William Bassett

• Birth: between 1599 and October 24, 1600 in (possibly) Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England
• Death: before May 12, 1667 Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts
• Possibly the son of William Bassett of Bethnel Green, London: unproven.

Married

• 1) Elizabeth (unknown) 6 children.
• 2) Mary Tilden, widow of Thomas Lapham.

Do not confuse with William Bassett, of Leyden

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biography

from: http://www.bassettbranches.org/tng/getperson.php?personID=I1&tree=F...

NOTE: HIS PARENTS ARE NOT PROVEN

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William Bassett was possibly the son of William Bassett of Bethnal Green, London. A William Bassett was baptized at Stepney, England on 24 Oct 1600. Our William came over on the ship Fortune in 1621; settled fir Plymouth, then in Duxbury, and finally in Bridgewater, of which town he was an original proprietor. He died there in 1667. He was comparatively wealth being a large land holder, only four in Plymouth paying a higher tax in the year 1633. He had a large library. In 1648, he was fined five shillings for neglecting "to mend guns in seasonable times" - an offense of not a very heinous character - but is shows that he was a mechanic as well as a planter. His name is on the earliest list of freeman, made in 1633; he was a volunteer in the company raised in 1637, to assist Massachusetts and Connecticut in the Pequod War; a member of the committee of the town of Duxbury to lay out bounds, and to decide on the fitness of persons applying to become residents and was representative to the Old Colony Court six years. His son William settled in Sandwich; was there in 1651, and is the ancestor of the families of that name in that town, and of some of the families in Barnstable and Dennis. His son, Colonel William Bassett, was Marshall of Plymouth Colony at the time of the union with Massachusetts, and in 1710, one of the judges of the Interior Court, and afterwards Register of Probate. When William Bassett died, he left books by Robinson and Ainsworth, a concordance, commentaries, sermons, and religious histories. There is no evidence to link our William Bassett with the Willi Bassett of Leyden who married (1) Cecelia Leight before 1611. He is listed a widower when he married (2) Margaret Oldham on 13 May 1611 in Leyden, Holland. Our William married (1) Elizabeth, possibly a Tilden, most likely in 1623 after the ship Ann arrived in Plymouth. Elizabeth was the mother of all of his children. Elizabeth died before 1650. He married (2) Mary (Tilden) Lapham, widow of Thomas Lapham and daughter of Nathaniel and Lydia (Huckstepp) Tilden, sometime after 1651.

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Summary article with illustrations here: Deep In The Woods II - Exploring our History and Heritage: 1593: William Bassett l thank you, Jean Hageman

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ESTATE OF WILLIAM BASSETT

INVENTORY OF ESTATE OF WILLIAM BASSETT
May the 12 anno. domini 1667

An Inventory taken of the moveable goods of William Basse Bridgewater, deceased.

It a payr billowes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10- It an anvill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-00- It a vice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10- It the tongs hammers beckhorne . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10- It al the rest of Small shopp Tools . . . . . . . . . 4-00- It Answorth on 5 books moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-06- It Ursiuns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-10- It more to books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-10- It a comentary on romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-10- It a concordance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-16- It a commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-12- Wilson on the romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-10- Mayer on 4 evangelists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-10- Rogers his seven treteses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-08- Haris on the beatituds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-07- wilsons dixsonary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-08- Knights concordance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-08- Mayers exposition of diffcultys of . . . . . . . . . . 0-05- to small books against prelassy . . . . . . . . . . . 0-04- weemses explanation of ceremonial law . . . . . . . . 0-07- dike on deceitfulness of the hart . . . . . . . . . . 0-03- mR Robinsons observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-02- a tretise of precious faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-02- a parcel of small books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-08- a mare and colt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-00- 3 cowes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-10- to steers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-00- one Hiefer and a steer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-00- Three yearlings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-05- a sow & seven shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-05- A rugg and fether bed & bolsters and sheets . . . . . 6-00- mor and other smal fether bed boster & covering . . . 2-05- more another rugg and fether bed and bolster sheets and pillowes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10- to pillowes to blankets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-15- a parcell of flax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-05- cotton yarne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-00- smal parcel yarn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-07- 9 pounds of sheeps wool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-09- corne 18 bushels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14- an oxe hide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-18- to bushels of malt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-08- three baggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-08- on sadle & bridle & sadle cloth & girts . . . . . . . 1-10- a panel.. & girt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-07- a cart rope & halter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-05- a horse harnes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-04- Cow bels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-03- nails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-15- to payr of scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-08- old hogsheeds & tubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-04-

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84-11-

Pewter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-00- three pots and pot hooks & skillet . . . . . . . . . . 1-00- Iron mortar pot hangers Smothing Iron tongs and fier shovel and spil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-14- a candlestick & gridiron & fram of skillet . . . . . . 0-09- howes and axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-15- Plow Irons & chaines rop ring & staple . . . . . . . . 1-18- Cart & wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-02- four guns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-05- four forks & tu rakes a spade & tu shovels . . . . . . 0-09- three weges & a wheel and wheelbarrow . . . . . . . . 0-10- a parcell of hemp and tu braks . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-17- a grindstone with his Iron hanging . . . . . . . . . . 0-18- trayes a smal ketle & barrels & tubs . . . . . . . . . 1-16- a Cheese press sives & sifting troughs payls and half bushell & winding blades & hunk . . . . . . . . . 0-17- in mony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-11- powder bullets & horne & hemp hichel . . . . . . . . . 0-12- a cutlesse warming pan & frying pan . . . . . . . . . 1-00- a suite & cloak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-00- more one suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12- another suite & cloak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10- a troopers coat & doblet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-03- old cloathes and stockens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-05- foure shirts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-00- apeice of stufe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-00- gloves caps and bands & neckcloths . . . . . . . . . . 0-15- pillow beers napkins old linen . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-10- shewes & hats & a carpet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-04- cheasts chaires and table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-00- a parcell of books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-00- to Thwart sawes agers steeles sithes sneads . . . . . 1-00- ropes & baskets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-02- some small triviall things happyly forgotten . . . . . 0-05-00

The Inventory made by William Bre John Willis

Mary ye relict of the bove sd William Bassett tooke oath this 25 of May (67) before me Thomas Hinckley Asst.

