Edward Bass (1672 - bef. 1750)

Born 19 Oct 1672 in Nansemond County, Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Unknown) Bass — married 1718 in Norfolk County, Colony of Virginia

Descendants

Died before Aug 1750 before age 77 in Northampton County, North Carolina Colony

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Biography

Edward Bass was a Virginia colonist.

Edward Bass was part of a Southern Pioneer Family.

Edward was born 19 October 1672 in Nansemond County, Virginia Colony. He was the son of William Basse and Catherine Lanyere.^[1]

According to Bass Family , Free African Americans, Paul Heinegg "Two of William1 Bass's (Jr) other sons, Edward1 and John2 Bass, moved to North Carolina and had free African American descendants. Several descendants married members of the Anderson family who were descendants of slaves freed in Norfolk County in 1713.

(There is some confusion as to whether Edward was born in Nansemond or Norfolk County. New Norfolk County was formed in 1636 and divided into Upper and Lower Norfolk in 1637. In 1645 Upper Norfolk County became Nansemond County. Norfolk County was formed from Lower Norfolk in 1691. His brother John was said to be of Nansemond County when he married in 1696. In a deed recorded 30 January 1720/21, Edwd. Bass is said to be "of Norfolk County and Parish of Elizabeth....")^[2]

Timeline

• 30 January 1720/21 Abraham Hill of the Upper Parish of Nansemond County, Va., deeds to Edwd. Bass of Norfolk County and Parish of Elizabeth, for L7 10s sterling 100 acres of land in Chowan Precinct near the head of Horse Pool Swamp ... part of a patent granted Henry Hill, father of Abraham Hill, for 401 acres on 1 March 1718. Witnesses: William Hinton and Thos. Rountree. (DB C, No. 1, p 113.) This land was adjoining that of his brother John Bass in Chowan County, North Carolina, and purchased from the same person, on the same date.^[2]
• 17 September 1742 Edward was named in the will of his father William Basse dated 1 October 1740 and proved 17 September 1742. He inherited one shilling.(Will Book H-8)^[3][4]

Death & Legacy

The will of Edward Bass was dated 25 July 1748 and proved in Northampton County Court, North Carolina Colony, in August 1750. Bequests included:^[5][6]

• Son Benjamin ("plantation whereon he now lives, 50 acres on Quarter Swamp, and 75 more acres adjoining)
• Son Joseph (50 acres of land and orchard)
• Son Sampson (50 acres land on Quarter Swamp)
• Son Edward (50 acres of land)
• Son James (50 acres of land)
• Son Reuben ("my manor plantation" after death of mother)
• Grandson Elijah Bass (50 acres and orchard)
• Daughter Katherine Anderson (50 acres of land)
• Daughter Dinah Bass (two sows and pigs)
• Daughter Kiziah Bass (one cow and calf)
• Daughter Mary Bass (one cow and calf)
• Wife: Lovewell Bass ("all the rest of the movable estate, and do lend her the use of my manor plantation, containing 100 acres of land, during her natural life, and after her decease I give the said plantation unto my son Reuben Bass.)
• Executor: Son Benjamin Bass
• Witnesses: William Bass, Dinah Bass, Edward Taylor. Clerk of the Court: I. Edwards
• Edward Bass signed with his mark, the letter B on its side; looks like a pair of glasses.

Note: There is somewhat of a discrepancy between two notations of the year of probate. The cover page of the will gives a date of 29 August 1751, which may indicate the date of filing. The final page of the record states the will "was exhibited into Court by Benjamin Bass, Executor thereof, & was proved by the oath of Edward Taylor one of the subscribing witnesses thereof ..." N Hampton County August Court 1750.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Bell, p 14,
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} The Native American Bass Family
3. ↑ Ancestry.com. Virginia Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
4. ↑ Heinegg, Paul. Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware.
5. ↑ Grimes, John Bryan. Abstracts of North Carolina Wills. Raleigh, NC, USA: North Carolina Department of State, 1910. Found digitized at Google Books
6. ↑ Bell, Northampton County, N. C., p 10
7. ↑ North Carolina Wills, 1663-1789; Author: North Carolina. Secretary of State; Probate Place: Northampton, North Carolina. North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry Record 9061 #106830

• Bell, Albert Dehner, Bass Families of the South; a collection of historical and genealogical sorce materals from public and private records. Rocky Mount, NC, 1961.

See also:

• The Signatures of the Nansemond Bass Family
• The Native American Bass Family for documentation proving the descent of Edward Bass from John Basse (b 1616) who married Elizabeth, daughter of the Nansemond chief, through William Basse and Catherine Lanier.
• Heinegg, Paul. Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. Books available to be read online.
• Woodrough, Margot. Whole Cloth: the Floyd Family, London to Cochran in Eight generations. 2006. Includes family lineage for descendants of William Basse (c 1522- ) and Mary Carkin. Also includes some biographical material for the Basse/Bass family, wills, etc.

