to Mahaska County in 1845. W L Bass died in 1885 - - his wife in 1883 - - both more than 80 years old.

Robert Bass was the oldest of the family of six sons and three daughters. He came to IA when he was 17 years. He was married to Mary Ann Roberts. He married Martha J Algood on July 4, 1865 after his first wife died. Martha was born in Montgomery County, IN and was a daughter of John L Algood, one of the earliest settlers of the state of IA, arriving about 1847. Children by the first marriage; Rosa (Mrs W E Stringer), John A Bass - - farmer of Pratt County, KS. By second marriage; Mary B (Mrs W E Moore), Charles, Frank, Nellie (died at 10 mos), R W - - druggist, Monong County, Agnes (Mrs Frank Bacon), Paul T.

Robert Bass was a justice of the peace for several years. Twp trustee, member of school board.


GENEALOGY

GEN 1

****Nathan Bass b. Nov 4, 1775 VA d. Sept 7, 1849 (74 years)

            married Ruhama Price, December 25, 1796, KY

                            b. Sept 30, 1777 NJ d. Oct 21, 1853 IN (76 years)

issue:

Elizabeth R b. Oct 17, 1797 KY d. Feb 16, 1862 KY - 65 years

    m. Mar 20, 1817 KY

Sally W b. Aug 8, 1799 KY d. Feb 27, 1819 KY - 20 years

     m. Dec 19, 1817 KY

***William L b. Jan 8, 1802 KY d. Mar 18, 1885 IA - 83 years

     m. July 3, 1824 KY

Josiah L b. Nov 10, 1803 KY d. Mar 28, 1884 IN - 42 years

     m. Mar 13, 1829 KY

Susan W b. Nov 16, 1805 KY d. May 22, 1843 IN - 38 years

     m. May 31, 1827 IN

Charity C b. Dec 2, 1807 KY d. Jan 5, 1836 IN - 29 years

     m. Oct 14, 1828 IN

David G b. Nov 20, 1809 KY d. Jan 25, 1877 MI - 68 years

     m. Sept 29, 1831  IN

Jonathan I b. Feb 29, 1812 KY d. Apr 14, 1874 IN - 62 years

     m. Nov 23, 1837 IN

N Woodford b. June 18, 1814 KY d. Oct 18, 1888 KS - 74 years

     m. Aug 21, 1842 IL

P Jackson b. Feb 1, 1817 KY d. Nov 20, 1891 KY - 74 years

     m. Mar 12, 1843 KY

Thomas W b. July 29, 1819 KY d. Feb 18, 1895 IN - 70 years

     m. Feb 16, 1845 IN

GEN 2

***William Leonard Bass 

     married Margaret Roberts b. KY

issue:

Elizabeth - m. - - Doze; issue Martha D m. - - Harbor

**Eliza Ann b. July 22, 1836 d. Dec 14, 1917 -
     m. Apr 30, 1857 Elijah Busby

Marion - m. Susan James; issue: Sarah, Mary, Willis

Tom

Ruhama - m. - - Lower; issue: Alice, Rose, Wood, Homer, Jessie

Andrew Jackson - m. Adelaid Chew; issue: Albert, May, Eliza, Wilbur, Jim

Robert - b. May 9, 1827 d. May 25, 1909 - 82 years

     m. Mary Ann Roberts (first wife) issue: Rosie, John

     m. Martha Jane Algood (second wife) issue: Mary, Charley, Frank, Agnes, Paul, Nellie

                                                              *Frank - issue: Nettie and Frank b. 1807 d. 1930

                                                              *Agnes b. 1875 d. 19 - ?

Woodford  b. Apr 19, 1844 d. Jan 12, 1901

     m. ? ; issue: Belle - - - -, Emiline Atwood

                   
GEN 3

** Eliza Ann b. July 22, 1836 d. Dec 14, 1917
        m. Apr 30, 1857 Elijah Busby b. Nov 17, 1831 d. Dec 14, 1917

issue:

Wm. Leonard b. Mar 27, 1859 d. July 9, 1917
     married Margaret - - - b. ? d. Nov 2, 1883 - 80 years

*Laura Alice b. Aug 26, 1861 d. Feb 1952 - 91 years
      m - Zadoc Willis Thomas; issue: Dana E, Lauren, Irene, #Robert Willis

Emma b. Dec 5, 1866 d. 1951? m. - - Brown

John Robert b. Nov 25, 1869 d. ?

Homer Ernest b. July 20, 1872 d. ? - m. Loda - -; issue: Margaret, Homer

Lena Estelle b. Jan 26, 1877 d. July  1937 - 51 years m. - - - VanEss

..........end..........