THE FORTUNE

The actual second boat to Plymouth was the 55 ton Fortune. It arrived at Cape Cod on Nov. 11, 1621 with "35 persons to remaine and live in ye plantation." Under command of Thomas Barton, master, she had left London in July. The pilgrim fathers and mothers were settling in for another long, cold winter. They didn't expect another boat until spring. When the Fortune's tall white mainsail was seen off Cape Cod the nervous colonists thought it was a French raiding party come down from Canada to make mischie Governor William Bradford convened a council of war. Defense chief Miles Standish, "the little chimney easily fired," mustered "every man, yea boy, that could handle a gun" and ordered the 1,500 pound cannon on Fort Hill to thunder out a warning shot. As the Fortune tacked into Plymouth harbor, the settlers were surprised and relieved to see her run up the red cross of England, this being in the days before Scotland's cross of Andrew was added to the Union Jack. Plymouth's sturdy little shallop, a tiny fishing vessell, brought ashore 35 new settlers, all in good health, "which did not a little rejoyce them The welcome mat frayed a bit when it was learned that the penny pinching Merchant Adventurers, the Colony's underwriter in London, had sent the Fortune out with no provisions..."not so much as bisket cake or any victialls," little bedding beyond "some sorry things" in their cabins, and neither "pot nor pan to dresse any meate in." Like those who crossed on the Mayflower, not all on the Fortune had come to the New World seeking religious freedom. Only 12 were listed in Plymouth's company of "saints," Separatist followers of Robert "Trouble Church" Browne, a famous and fiesty dissenter from the Church of England. The "saints" on the second boatload included such names as William Bassett, Jonathan Brewster, William Wright, Thomas Morton, Austin Nicholas and 14 year old Thomas Cushman, who was adopted by Governor Bradford and grew up to become Plymouth's ruling elder. The rest were "strangers" - artisans and craftsmen sent over by the sponsoring adventurers to make the colony viable enough to send fur and timber back to England for profit. Included among them were Stephen Deane, a miller; vintner William Hilton; Robert Hicks, a dealer in hides; armorer William Pitt; carriage maker Thomas Prence, who later became governor; and, "fellmonger" Clement Briggs, also a dealer in skins. There was also a John Adams-a family name that was to leave an indelible mark on the new continent- and William Conner, who might have been Irish and either died or left the colony a few years later. Besides the "lusty yonge men, and many of them wild enough," the Fortune also carried four women, among them Martha "Goodwife" Ford who, the journals report, was "delivered of a sonne the first night she landed, and both are doing very well." The newcomers found a tidy, tiny town rising along "a very swee brooke under a hillside." There were 11 buildings along Leyden Street, seven private dwellings and four common houses for stores, arms and bachelors. Plymouth had made peace with a half dozen neighboring Indian tribes, had celebrated its first harvest and witnessed its first marriage, between Susanna Fuller White, a widow of three months, and Edward Winslow, a widower of less than two months. The colony had also witnessed its first and last duel, between Edward Dotey and Edward Leister. The little corn field on the hill behind the meeting house hid the graves of more than half the 101 passengers who alighted from the Mayflower. After surviving that first bitter winter and a spring epidem scurvy and pneumonia, "when they were but six or seven sound persons" to work the fields and put up the buildings, the Plymouth settlers were shocked to learn that Robert Cushman arrived on the Fortune with an insulting letter from Thomas Weston, speaking for the adventurers. It berated the colonists f keeping the Mayflower too long and sending her back empty. The letter also accused them of "weakness" and squandering their time in "discoursing, arguing and consulting". They swallowed the insults and loaded the Fortune with beaver a otter pelts, bartered with the Indians for cheap trinkets, and stuffed as much hardwood timber, wainscoting and "good clapboard" as they could into the ship's hold. The Fortune set sail on its return trip to England Dec. 13, just over a month after arriving, only to fall into the hands of French pirates, who hijacked the cargo and stripped the ship of everything of value on boar including her sheet anchor. They left the passengers, including Robert Cushman who had left his son behind in Plymouth, with not a "hat to their heads or a shoe to their feet." The new colonists from the Fortune were on hand for the second Thanksgiving feast at Plymouth in 1622. The Thanksgiving celebration, then usually held in October, was repeated almost every year thereafter in the Plymouth Colony and soon became a tradition throughout New England. Thanksgiving moved west in the covered wagon era and became a national holiday in 1863, when a war weary President Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday in November as a time for public thanksgiving.

(The above story from THE SECOND BOAT MAGAZINE, May 1982)

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21666. William Bassett343,344,403,404,423 was born between 1595 and 1600 in Of, Sandwich, Kent, England. He was christened on 24 Oct 1600 in Stepney, London, England. He was buried on 12 May 1667 in Bridgewater, England. He died in 1667 in Bridgewater, Plymouth Colony.205 He was born in England.424 He was a blacksmith in Bridgewater, Plymouth Colony. BASSET, WILLIAM -William Basset, of the Leiden Separatists, arrived in 1621 on the Fortune. In Leiden records, he is shown as a master mason, from Sandwich, Kent. He was a widower of Cicely Bassett, and he was betrothed in Leiden in 1611 to Mary Butler, with William Brewster, Roger Wilson, Anna Fuller, and Rose Lisle as witnesses, but Mary died before the marriage. He was betrothed on 29 July 1611 to Margaret Oldham, with Edward Southworth, Roger Wilson, Elizabeth Neal, and Wybra Pontus as witnesses, and they married 13 August 1611. He married in Leiden a third time to Elizabeth (Dexter, p. 165), and he brought her and their son William to Plymouth. Wife Elizabeth and children William and Elizabeth were in the 1627 division, but the wife died later. Basset married at Plymouth a fourth wife after 5 June 1651 Mary (Tilden) Lapham, for on that date Timothy Hatherly proved the will of Thomas Lapham, deceased. The widow Lapham, being weak, was not able to appear in court (PCR 2:169). Earlier, 22 June 1650, Mary Lapham, widow of Thomas Lapham of Scituate, confirmed the sale of land in Tenterden, Kent, to Thomas Hiland (MD 10:199; PCR 12:194). The will of Timothy Hatherly dated 12 December 1664 (MD 16:158-59), left L5 to the wife of William Basset, "my wifes Daughter, " and thus Mary would have been the daughter of Nathaniel Tilden of Scituate. 

On 8 November 1666 William Basset, who described himself as a blacksmith of Bridgewater, sold four lots to John Sprague of Duxbury, and Basset's wife Mary gave her consent, John Sprague being her husband's son-in-law (Ply. Colony LR 3:66). In his will, dated 3 April 1667, sworn 5 June 1667, William Basset mentioned his unnamed wife (Mary swore to his inventory), his son Joseph, and his son William's son William (MD 16:162); the inventory shows an interesting collection of books. On 2 June 1669 William Basset of Sandwich, oldest son of William Basset sometime of Bridgewater, deceased, confirmed land to his youngest brother, Joseph Basset of Bridgewater (Ply. Colony LR 3:140). William Basset, Sr. also had a daughter Sarah, who married Peregrine White, q.v.; a daughter Ruth, who married John, son of Francis Sprague, q.v. (TAG 41:178); and a daughter Elizabeth, who married Thomas Burgess in 1648 (PCR 8:6) and divorced him in 1661 after he was brought to court for an act of uncleanness with Lydia Gaunt (the first divorce in Plymouth Colony), and the Court allowed Elizabeth to keep small things "that are in William Basset's hands" (PCR 3:221). On 6 June 1683 Goodwife Sprague and her son John agreed about land which formerly belonged to John Sprague's grandfather Basset (PCR 6:109). Ruth (Basset) Sprague married (2) a man whose surname was Thomas (TAG 41:179). William, Sr. also had a son Nathaniel 2 Basset. Robert Ray King, "The Family of Nathan Basset of Chatham," NEHGR 125:7, has to do with Nathan 3 Basset, the son of Nathaniel 2 Basset and his wife Dorcas Joyce, daughter of John. (Note: In correspondence, Robert S. Wakefield questions whether it was the same William Basset in all four marriages, and it is a surprisingly large number of Englishmen sharing a name with someone else that was resident in Leiden-)

From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996. William Bassett and Elizabeth Tilden were married about 1621 in Bridgewater, England.205

William Bassett was born in Sandwich, Kent, England. He was christened 24 0ct 1600 in Stepney, London, England. He died on 4 Apr 1677 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, MA. He was buried on 12 May 1677 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, MA. He married Elizabeth Tilden.

A gunsmith and metal worker (other records list him as "master mason", William arrived on the Ship "Fortune" in 1621, the second ship to bring colonists to Plymouth Colony. The Leyden, Holland record indicates that William Bassett came from Sandwich, England and that he was a master mason. William was Representative, 1640-44 with Governor Bradford and others. Following arrival in 1921, he was one of the "purchasers," first in Plymouth with his wife Elizabeth and son William and daughter Elizabeth, and took part in the division of cattle in 1627. He then resided at Duxbury, and was subsequently among the first settlers of Bridgewater in 1652.

Identified in England as member of "Leiden Separitists"

William - occupation: gunsmith / worker in metals - came over on the ship Fortune in 1621 - settled first in Plymouth, then in Duxbury and finally in Bridgewater, Mass. - of which town he was an original proprietor.

He was a large landowner - with only four in Plymouth paying a higher tax in 1633. He had a large library of books. His name is on the earliest list of freemen in 1633. He was a volunteer for the Pequod War in 1637 and on the committee to lay out the town of Duxbury.

The "First Comers"

Under the original agreement with the "merchant adventurers", those who came and worked as partners in the Plymouth venture would all benefit from the 1627 Division of the colony assets. While we tend to give the Mayflower passengers special consideration as "The Pilgrims" (a term they did not use to denote themselves that came into use at the end of the 18th century), the Plymouth colonists classified all those who arrived on the first four ships alike, and referred to them as the "Old Comers" or "First Comers" (which also included a few stragglers such as Phineas Pratt). 

