JESSIE LEE BASSETT

The following bio was taken from page 103 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

Jack Bassett, my great-great-great-grandfather, was a veteran of the War of 1812 and was in the Battle of New Orleans. After the war was over, the government gave him a grant of land a few miles from what is now La Grange, Georgia. He married Agatha Heard and they both are buried in Georgia. They had a son, William, who was first married to Mary Lowe. They had three children. He buried two wives before the Civil War. During the war, William, who served under General Beauregard, was captured and held in Chicago until after the war was over. When released, he moved the family to Alabama and took a third wife. About 1870, William moved from Alabama to Texas and settled in the Prospect Community near Henderson.

One of William’s children by his first marriage was John Bassett. He was born in 1853 in Georgia and moved to Texas with his father. John married Sarah Williams and they had nine children. He later moved to Marshall, Texas, where he remarried and had one other son. John died in 1940 and is buried in the Grover Cemetery outside Marshall.

Luther Bassett, one of John’s sons by his first marriage, was born in 1878 and married Willie Gibson. They had five sons: Curtis, Travis, Salah, James Lloyd and Jessie Lee. Luther raised his family in the Millville Community. He was a farmer and an active member of the Millville Baptist Church, where he served as Secretary-Treasurer for many years. He died April 2, 1970, and he and his wife are both buried at the Millville Cemetery.

One of Luther’s sons, Jessie Lee Bassett, was born June 13, 1905, in Millville. As a youth he helped his father and his brothers on the farm. In December 1926, he married Ada Lee McAnally at the Oak Hill Parsonage in Henderson. They had two children, Jack Bassett and Kathryn Bassett. They later moved to the Prospect Community where Jessie Lee farmed for seven years. Jessie Lee then moved with his family to Marshall, Texas, where he retired from the Marshall Police Department. Now at 76, he is still working as a bailiff for County Court in Marshall. He remarried after the death of his first wife. He enjoys fishing and playing dominoes. He has three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. His family fondly refers to him as "Daddy Jess."

I am Jessie’s daughter, Kathryn, and I was born in 1936 in the Millville Community but later moved to Prospect. At the age of seven, I moved with my family to Marshall. I graduated from Marshall High School and in 1954, married John S. Harp from Minden, Louisiana. We have one daughter, Lisa Waugh, who is married and also lives in Marshall. I am employed as manager of the Darco Credit Union, am an active member of the Marshall Altrusa Club, and a member of the Summitt Methodist Church. My brother Jack is married and has two sons and one grandchild. He lives in Daingerfield, Texas. My brother and I still have uncles, aunts, and cousins living in Rusk County and we attend the Bassett reunion in Henderson each July.

Submitted by Kathryn Bassett Harp