                                                         

©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved. 

©1950-82 Elizabeth Twining Potwin Thomas - private collection

Brick Wall Ancestor | #2 Margaret "Peggy" Roberts Bass

We all have them! Those stubborn ancestors that refuse to come out of hiding. No matter how much coaxing we do! Well, I think it's time to bring them out of the shadows - put their redacted story out there - another piece of the puzzle could be lurking just around the (cyber) corner, in someone's basement, or closet, or sitting in a box on a book shelf ...... You never, ever know where that loose chink will manifest, the one that allows you to push out one brick, then the next. Food for thought. So without further ado....

Brick Wall Ancestor #2 Margaret "Peggy" Roberts Bass

Margaret "Peggy" Roberts was born April 1st 1803 in Kentucky. Somewhere. To unknown parents. According to her headstone she died November 2nd 1883. She was 80y 7m 1d old. Back calculation of this gives us the April 1st 1803 birth date. There are no actual records of her birth that have been found to date.

Margaret married William Bass, son of Nathan Bass and his wife Ruhama, in 1823. There is a record of a Peggy Roberts marrying a Wm L Bass on July 3rd 1823 in Boone County, Kentucky. This record is only a transcript, the original record being rather elusive, I know of no researcher who has discovered it yet. (Because that would give us all the information we need, right!)

Nathan Bass, William's father, is found on the 1820 census in Barren County, Kentucky. Looking at that county for Roberts, there are four households listed: Ardemas, Isaac, Drury and Thomas. Looking at Boone County there are five Roberts households: Billingsly, Daniel, Phillip, Wesley and William.

How would a girl from Boone county end up with a boy from Barren county? The counties are 200 miles apart. However, looking at William's father Nathan again, it is found that he is buried in Boone County at the Old Salem Baptist Cemetery. Which is part of the Old Salem Predestinarian Baptist Church. Were William and Margaret members? Did they meet and get married there? I have yet to uncover records from this church.

So, Boone county or Barren county, Margaret and William were married sometime before May 1827 when their first child was born. In Kentucky. Or maybe Indiana. By 1830 the couple was living in Bartholomew, Indiana and stayed there for the next 15 or so years. They are listed on the 1830 and 1840 US censuses. Sometime around 1843 the family removed to Iowa, where their youngest child was born  in April of 1844.

I have not been successful at finding the family on the 1850 US census. They are listed on the 1856 Iowa State census, and the 1860/1870/1880 US censuses. That 1850 census would really be helpful at identifying the children!

Margaret and William had at least ten children. There may have been more. If they were the couple that married in 1823 I would suspect there was a child or two born before their oldest known child was born in 1827.


The children:

• Robert b. 1827 Kentucky or Indiana 
• Nathan J b. 1829 Kentucky or Indiana
• Elizabeth J b. 1831 Indiana
• Wm Marion b. 1833 Indiana
• Eliza Ann b. 1836 Indiana
• Thomas b. 1838 Indiana
• Male UNK b. 1838/9 Indiana *counted on the 1840 census, not seen again
• Ruhama F b. 1840 Indiana
• Andrew Jackson b. 1842 Indiana
• Woodford M b. 1844 Iowa

William's obituary speaks of eight children. Not named. Perhaps two died in infancy? "Obituary published in The Gospel Messenger, April 14, 1885, page 239  BASS.—In Middle Creek church, Iowa, Mar. 18, of old age, Bro. Wm. L. Bass, aged 83 years, 2 months and 10 days. Bro. Bass was born in Barren Co., Kentucky, moved to Iowa in 1843, lived in Mahaska county ever since. He was a consistent member of the Brethren church for many years. He leaves eight children, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren to mourn his departure. His companion preceded him about sixteen months. He had been very feeble for years and longed to die, being tired of life. Services by Bro. S. P. Miller assisted by J. Gable, from Heb. 4:9. Jestina Pfoutz." 

Margaret Roberts Bass and her husband William L Bass are buried in the Wymore Cemetery in Mahaska county, Iowa. There are several children and grandchildren buried there as well.

.......... to be continued ..........

©Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Nathan Bass: More Questions Than Answers (52 Ancestors #15)

I must confess. I really have a hard time writing about an ancestor I know so little about. It's not for lack of trying, but Nathan Bass is one tough nut! I much prefer to have enough information to paint a picture of a life, to answer a few questions, to lay down some facts. Such is not the case here. This story will have more questions than answers. But it is a starting point. And a place to publicly question a lot of the misinformation floating around on the internet.  For my own piece of mind at any rate.