The ship Fortune arrived at Plymouth on November 9, 1621, just a few weeks after the First Thanksgiving. The Anne & Little James, the vessels parted company at sea; the ANNE arrived the latter part of June 1623, and the LITTLE JAMES some week or ten days later. All the vessels bringing new settlers along with many of the wives and children that had been left behind in Leyden when the Mayflower departed in 1620.

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He lived and died in Sandwich, Mass.

Reference for him and his family:

The Identity of Sarah Bassett of Middleborough, Massachusetts and Mansfield, Connecticut.

By Marston Watson

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Prior to his immigration, he was a member of the Leiden Separatist congregation.

one of the forefathers, and one of the twenty-seven heads of families who arrived in the ship 'FORTUNE', and landed in Plymouth Nov 11, 1621.

he settled first in Plymouth, then Duxbury, and finally in Bridgewater of which town he was an original proprietor. he died there in 1667. he was comparatively wealthy, being a large land-holder, only 4 in Plymouth paying a higher tax in 1633. he had a valuable library, from which it is to be inferred that he was an educated man. he had lands allotted to him, his wife, his son, William Bassett Jr., and his daughter, Elizabeth in the division of may 22, 1627. He removed to Duxbury before 1639. he sold land to the Reverand Ralph Partridge in Duxbury in 1637. in 1640 he received a large grant of 100 acres at Beaver Pond. A Deputy from Duxbury from 1640-43-44; constable 1652' name on the earliest list of freeman made in 1633; was a volunteer in the company raised in 1637 to asst Ma and CT in the Pequod War; a member of the committee of the town of Duxbury to lay out bounds. In 1652 he sold lands to his son-in-law, Peregrene White. Rep to the old colony court for 6 years.

Was a Master Mason of Bethnal Green, Middlesex Cty, England.

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This William Bassett lived in Scrooby England( or Sandwich or Stepney) and went to Leyden Holland in 1608. He was with the Pilgrims on the Speedwell which was determined to be unseaworthy and forced to return to Plymouth, England. He came to the Plymouth Colony on the 2nd ship, Fortune (1621.) He settled in Duxbury, was a neighbor to Miles Standish and was an armourer and blacksmith. He died in Bridgewater leaving much land and a large library--some donated to Harvard.

(Ref. State War Papers of New Hampshire, Vol. XIV page 427, Vol. XV, pg 3 and 741. National Numbers 187301 and 203966. Supplemental 63586, DAR)

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We think of William Bassett as a Pilgrim, a blacksmith, and the owner of a many more books than usual for his time and place. But in 1621 he showed that he was also a risk-taker, when he embarked on a long sea voyage to a tiny colony in a strange land with a minimum of preparation. Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony describes ship Fortune’s arrival in his history Of Plimoth Plantation:

In Novembr [1621], about yt time twelfe month that themselves came [i.e., Bradford and the Pilgrims on the Mayflower], there came in a small ship to them unexpected or looked for, in which came Mr. Cushman and with him 35 persons to remaine & live in ye plantation; which did not a little rejoice them. And they when they came ashore, and found all well, and saw plenty of vitails [victuals?] in every house, were no less glade. For most of them were lusty yonge men, and many of them wild enough, who little considered whither or aboute what, they wente, till they came into ye harbore at Cap-Codd.

So they were all landed; but ther was not so much as a bisket-cake or any other victialls for them neither had they any beding, but some sory things they had in their cabins, nor pot, nor pan, nor overmany cloaths. The plantation was glad of this addition of strength but could have wished that many of them had been of better condition; but yt could not now be helpte.
This was no mere inconvenience. Half of the first 100 colonists had died the previous winter. The ship left in early December, and Bradford and his assistant

disposed these late comers into several families as they best could, took an exact account of all their provisions in store and proportioned the same to the number of persons, and found that it would not hold out above six months at half allowance, and hardly that; and they could not well give less this winter time till fish came in again. So they were presently put to half allowance, one as well as another, which began to be hard, but they bore it patiently under hope of supply.

William survived the winter. By 1623 he was married and by 1627 he and his wife Elizabeth had two children. Nobody knows who she was or exactly when they married; they might even have come over together on the Fortune.

They settled down and made good. Eleven years after he arrived, only four people in Plymouth paid more taxes than he did. He served on an inquest jury and hired an indentured servant for six years. (But I’ve never seen him called “Mr.” in the records. Although he rubbed elbows with Plymouth Colony’s elite he was never one of them.)

In 1630 the much more numerous, and somewhat less radical, Puritans settled not far to the north. (Unlike the Pilgrims, the Puritans considered themselves part of the Church of England, and took care not to seem too radical or separatist, for fear that the English authorities would crush them.) This large neighboring population created a market for corn and cattle, and in 1637 William was among the men who moved to a new settlement in Duxbury (”Ducksburrow”), about 5 miles across the bay from Plymouth, in order to make the most of the opportunity. Prominent settlers included John Alden, Myles Standish, Jonathan Brewster, and Thomas Prence.

The move made commercial sense but it split the colony. The Pilgrim Fathers had wanted to maintain a compact settlement in which the settlers could worship together, keep an eye on one another’s good behavior, and efficiently defend themselves against any Indian attack. Bradford lamented,

Those that had lived so long together in Christian and comfortable fellowship must now part and suffer man  divisions. First, those tha  lived on

Sprawl won out in 1637 as it has almost ever since. William himself granted some land to Ralph Partridge, the new minister in Duxbury. In May 1638, the colony’s legislature ordered that

the lands on Duxborrow side shall not be disposed to any but to such new commers as Mr. Collyer, Mr. Partrich, Jonathan Brewster, & Willm Basset shall approve to be fitt for their societie.

William served in the colonial legislature — known in those days as the General Court — several times in the 1640s as one of Duxbury’s representatives along with Standish and Alden. He served several years as Duxbury’s constable, a responsible and sometimes onerous position. As blacksmith, he was responsible for mending guns, and in the spring of 1649 was fined five shillings for not getting them mended “in seasonable time.”

Even in his fifties he wasn’t done pioneering. In 1655 he left Duxbury to become one of the first settlers of Bridgewater, the first inland Plymouth Colony settlement. At some point after 1634 his wife Elizabeth died and he eventually married second the widow Mary Tilden Lapham.

Over time he accumulated one of the largest libraries in the colony. After his death his books were valued at almost 10 pounds, a significant fraction of his estate. In his estate inventory they’re listed as follows:

Ainsworth on the 5 bookes of Moses, ursinus, a Comentary on the Romans, a Concordance, a Comentary, Wilson on the Romans, Mayer on the Evangelests, Rogers his 7 treateses, harris on the beatitude, Wilsons Dixonary, Knights Concordance, Madyors exposition on, 2 smale bookes against prelacye, Weams his explanation of the Cerimoniall law, Dike on Deceitfulnes of the hart, Mr. Robinsons observations, a treatise of precious faith.

We may wonder whether William’s children ever reminded him of his younger adventurous self. In March 1649 his daughter Sarah and her husband Peregrine White were in court charged with “fornication before marriage,” as were daughter Ruth and husband John Sprague six years later. Son Nathaniel was fined 20 shillings in 1653 for “disturbing divine service” in Duxbury. And in 1661 daughter Elizabeth asked for and received a divorce from her husband Thomas Burgess after he had been sentenced to two severe whippings for committing an unspecified “act of uncleanness” with one Lydia Gaunt. This was the first divorce granted in Plymouth. (Burgess and Gaunt took off for Rhode Island.)

Death caught William unawares; he wrote no will but Plymouth court testimony records the deathbed scene. On April 3, 1667, he found himself so weak and sick that he told Mary: “Wife, I must leave thee but I shall leave thee with the Lord; if God had lengthened out my life it might have been that thou mightest have been more comfortably provided for.”

