amuel4 Bassett (Nathan3)
was born in Chatham before 1728. There is a great deal of
uncertainty about Samuel Bassett. William C. Smith (A History
of Chatham, Part III, p. 215) claims that Samuel probably
died at Louisburg, Cape Breton Island, during the attack on this
French fortress by Colonial armies. The only source he cites for
this, however, is the fact that a Samuel Bassett was included in
the lists of New England soldiers who fought at Louisburg (The
Register, vol. 25, p. 260). Josiah Paine in his manuscript on the
Bassett family notes that Samuel was married (Paine manuscript, p.
84), but he gives no further information on him. In a Bassett
family genealogy by Mack (?) published in the Boston Transcript,
31 December 1906, which is quite accurate in some regards and
surprisingly inaccurate in others, Samuel the son of Nathan and
Mary (Crowell) Bassett is said to have married a "Sarah"
Lombard of Truro and settled in West Barnstable.
There was indeed a Samuel Bassett who married 15 June 1743
Susannah Lombard (not Sarah), the daughter of Jedediah Lombard of
Truro. This couple apparently lived in West Barnstable for a
while, but later removed to Truro. Susannah died there 11 Sept.
1755 in her 33rd year (May. Desc., vol. 12, p. 4).
Samuel "of Truro" married secondly in Eastham, 12 Jan.
1756/7, Phebe (Fish) Young of Eastham, the widow of Israel Young.
Because this Samuel does not fit properly into the other Bassett
families on Cape Cod, he is probably the son of Nathan3
and Mary (Crowell) Bassett.
Known children of Samuel Bassett and his first wife Susannah,
born in West Barnstable (May. Desc., vol. 1, p. 84).
- Nehemiah, b. 12 Sept. 1743 and bapt. First Church of
Truro 30 Oct. 1743 (May. Desc., vol. 17, p. 237);
mar. (int. in Eastham 14 May 1763) Dorcas Cole of Eastham
(ibid., vol. 28, p. 7). Issue, two children: 1. Jedidiah,
bapt. First Church of Orleans 27 March 1774 (ibid.,
vol. 10, p. 231). 2. James, bapt. First Church
of Orleans 14 April 1776. There were probably others.
Nehemiah is not listed in the 1790 Census for
Massachusetts, but in Flatlands Town, Kings Co., N. Y., a
Nehemiah Bassett is shown with one male over 16, four
males under 16, and one female.
- Ebenezer, b. 27 Dec. 1744 and bapt. 30 Dec. 1744 in West
Barnstable Church. He mar. Jane ______ who died 18 April
1777, in her 33rd year. They had a son, Nehemiah
b. 1772; d. 14 Nov. 1776 in his 5th year. There may have
been others. Ebenezer does not appear in the 1790 Census.
Known child of Samuel Bassett and second wife Phebe:
- Sarah, bapt. in Truro, 13 March 1757.
There were probably others.
[Robert Ray King, "The Family of Nathan Bassett of
Chatham," NEHGS 125:10]
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