William Bassett, Jr.
William Bassett, Jr., farmer, P. O. Kent, was born in Ravenna Township, this county. May 22, 1829; son of William and Eloisa (Welton) Bassett, natives of Oxford, New Haven Co., Conn., former born September 18, 1794, latter August 4, 1798. They came to this county in 1817 and located in Rootstown Township where they lived about eight months, then moved to Franklin Township and settled on the place known as the Pritchard farm. They afterward exchanged the farm for the property now occupied by the mother of our subject, which was then considered the poorest portion of the township. The farm comprises 263 acres of land, 200 of which are under cultivation. William Bassett, Sr., was a veteran of the war of 1812, Captain of the militia in Franklin Township in early times, and generally known as Capt. Bassett. After his settlement in Franklin Township he taught a night school for two months, said to be the first school in the township. He had four children: William, Jr., Harriet (deceased), Edward W., in Ravenna, and Horace P., in Warren. He was a thorough-going, pushing business man and at the time of the building of the Ohio Canal he contracted to furnish the stone for the locks. He died October 21, 1878, at the age of eighty-four; his widow, aged eighty-six, still resides on the old homestead. Our subject was reared in Franklin Township, this county, where he received a common school education and has always followed farming as an occupation. He was married. May 9, 1854, to Esther A., daughter of Deacon Barber Clark, of Franklin Township, this county, who died May 8, 1879, at the age of forty-eight years. Mr. Bassett is a member of the Congregational Church, with which he has been identified since 1859. He is a F. & A. M.; in politics a Republican.
From History of Portage County, Ohio, Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885