His friends asked him about his estate, “whether his mind was as formerly; That hee would give his moveable goods with his Chattles to his wife.” He “answared yea it was his mind; and that shee should have the house and ground till shee Died; if she Married not; and then hee would give it to his son Williams son; and his tools to his son Joseph.”

What about his books, someone asked, “which hee formerly took care about”? “Answared hee Could not now Doe it.”

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21666. William Bassett343,344,403,404,423 was born between 1595 and 1600 in Of, Sandwich, Kent, England. He was christened on 24 Oct 1600 in Stepney, London, England. He was buried on 12 May 1667 in Bridgewater, England. He died in 1667 in Bridgewater, Plymouth Colony.205 He was born in England.424 He was a blacksmith in Bridgewater, Plymouth Colony. BASSET, WILLIAM -William Basset, of the Leiden Separatists, arrived in 1621 on the Fortune. In Leiden records, he is shown as a master mason, from Sandwich, Kent. He was a widower of Cicely Bassett, and he was betrothed in Leiden in 1611 to Mary Butler, with William Brewster, Roger Wilson, Anna Fuller, and Rose Lisle as witnesses, but Mary died before the marriage. He was betrothed on 29 July 1611 to Margaret Oldham, with Edward Southworth, Roger Wilson, Elizabeth Neal, and Wybra Pontus as witnesses, and they married 13 August 1611. He married in Leiden a third time to Elizabeth (Dexter, p. 165), and he brought her and their son William to Plymouth. Wife Elizabeth and children William and Elizabeth were in the 1627 division, but the wife died later. Basset married at Plymouth a fourth wife after 5 June 1651 Mary (Tilden) Lapham, for on that date Timothy Hatherly proved the will of Thomas Lapham, deceased. The widow Lapham, being weak, was not able to appear in court (PCR 2:169). Earlier, 22 June 1650, Mary Lapham, widow of Thomas Lapham of Scituate, confirmed the sale of land in Tenterden, Kent, to Thomas Hiland (MD 10:199; PCR 12:194). The will of Timothy Hatherly dated 12 December 1664 (MD 16:158-59), left L5 to the wife of William Basset, "my wifes Daughter, " and thus Mary would have been the daughter of Nathaniel Tilden of Scituate. 

On 8 November 1666 William Basset, who described himself as a blacksmith of Bridgewater, sold four lots to John Sprague of Duxbury, and Basset's wife Mary gave her consent, John Sprague being her husband's son-in-law (Ply. Colony LR 3:66). In his will, dated 3 April 1667, sworn 5 June 1667, William Basset mentioned his unnamed wife (Mary swore to his inventory), his son Joseph, and his son William's son William (MD 16:162); the inventory shows an interesting collection of books. On 2 June 1669 William Basset of Sandwich, oldest son of William Basset sometime of Bridgewater, deceased, confirmed land to his youngest brother, Joseph Basset of Bridgewater (Ply. Colony LR 3:140). William Basset, Sr. also had a daughter Sarah, who married Peregrine White, q.v.; a daughter Ruth, who married John, son of Francis Sprague, q.v. (TAG 41:178); and a daughter Elizabeth, who married Thomas Burgess in 1648 (PCR 8:6) and divorced him in 1661 after he was brought to court for an act of uncleanness with Lydia Gaunt (the first divorce in Plymouth Colony), and the Court allowed Elizabeth to keep small things "that are in William Basset's hands" (PCR 3:221). On 6 June 1683 Goodwife Sprague and her son John agreed about land which formerly belonged to John Sprague's grandfather Basset (PCR 6:109). Ruth (Basset) Sprague married (2) a man whose surname was Thomas (TAG 41:179). William, Sr. also had a son Nathaniel 2 Basset. Robert Ray King, "The Family of Nathan Basset of Chatham," NEHGR 125:7, has to do with Nathan 3 Basset, the son of Nathaniel 2 Basset and his wife Dorcas Joyce, daughter of John. (Note: In correspondence, Robert S. Wakefield questions whether it was the same William Basset in all four marriages, and it is a surprisingly large number of Englishmen sharing a name with someone else that was resident in Leiden-)

From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996. William Bassett and Elizabeth Tilden were married about 1621 in Bridgewater, England.205

William Bassett was born in Sandwich, Kent, England. He was christened 24 0ct 1600 in Stepney, London, England. He died on 4 Apr 1677 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, MA. He was buried on 12 May 1677 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, MA. He married Elizabeth Tilden.

A gunsmith and metal worker (other records list him as "master mason", William arrived on the Ship "Fortune" in 1621, the second ship to bring colonists to Plymouth Colony. The Leyden, Holland record indicates that William Bassett came from Sandwich, England and that he was a master mason. William was Representative, 1640-44 with Governor Bradford and others. Following arrival in 1921, he was one of the "purchasers," first in Plymouth with his wife Elizabeth and son William and daughter Elizabeth, and took part in the division of cattle in 1627. He then resided at Duxbury, and was subsequently among the first settlers of Bridgewater in 1652.

Identified in England as member of "Leiden Separitists"

William - occupation: gunsmith / worker in metals - came over on the ship Fortune in 1621 - settled first in Plymouth, then in Duxbury and finally in Bridgewater, Mass. - of which town he was an original proprietor.

He was a large landowner - with only four in Plymouth paying a higher tax in 1633. He had a large library of books. His name is on the earliest list of freemen in 1633. He was a volunteer for the Pequod War in 1637 and on the committee to lay out the town of Duxbury.

The "First Comers"

Under the original agreement with the "merchant adventurers", those who came and worked as partners in the Plymouth venture would all benefit from the 1627 Division of the colony assets. While we tend to give the Mayflower passengers special consideration as "The Pilgrims" (a term they did not use to denote themselves that came into use at the end of the 18th century), the Plymouth colonists classified all those who arrived on the first four ships alike, and referred to them as the "Old Comers" or "First Comers" (which also included a few stragglers such as Phineas Pratt). 

The ship Fortune arrived at Plymouth on November 9, 1621, just a few weeks after the First Thanksgiving. The Anne & Little James, the vessels parted company at sea; the ANNE arrived the latter part of June 1623, and the LITTLE JAMES some week or ten days later. All the vessels bringing new settlers along with many of the wives and children that had been left behind in Leyden when the Mayflower departed in 1620.

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William Bassett I - was born on 21 Oct 1600 in Bethnal Green, England and died in 1667 in Bridgewater, Mass. . He was the son of Walter Bassett and Cecelia Lecht.

William married Elizabeth (Mary) Tilden in 1622. Elizabeth was born about 1603 in Tenterden, Kent, England. She was the daughter of Nathaniel Tilden and Lydia "Lucy" Huckstep. She died about 1667 .

Elizabeth - came to New England on the "Fortune" in 1621.

William - occupation: gunsmith / worker in metals - came over on the ship Fortune in 1621 - settled first in Plymouth, then in Duxbury and finally in Bridgewater, Mass. - of which town he was an original proprietor.

He was a large landowner - with only four in Plymouth paying a higher tax in 1633. He had a large library of books. His name is on the earliest list of freemen in 1633. He was a volunteer for the Pequod War in 1637 and on the committee to lay out the town of Duxbury

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arrived on the Abigail in 1635

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1621, November 19- Arrived via the "Fortune", the second ship to land at Plymouth, MA.

1632/3, March 25- He was taxed 1 pound, 7 shillings at Plymouth, MA. This was the fifth highest tax rate at Plymouth, MA at the time.

1639- Moved to Duxbury, MA before this year.

1652, June 3- Listed as a constable of "Duxburrow" (Duxbury), MA.

He later settled at Bridgewater, MA where he died between April 3 and 5, 1667. He was an early deputy of the Colony.

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William - occupation: gunsmith / worker in metals - came over on the ship Fortune in 1621 - settled first in Plymouth, then in Duxbury and finally in Bridgewater, Mass. - of which town he was an original proprietor.

He was a large landowner - with only four in Plymouth paying a higher tax in 1633. He had a large library of books. His name is on the earliest list of freemen in 1633. He was a volunteer for the Pequod War in 1637 and on the committee to lay out the town of Duxbury.