Nathan Bass is my 4th great grandfather. From the research my grandmother, the Genealogy Queen, did on the man I know he was born in Virginia on November 4, 1775. His parents have been unproved to date although there are lots of theories out there on the public trees of the world wide web. I prefer to stick to the facts and the fact here is his parentage has not yet been proved.

Nathan moved to Green County, Kentucky sometime prior to 1796, where he married Ruhama Price on Christmas Day of that year. The couple had 11 children according to my grandmother's research. All born in Kentucky.

The 1800 Kentucky Tax Lists show a Nathan Bass in Green County.

Nathan is listed on the 1810 and 1820 Federal census residing in Barren County, Kentucky. There were two land grants issued to Nathan for parcels of land in Barren; 134 acres in 1806 and 100 acres in 1816. Nathan and Ruhama's first four children were married in Kentucky.

The 1830 and 1840 Federal census' record that Nathan and Ruhama had moved to Flat Rock,  Bartholomew County, Indiana, where five more of the couple's children were married between 1830 and 1845.  Nathan purchased two adjacent 80 acre parcels in Bartholomew Co through the U.S. General Land Office in 1821.

Nathan died September 7, 1849. He is buried in the Salem Predestinarian Baptist Church Cemetery in Walton, Boone Co, Kentucky according to Find A Grave. (His wife, interestingly, is buried in Flat Rock Baptist Cemetery in Flat Rock, Bartholomew Co, Indiana)

These are the facts, stark as they may be. For some reason it is being published on public family trees all around the web that Nathan's middle name is Woodford. Nowhere have I found this legitimately documented. The one and only place I have found an indication of a middle name is on the gravestone. It is inscribed "Nathan R. Bass".

Now for the questions:

• Where did "Woodford" come from?

• There are several theories as to Nathan's parents, mostly on the same trees that show him as Nathan Woodford. Again, these are all public trees with no legitimate source citations. Who are Nathan's parents?
• I wonder whether Nathan's father was involved in the American Revolution. There are several Bass's from Virginia listed as Patriots with the DAR, but none indicate this particular Nathan as a son. Was his father involved in the Revolutionary War?
• I also wonder if Nathan was perhaps involved in the War of 1812. I have found nothing to support this yet. Was he?
• Why did Nathan move from Virginia to Kentucky? Why did Nathan move from Kentucky to Indiana? Why is Nathan buried in Kentucky, and not with his wife in Indiana?

More questions than answers ......

footnote: in researching all the places Nathan had lived and realizing that Kentucky was part of the Virginia Territory until 1792 my curiosity was piqued. There will be more to this story .....

Margaret Roberts Bass: Iowa Pioneer & A Bit Of An April Fool's Puzzle (52 Ancestors #4)

Another difficult ancestor. I wanted to do my 52 Ancestors project with some of my more obscure people. My hope is that in writing it out and publishing it I will a) see something new, b) someone will come forward with a new bit of information. Let me tell you what I know of my third great grandmother Margaret Roberts Bass.

Margaret Roberts was born on April 1, 1803 (according to her headstone) in Kentucky. To UNK parents. She 'disappears' for her entire childhood. She appears to have gotten married to William L. Bass 3 July 1823 in Boone KY. The record index lists her name as Peggy. I have not yet been able to obtain this marriage document.

The couple then disappears for 23 years. The next sighting is in 1856 in Mahaska Co, Iowa. They are listed in the Iowa State Census. They have five children by this time. two daughters and three sons, my second great grandmother among them. The children range in age from 19 to 11 and all are recorded as being born in Iowa.

There are some notes my grandmother the Genealogy Queen had in her Big Box of Stuff that says the Bass family moved to Bartholomew Co, Indiana but no date is given. They went on to Van Buren Co, Iowa in 1843, and then to Mahaska Co, Iowa in 1845. The notes were dated 1950 and I have no idea where she obtained the information.

Margaret and William were said to have 8 children, according to William's obituary, and were members of the Brethren church. I have found no obituary for Margaret.

Margaret Roberts Bass lived the remainder of her years in Mahaska Co, Iowa. She died on 2 Nov 1883 and is buried in the Wymore Cemetery with her husband William.

There is so much more to this story that I have yet to find out. Who were Margaret's parents? Why did they move to Indiana, and then to Iowa? Where are the other three children? With more and more resources being published on the internet every day I hope that it will only be a matter of time before I can get a few of these questions answered.

But until then, Margaret is keeping true to her birth date by being a long standing April Fool's puzzle for me!