Bass Families

(added by William Farrar)

Edward Bass, born 19 October 1672, was living in Norfolk County on 16 November 1699 when he purchased 15 acres of land on the Western Branch of Elizabeth River from John Fulsher who was the slave owner who freed the Anderson family by his Norfolk County will in 1712. Edward appeared in Norfolk County court on 17 November 1698 and admitted that he owed Hugh Campbell 500 pounds of tobacco, in June 1702 he admitted that he owed Thomas Whinfield 70 pounds of tobacco for goods he purchased at the sale of the estate of William Whitehurst, and on 15 February 1709 he sued Henry Lawley for a 3 pound debt. On 20 July 1711 he was presented by the Norfolk County court for retailing liquor without a license but the presentment was dismissed at his cost when he convinced the court that it was a mistake. On 16 December 1715 he sued Joseph Muns, Jr., for 20 pounds damages for riding his mare [DB 6, no.2, fols. 36, 170, 255; Orders 1708-10, 124b, 141a; 1710-17, 14, 100, 136]. On 30 January 1720/1 he was called "Edward Bass of Norfolk County, Virginia, Parish of Elizabeth" when he purchased 100 acres adjacent to his brother John, near the head of Horsepool Swamp in Chowan Precinct, North Carolina [DB C-1:113]. On 26 March 1723 he was granted 200 acres on Urahaw Swamp in what became Northampton County after 1741 [Hoffman, Province of North Carolina Land Patents, 192]. He and his wife Love sold their land in Chowan County by deed of 28 March 1726 [DB C-1:609].

Between 12 August 1728 and 15 May 1744 he purchased another 615 acres adjoining his land [Bertie DB C:135, Northampton DB 1:40, 89, 129]. His 25 July 1748 Northampton County will was proved in August 1750 and left over 525 acres to his children with the remainder to be sold to discharge debts [Original at N.C. Archives]. He left his wife Lovewell 100 acres during her life. More than ten years later on 7 May 1761 she and her heirs, Lucy Jones and Thomas Cugley, sold this land for 75 pounds to Jethro Bass, her deceased husband's grand nephew [DB 3:121]. Their children named in Edward's will were

i. John born say 1716.

ii. Katherine Anderson, born say 1718, married to Lewis Anderson when her father made his 25 July 1748 Northampton County will. She received 50 acres in Northampton County which she and Lewis sold on 12 November 1757 [DB 2:424].

iii. Dinah, born say 1720, perhaps the wife of John Pone, "black" taxables in the 1755 Granville County summary list and taxables in the 1754 list of Robert Harris along with the Andersons, Pettifords, and William Bass [CR 44.701.19].

7 iv. Benjamin1, born say 1722, died about 1798.

v. Joseph2, born say 1724. He sold the 50 acres in Northampton County which he received by his father's will on 18 August 1757 and a further 50 acres in Northampton while a resident of Granville County on 2 September the same year [DB 2:399, 489]. On 30 March 1758 he bought 50 acres in Granville County on a branch of Fishing Creek and sold it on 26 February 1765 [DB E:50; G:355]. He was taxable in Granville County on a tithe in the 1758 list of Thomas Person and taxable with his wife Jane in 1762 and 1764 in Samuel Benton's list for Oxford and Fishing Creek Districts, listed as insolvent in 1764, perhaps the Joseph Bass who was head of a Chesterfield County, South Carolina household of 6 "other free" in 1800 [SC:100].

8 vi. Sampson/ Samuel2, born say 1726.

9 vii. Edward3, born say 1728, died before November 1800.

viii. James1, born say 1730, taxable with his brother Benjamin in Oxford District, Granville County, in 1761. On 10 November 1764 he sold 50 acres in Northampton County by deed proved in Granville County [DB H:63].

ix. Kesiah3, born say 1732.

x. Mary3, born say 1734.

xi. Reuben1, born say 1736, bequeathed his father's manor plantation of 100 acres in Northampton County after the death of his mother. He sold this 100 acres on 5 May 1761 [DB 3:96], and in 1764 he was taxed in Granville County with his wife Mary, probably Mary Anderson. He purchased 50 acres in Granville from Lawrence Pettiford on 20 October 1768 [DB H:473]. On 16 February 1777 he sold 50 acres in Granville on Beaverdam Creek [DB L:315], and in 1782 he was taxable on 2 horses. He was taxable on one poll in 1785, and he had 2 males and 4 females in his household in Fishing Creek in 1786 for the state census.

Source: http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/bailey-berry.htm

Reprinted with permission of the author Paul Heinegg