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Links

• Hardin Clay Roots last updated 4 January 2011

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WILLIAM1 BASSETT came from England in 1621. The earl i e s t B assett record in England is of Thurstine de Basse t t , wh o ca me from Normandy in 1066, as Grand Falcone r o f Wi llia m th e Conqueror. His name is in the Domesda y Boo k an d in t he Ba ttle Abbey Roll. Thurstine built Be aupr e Castl e, nea r Cowbr idge in Glamorgan, Wales, soo n afte r the bat tle o f Hastings . His son Lord Ralph Bass ett wa s Chief Jus tice o f England , under Henry I (1068-1 135). T he Bassett s of Engl and are pr obably descended fr om thi s family bu t we have n o records th at show any lin e. The following translation from the records of the c i t y o f L eyden, Holland, where the Pilgrims were then li vi ng , ma y po ssibly refer to William who came in the For tun e , but m ore p robably to his father. "On the 19th o f Marc h , 1611, w ere af fianced William Bassett, drayma n (or jou rn eyman maso n) fro m Sandwich in England, the w idower o f Cec ilia Light , accomp anied by Roger Wilson an d Willia m Brews ter, his fr iends, an d Margaret Butler. " The brid e died be fore the thi rd calling , and was inte rred Apr. 9 , 1611. "O n the 26th o f July, 1611 , were aff ianced, an d on the 13t h Aug. were ma rried Willia m Basse tt, English man, widowe r of Cecilia Ligh t, accompanie d b y Roger Wils on and Edwar d Southworth, hi s friends, an d M argaret Oldh am, young mai d from England." William Bassett was one of thirty-five who came in 1 6 2 1 , i n the Fortune, landing in November. He remaine d i n Pl ym out h until 1638, then went to Duxbury where fo r se vera l ye ar s he and Capt. Miles Standish were altern atel y depu tie s o f the town to General Court. As he wa s rate d one o f th e hig hest on the tax list he must hav e bee n a man o f prope rty. In 1645 the town of Duxbury was granted a plantatio n , t o t h e west, four miles in each direction from a giv e n cen ter . T his was divided between fifty-four, who we r e calle d ori gina l proprietors; among them were John Al de n, Mile s Stand ish , William Bradford, William Bassett , Wi lliam Co llier, C onst ant Southworth and Christophe r Wadsw orth--al l but th e firs t two being Bassett ancest ors. The y paid Ma ssasoit , the fri endly chief of the nei ghborin g Indians, f or thi s land, seve n coats--a yard an d a hal f in each coat --nin e hatchets, eig ht hoes, twent y knives , four moose sk ins an d ten and a hal f yards o f cotton cl oth. Each settle r ha d a grant of a hous e lo t of six acre s. This was incor porat ed as Bridgewate r i n 1656. The nearest corn mill was at Taunton and they often w a l k e d there carrying their grists on their backs. He became a large land holder and had the largest lib r a r y o wned by any of the Pilgrims. He was a blacksmit h a n d "a rmor er." He was a volunteer in the war against the Pequots i n 1 6 3 7 ; a member of Capt. Myles Standish's Military Com pan y , 16 43. He married, probably in England, Elizabeth (???), w h o w a s t he mother of his children. When a division of t h e cat tl e o f the colony was made in 1627, the sixth lo t , consis tin g o f "the lesser of the black cowes came a t f irst in t he A nn , the bigest of the two steers, and t wo s hee goats " cam e t o a company of thirteen persons am ong w hom were W illia m an d Elizabeth Bassett and Willya m Basse tt, Jr., an d Elyz abet h Bassett, Jr., showing the re wer e two childre n at tha t tim e. His wife died before 1650, and he married, after 165 1 , M a r y (Tilden) Lapham, who was baptized in Tenterden , E ng. , 1 61 0, daughter of Nathaniel Tilden, and widow o f Th oma s Lap ham --who died 1648. He had no children by h is se con d wife . H e died in Bridgewater in 1667, betwee n Apr . 3--t he dat e o f his will--and May 12--the date o f inven tory. H is wido w, M ary, signed a receipt Sept. 16 67, whic h is th e lates t recor d we have of her. In the i nventor y of his p ropert y appear , "a pair of bellowes, a n Anvill , a vice, t ongs an d hammer s and coal shovels , a feathe r bed and bols ter an d sheets, o ne other sma l feather bed , 2 pillows , 2 blanket s, 4 guns , 1 buggy, " and several b ooks, amon g them being " Wilson's D ixonar y," two concorda nces, and m any commentarie s on book s o f the Bible. Late r a highwa y was laid out t o run by "o l d Goodm. Bassett's ." "The la st will and Testa ment o f Willi am Bassett Sen . (as dictate d by him on his de at h bed) exhib ited to th e court, holdin g at Plymouth th e 1 st day of June , Anno D om. 1667, on th e oath of Willi am Bre tt and John Car ey . The third of th e second mont h Anno Dom . 1667, the la s t will and Testamen t of Willia m Bassett, Se n. being ver y we ak and sick, an d having sp oken to his wife , and said , 'Wife , I must leav e thee, b ut I shall leave th ee wit h the Lord . If God ha d lengthe ned out my life it mig ht h ave been tha t thou mig htest h ave been more comfortabl y p rovided for.' B ut it be ing d emanded of him by one who w a s acquainted wit h his mi n d about the disposition of hi s e state, whether hi s mi n d was as formerly: That he woul d giv e his movable goo d s w ith his chattels to his wife , answere d, yes, it wa s hi s m ind: and that she should ha ve his hous e and grou nds ti l l she died: If she married n ot, and the n he woul d give i t t o his son William, and hi s tools to hi s so n Joseph: an d i t being demanded about h is books whic h h e formerly too k car e about, answered h e could not no w d o it. To satisf y as so on as we may. Pr esent then wi th hi m we have set ou r hands a s witnesses t o the abov e writin g so far as we kn ow.

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Added by Elwin Nickerson II my Great Grandfather Arrived on the" Fortune" at Plymouth in 1621

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Added by Elwin Nickerson II, My Great Grandfather Arrived at Plymouth, Masachusetts in 1621 in the "Fortune"

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The Pilgrims,
Thinking they had the problem solved 6 Sep 1620 they departed again, only to have to return this time to Plymouth, England. Here they abandoned the Speedwell and 20 people were left behind. The Mayflower left alone to cross the waters. William Bassett was one of the 20 people left to come as soon as a vessel transport could be found. It was said that he decided to wait for his Bride. This Bride most likely being Elizabeth Tilden.

Elizabeth Tilden was born 17 May 1603 at Bridgewater, Worcester, England. She was the daughter of Nathaniel Tilden and Lydia Hucksteppe.

William and Elizabeth probably married sometime in 1620 in Holland. They had children (1) William born ca 1624 who was married to Mary Rainsford. (2) Elizabeth born ca 1626, (3) Nathaniel born 2 Feb 1628 at Plymouth, Massachusetts who married Dorcas Joyce, (4) Sarah born ca 1630 who married Peregrine White and she died 22 Jan 1711 at Scituate, Mass, (5) Joseph Bassett born ca 1635 who married Martha Hobart and second Mary Lapham. He settled his family at Bridgewater and died there in 1712 (6) Jane b. ca 1639 at Duxbury, Massachusetts.

           William Bassett sailed to America the following year in 1621 on the “Fortune”.[4]  The ship arrived on November 19. This was the second ship to reach Plymouth.”The (ship’s) company included a few more from Leyden … William Bassett, the much married master mason, with his third wife…”[5]  In the William Bradford History 1621, Nov. 19, P 127 says: This is a memorable day of surprise and rejoicing for Plymouth for the Fortunes arrives with 35 more Pilgrims, “mostly lustly young men but sadly lacking in provisions”. Our William was one of them and if he was lacking in eatables, etc., he did not forget his provisions of books, a large library for those days, which attests to his scholarly education. Perhaps he had his blacksmith tools also for this was his trade, as will appear.

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William Basset (born about 1590 in England) arrived in America in 1621 aboard the ship FORTUNE (Thomas Barton, Master).

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Note from Steven Smith: Does anyone have REAL documentation that ties this William Bassett to his parents? I have never seen the proof that ANY of the original Bassett families in Massachussetts ever had real proof of their European ancestors, other than William of Lynn, MA, whose father was Roger. Please contact me if you are aware of proven documentation to the ancestors on this tree.
Thanks - Steven Smith Steven Gary Smith

Walter Bassett - was born about 1575 in Sandwich, Kent, England and died on 5 Apr 1667 in Bridgewater, MA .

Walter married Cecelia Lecht. Cecelia was born about 1560. She died about 1606 in Sandwich, Kent, England .

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Walter Bassett - was born about 1575 in Sandwich, Kent, England and died on 5 Apr 1667 in Bridgewater, MA .

Walter married Cecelia Lecht. Cecelia was born about 1560. She died about 1606 in Sandwich, Kent, England .

Immigrated from London to Plymouth on the Fortune, arriving 9 November 1621. Listed as "of Bethnal Green, Middlesex, iron-worker".

Marriage Records: Besset, Willem (Willem Bassett) of Sandwich in England, Hodman, widr. of Sisle Lecht (Cecily Light), ace. by Rogier Wilson (Roger Wilson) and Willem Bruystaert (William Brewster) his acq. betr. 19 Mar. 1611 by Mayeken Botler (Mary Butler) of Norwich in England, ace. by Anna Foller (Ann Fuller) and Roos Leyl (Rose Jennings nee Lisle) her acq. The bride died before the publication of the third bann (Sch.vol.A.fo.165v). [NOTE: Margaret Butler died on 9 Apr. 1611, before their third bann could be published]

Basset, Willem (William Bassett) widr. of Sisle Lecht (Cecily Light) ace. by Rogier Wiltson (Roger Wilson) and Eduwaert Sodert (Edward Southworth) his acq. betr. 26 July 1611, mar. 12 Aug. 1611 to Margriete Odlum (Margaret Oldham) of England, ace. by Wybram Pantes (Wybran Pontus nee Hanson) and Elisabeth Neel (Elisabeth Buckram nee Neal) her acq. (Sch.vol.B..fo2).

Buell B. Bassette recounts an undocumented story that "Wm Bassett left Delft Haven in the ship "Speedwell" July 22, 1620, and went to Southampton, England, with other Pilgrims. There the "Mayflower" was waiting for them and after the Company was divided between the two vessels they set sail for America Aug. 2, 1620. The "Speedwell" was found to be leaking and both ships put into Dartmouth for repairs and again set sail Aug. 21. The "Speedwell" again commenced to leak and with such immigrants as could not be accommodated in the "Mayflower," about 20 in all, including Robt. Cushman and Wm. Bassett, returned to London." This account would place William in London at the right time to board the "Fortune" there in July 1621.

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https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bassett-5

William Bassett Sr.

Born 1600 in England

Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]

[sibling%28s%29 unknown]

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Bassett — married about 1621 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Mary (Tilden) Bassett — married before 1664 [location unknown]

Father of William Bassett II, Elizabeth (Bassett) Burgess, Nathaniel Bassett, Sarah (Bassett) White, Joseph Bassett and Ruth (Bassett) Thomas

Died before 12 May 1667 in Bridgewater, Plymouth Colony

Profile last modified 15 Nov 2019 | Created 1 Jun 2010

William Bassett Sr. migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1620-1640).

NOTE: This William Bassett is distinct from William Bassett of New Haven, Connecticut who married Hannah Ives Dickerman).

He is also distinct from the William Bassett of Lynn, MA who was about the same age and who arrived 1635 on the Abigail and married Sarah Hood(?).
Contents

[hide] 1 Merging Guidance 2 Disproven / Unproven Claims 3 About the Surname 4 Biography 4.1 Chronology 4.2 Family 5 Last Will & Testament 6 Sources Merging Guidance

The following is from Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration Begins vol I-III (pp 126-130), which represents the most recent and most comprehensive research of early New England colonists. It is therefore being used as a guide for correcting the information about William Bassett (1600-1667), his wives and his children, and his (lack of confirmed) parents.

COMMENTS: In 1611 a William Bassett, formerly of Sandwich in England, widower of Cecily Light, was twice betrothed at Leiden in Holland. His first bride-to-be died, but he succeeded the second time. Some have held that this was the man who came to Plymouth, but this seems unlikely given the ten-year gap before the arrival in Plymouth in 1621, and the lack of evidence for children of the Plymouth man born before that date, assuming that he had been married at least twice before. It is also possible that the William Bassett of Leiden in 1611 was the father of the immigrant to Plymouth in 1621, but there is no evidence directly favoring this hypothesis. (See discussion in Stratton 242-43.) If the two-acre grant to William Bassett in 1623 was for William and his wife Elizabeth, then the first child would not have been born until 1624, three years after William's arrival in Plymouth. It is possible (though not likely) that the marriage took place in Plymouth, and Elizabeth came on the Fortune as a single woman. Savage has misread the 1627 Plymouth cattle division, somehow including daughter Sarah Bassett in this list, when in fact only two children, William and Elizabeth, were included. Sarah must have been born soon after 1627, however, to have married by the end of 1648. Pope claims that William Bassett resided at Sandwich in 1650, but this would be the son of the same name. Munsey-Hopkins (p. 67) lists a "probable" seventh child, a daughter Jane who married a Thomas Gilbert. This must be a simple error in which "Rossiter" was misread for "Bassett," as there was a Thomas Gilbert of Taunton who married Jane Rossiter. Various secondary sources claim that William Bassett volunteered for service in the Pequot War, and in the index to the first volume of published Plymouth Colony records he is listed for the page on which such volunteers appear, but he does not actually appear in the list [PCR 1:61]; a number of the index entries for William Bassett actually seem to be for William Paddy. On 6 March 1648/9 William Bassett was fined 5s. "for not mending of guns in seasonable time," and on 9 June 1653 he was fined 10s. "for neglecting to publish and make known an order directed to him from the council of war, prohibiting provisions for being transported out of the colony" [PCR 2:137, 3:36]. On 9 August 1655 and 10 June 1661 the colony treasurer received payment of fines by William Bassett [PCR 3:93, 8:104].[1] (End analysis by Anderson of what's known about William Bassett.)

Disproven / Unproven Claims

There is currently no proof that:

he was son of another William Bassett the Bassett family in Sandwich, England is Huguenot per Barber's 'British Family Names' William is of the Sandwich, England and Bethnal Green, Middlesex line. the Leyden, Holland William Bassett initially of Sandwich, England, a master mason, and widower of Cecelia Light was the same man as he who settled in Bridgewater (see comments about Anderson, above). This claim probably came from The Mayflower Planters (Balt.: Gen.Pub.Co.) which also claims that William who arrived on the Fortune in 1621 married to Margaret Oldham and settled in Duxbury, an 'iron monger from Bethnal, Co. Middlesex,' whose father is John Bassett. NOTE: this is not the same man as he who settled in Bridgewater. 'Pioneer' William Bassett was baptised at Stepney, 24 Oct 1600[2] The baptism has not been proven. About the Surname

The surname appears in 1066--Thurstine de Bassett was Grand Falconer to the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. The name is thereafter notable in England - in the Domesday Book as well as the Battle Abbey Roll. Thurstine built Beaupre Castle near Cambridge in Glamorgan, Wales, soon after the Conquest, and his son Ralph was Lord Chief Justice of England under King Henry I. Another Bassett castle is at Tehidy Park in Camborne, Cornwall; this line had large incomes from mining. Two Bassetts were among the King's counsellors at the signing of the Magna Charta. [3]

Biography

William Bassett [4] [5][6][7] was one of the thirty-five people who arrived at Plymouth in November 1621 on Board the ship "Fortune"; He was a blacksmith and gunsmith; freeman 1633; served in the Pequot War; Removed to Duxbury abt 1638; Deputy General to the Court 1640-43; Member of Captain Standish's Militia Company 1643; Constable 1652; Original proprietor of Bridgewater 1655. He had a large library.

Arriving in 1621, he was one of the 'purchasers', first in Plymouth with his wife, Elizabeth, and son, William, and daughter, Elizabeth, and took part in the division of cattle in 1627; then resided at Duxbury; then was among the first settlers and a proprietor of Bridgewater.

Chronology

He was born by about 1600, assuming that Elizabeth was his first wife.

He arrived Nov. 11, 1621 on the Fortune.

He first resided in Plymouth, but was in Duxbury by 1637 [PCR 1:63] then Bridgewater by 1656.

He was on the "1633" Plymouth list of freemen, among those admitted before 1 January 1632/3 [PCR 1:3]; also in list of 7 March 1636/7 [PCR 1:52]. In Duxbury portion of list of 1639 [PCR 8:174]. In Bridgewater portion of list which has been dated in 1658 [PCR 8:202].

Anderson believes his occupation was blacksmith because the first five lines of his estate's inventory included blacksmith's tools, including a pair of bellows, an anvil, a vice, tongs and hammers and coal shovels and "all the rest of the smith shop" items.

He was also literate and likely educated as evidenced by the more than twenty books listed by title, mostly theological.

He held a number of offices:

Plymouth coroner's jury, 2 March 1635/6 [PCR 1:39]; committee to admit newcomers to Duxbury, 7 May 1638 [PCR 1:84]; Plymouth grand jury, 5 June 1638, 6 June 1654 [PCR 1:87, 3:49]; Plymouth petit jury, 7 March 1636/7, 2 January 1637/8, 6 March 1637/8, 4 June 1639, 3 September 1639 [PCR 7:5, 7, 8, 12, 13]; Duxbury deputy to Plymouth court, 2 June 1640, 6 June 1643, 29 August 1643, 5 March 1643/4, 7 June 1648 [PCR 1:154, 2:57, 60, 68, 123]; committee to lay out land, 3 September 1638, 7 January 1638/9, 4 February 1638/9, 4 March 1638/9, 31 August 1640, 5 October 1640 [PCR 1:95, 109, 112, 115, 161, 163]; committee on bounds between Duxbury and Marshfield, 2 March 1640/1 [PCR 2:9, 42]; council of war for Duxbury, 27 September 1642 [PCR 2:46]; Duxbury constable, 3 June 1652 [PCR 3:8]; committee to lay out highways [PCR 3:61, 62]. In Duxbury portion of 1643 list of men able to bear arms [PCR 8:190]. He died in Bridgewater between 3 April 1667 (date of will) and 12 May 1667 (date of inventory). (The claim that William Bassett died on 4 April 1667 derives from a peculiar misreading of the probate documents, in which the date of probate is taken as 5 April rather than 5 June, and the assumption is made that the death must have occurred between the third and the fifth.)

Family

He married first by 1623 (and probably by 1621) Elizabeth _____, probably also a passenger on the Fortune in 1621; she appears in no record after 1627, and may have died soon after the birth of the last child about 1634, or she may have lived until just before William Bassett married his second wife.

He married after 1651 and before 12 December 1664 Mary (Tilden) Lapham, daughter of Nathaniel Tilden, widow of Thomas Lapham [see TIMOTHY HATHERLEY in GMB]; she was living at Bridgewater as late as 28 March 1690 [ Bassett Gen 6, citing BridTR 1:320].

Children:

William, b. Plymouth about 1624; m. by about 1652 Mary Rainsford, daughter of EDWARD RAINSFORD [ NEHGR 139:299]. Elizabeth, b. Plymouth abt 1626; m Sandwich 8 Nov 1648 Thomas Burgess [PCR 8:6], from whom she was divorced on 10 Jun 1661 [PCR 3:221]. Sarah, b Plymouth say 1628; m by 6 Mar 1648/9 Peregrine White, son of William White [PCR 2:183, MF 1:101-03]. Nathaniel, b abt 1630; m abt 1661 Dorcas Joyce, dau of John Joyce [TAG 43:3-5]. Joseph, b abt 1632; m1 by 1660 Mary ____ (said to be his stepsister Mary Lapham, dau of Thomas Lapham [see NEHGR 115:85]; m2 Hingham 16 Oct 1677 Mary Hobart [NEHGR 121:200]. Ruth, b abt 1634; m1 by 1655 John Sprague, s/o Francis Sprague [TAG 41:178-81, citing PCR 6:109 for evidence of marriage]; she m2 ____ Thomas [TAG 41:179; Robert S. Wakefield suggests that this was John Thomas of Marshfield, who died before 12 jaan 1691/2, and whose first wife had died 2 jan 1682/3]. Last Will & Testament

The will of William Bassett was dictated by him on his death bed on 3 Apr 1667:[8]

"The last will and testament of William Bassett senr exhibited to the Court holden att Plymouth the fift Day of June Anno:Dom 1667, on the oathes of Mr. William:Brett and John Carey: "The third of the 2cond month A William was born about 1610. He married the widowed Mary (Tilden) Lapham between 1651 and 12 Dec 1664. She married first Thomas Lapham, in Scituate, Massachusetts, on 13 Mar 1636/7.

Sources

↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Boston, MA: NEHGS (1995); vol I-III (pp 126-130) ↑ Charles Edward Banks, 'The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers' (Balt.:Gen.Pub.Co., 1971), p.106 ↑ GENEALOGY OF THE WOOD AND RITTS FAMILIES online genealogy, this particular portion seems to be unsourced. ↑ "Memoirs of Deceased NEHGS members - Josiah Colby Bassett," NEHGR, Vol. 94:198 (Apr 1940) ↑ Robert Ray King, The Family of Nathan Bassett of Chatham, NEHGR Vol. 125 (1971):7-11 ↑ Bassett, Buell. One Bassett Family in America (F.A. Bassett Co., Springfield, Massachusetts, 1926) Page 1-10 ↑ Amos Otis, Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families (revised by C.F. Swift c1861 (revised ?) 1:46 ↑ Bassett: p. 7, citing PCR Vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 36 Wikipedia: Fortune_(Plymouth_Colony_ship) Wikipedia: Passengers_of_1621_Fortune_voyage American Ancestors, vol VII, T-Y, p 44, "m. (2) after 1651 and before 12 December 1664 WILLIAM BASSETT {1621, Plymouth} [GMB 1:127-30]". Hotten, John Camden, The Original Lists Of Persons Of Quality (John Camden Hotten, 1874) Page xxviii: "William Bassite (Bassett, probably two in his family)". Arrived at New Plymouth, on the 11th of Nov. 1621 on the ship Fortune.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Tilden-13

Mary (Tilden) Bassett Mary (Tilden) Bassett (1610 - 1690)

Privacy Level: Open (White) Mary Bassett formerly Tilden aka Lapham Born 20 May 1610 in Tenterden, Ashford Borough, Kent, Englandmap ANCESTORS ancestors Daughter of Nathaniel Tilden and Lydia Hatch (Huckstep) Hatherly Sister of Thomas Tilden, Joseph Tilden, Sarah (Tilden) Sutton, Joseph Tilden, Stephen Tilden, Thomas Tilden, Judith (Tilden) Preble, Winifred Tilden, Lydia Tilden, Lydia (Tilden) Garrett and Stephen Tilden Wife of Thomas Lapham Sr — married 13 Mar 1637 in Scituate, Plymouth Colonymap Wife of William Bassett Sr. — married before 1664 [location unknown] DESCENDANTS descendants Mother of Elizabeth (Lapham) Studley, Mary (Lapham) Bassett, Thomas Lapham Jr, Rebecca (Lapham) Washburn and Lydia (Lapham) Bates Died 28 Mar 1690 in Scituate, Plymouth County, Massachusettsmap Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree private message [send private message], John Putnam private message [send private message], and Dave Robison private message [send private message] Profile last modified 23 Mar 2019 | Created 14 Sep 2010 This page has been accessed 1,830 times. The Puritan Great Migration. Mary (Tilden) Bassett migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1620-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: PGM Biography

Mary Bassett formerly Tilden aka Lapham

Born 20 May 1610 in Tenterden, Ashford Borough, Kent, England

Died 28 Mar 1690 in Scituate, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA.

BURIAL Men of Kent Cemetery Scituate, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA.

ANCESTORS:

Daughter of Nathaniel Tilden and Lydia Hatch (Huckstep) Hatherly

Sister of Thomas Tilden, Joseph Tilden, Sarah (Tilden) Sutton, Joseph Tilden, Stephen Tilden, Thomas Tilden, Judith (Tilden) Preble, Winifred Tilden, Lydia Tilden, Lydia (Tilden) Garrett and Stephen Tilden.

Wife of Thomas Lapham Sr — married 13 Mar 1637 in Scituate, Plymouth Colony.

Wife of William Bassett Sr. — married after 1663 [location unknown]

DESCENDANTS:

Mother of Mary (Lapham) Bassett, Thomas Lapham Jr and Rebecca (Lapham) Washburn.

Mary Tilden, daughter of Nathaniel Tilden and Lydia Huckstep, married 17 Mar 1637 (1) Thomas Lapham and married, after 1 Oct 1651, (2) William Bassett of the Fortune, 1621, widower of Elizabeth _____. Timothy Hatherly noted she was a "widow" when he witnessed Thomas's Will 1 Oct 1651. Her first husband was Thomas Lapham, who died 15 Jun 1648. Thomas was servant of Nathaniel Tilden. Mary was pregnant with Joseph Lapham at the time Thomas died. After Thomas Lapham's death, Mary married William Bassett, Fortune Passenger, 1621. Birth date shown is Christening Date.

Her birth name was Mary Tilden. Marriage record to William Bassett. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 about Mary Tilden Name: Mary Tilden Gender: Female Spouse Name: William Bassett Spouse Birth Place: E Spouse Birth Year: 1595 Marriage Year: 1621 Marriage State: Number Pages: 1

Sources

Find A Grave-MEMORIAL ID 59677541

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WILLIAM BASSETT IN ENGLAND William was baptized October 24, 1600 in Stepney, England. He probably was the son of William from Bethnal Green, England and descends from this family. He is of the Sandwich, England and Bethnal Green, Middlesex line. {"Saints and Strangers", G.F.Williston, and "The Pilgrim Reader"}(Geocities.com/~valerie reports his parents are Walter and Sconsolate Bassett and was born 1590 in Sandwich, Kent, England. Sara-Jane Tarr reports under Familytreemaker.com that Cecilia Light may be his mother. Also reported birth abt 1572 in Sandwich, Kent, England by Jeff Manson.) "Â… no proof has yet been discovered as to the parentage of our William Bassett in England. The Leyden records indicate that he came from Sandwich, Kent County near the Dover Coast." (Buell Burdett Bassette1611, July 29, P12 report of the 2nd Reunion Bassett Family, 1898, from Steven Bassett)

WILLIAM BASSETT IN LEYDEN, HOLLAND William Bassett, a Leyden Separatists, was a drayman and a master mason from Sandwich, Kent. He was a widower of Cicely Bassett, and he was betrothed in Leyden in 1611 to Mary Butler, with William Brewster, Roger Wilson, Anna Fuller, and Rose Lisle as witnesses, but Mary died before the marriage. "On the 19th of March, 1611, were affianced Wm. Bassett, drayman, from Sandwich in England, the widower of Cecilia Light, accompanied by Roger Wilson and Wm. Brewster, his friends, and Margaret Butler.' ... the bride died before the 3rd calling and was interred April 9, 1611." (From "The Bassett-Preston Ancestry", Preston, 929.2 B2948P, Burton Library, Detroit Public Library (researched June 13, 1998), Records from the City of Leyden, Holland. From Steven Bassett)

VOYAGE TO AMERICA William Bassett's original trip to America was delayed. He was on the ship "Speedwell" and it developed a leak and could not continue with the "Mayflower". The "Speedwell" became unseaworthy and both ships returned to port. The "Speedwell" proved to be unfit for anymore sea duty and a replacement ship could not be found. So the "Mayflower" left alone in August. The following spring the ship "Fortune" was found and hired to make the trip with "Speedwell's" passengers and others. Wm. Bassett then sailed with the "Fortune" to Plymouth. "One (of 35) of the passengers arriving on the FORTUNE was the much-married master mason WILLIAM BASSETT who was forced to give up his place in the original MAYFLOWER to wait for the next departing ship." (http://members.tripod.com/~MEJPA/MYMAYFLOWERS.html)

He sailed on the "Fortune" in 1621, arrived November 19. This was the second ship to reach Plymouth. "The (ship's) company included a few more from Leyden ... William Bassett, the much married master mason, with his third wife..." ("Saints and Strangers", p 191). "Saints: (9 men, 2 women, 1 child): Bassett, William (c. 1590-c.1655)- master mason, of Bethnal Green, Middlesex. Married Leyden, 1611, to 2nd wife, Margaret Oldham; later married 3rd wife; Purchaser, 1626; removed to Bridgewater, 1649. (p444)

Elizabeth Bassett arrived in the second ship to reach Plymouth, "The Fortune", with her husband, at least it is thought so. If not she came in the "Ann" or the "Little John" which came in 1623, in which case William and Elizabeth probably married on this side at Plymouth in the same year, for their first child was born in 1624. (From Steven Bassett) "On the 29th of July, 1611, were affianced William Bassett, an Englishman, the widower of Cecelia Leight, accompanied by Roger Wilson and Edward Southworth, his friends and Margaret Oldham." On August 13, 1611, the wedding bells rang and they were married, the great John Robinson the pilgrim pastor, no doubt officiating. There are many who claim that this William is the same William who may have started for America with the first pilgrims, as described in the next paragraph, and who finally came in the Fortune in 1621.

1620, July 22. Vol. I, P 317 Southeastern Massachusetts: The author says, "The family bearing the name of Bassett is one among the oldest in Massachusetts, as well as one of prominence and eminent respectability." He says further, " William Bassett left Delft Haven in the ship Speedwell July 22, 1620, and went to Southhampton, England, with the other Pilgrims. There the "Mayflower" was waiting for them and after the Company was divided between the two vessels, "Speedwell" and "Mayflower", they set sail for America on August 5, 1620. The "Speedwell" was found to be leaking and both ships put into Dartmouth for repairs and again set sail on August 21, 1620. The "Speedwell" again commenced to leak and with such immigrants as could not be accommodated in the "Mayflower", about 20 in all, including Robert Cushman and William Bassett, returned to London". (Note-the authentication of this historic event has not been found.)

1621, Nov. 19, P 127 Bradford History: This is a memorable day of surprise and rejoicing for Plymouth for the Fortunes arrives with 35 more Pilgrims, "mostly lustly young men but sadly lacking in provisions" as Bradford says. Our William was one of them and if he was lacking in eatables, etc., he did not forget his provisions of books, a large library for those days, which attests to his scholarly education. Perhaps he had his blacksmith tools also for this was his trade, as will appear.

1633, March 25. Vol. I, Plymouth Colony, P1: "The Names of the Freemen of the Incorporation of Plymouth in New England, An: 1633, " we find a list of 68 freemen, the 28th name being "William, Bassett." This is the oldest freemen's list of record in America. (From Steven Bassett)

WILLIAM BASSETT FAMILY Marriage #1 to Cecilia Light (Leight, Lecht) before 1611 in England Engaged to Mary Butler in March 19, 1611 in Leyden, Holland Marriage #2 to Margaret Oldham July 29,1611 in Leyden, Holland Marriage #3 to Elizabeth Tilden about 1620 in Leyden, Holland Marriage #4 to Mary Tilden after June 5, 1651 in Plymouth, MA

Only children with Elizabeth:

• 1.William
• 2.Elizabeth
• 3.Joseph
• 4.Sarah
• 5.Nathaniel
• 6.Jane
• 7.Ruth (Sources: Title: Ancestral File (TM), Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Publication: July 1996 (c), data as of 2 January 1996, Repository:, Note: NAME Family History Library, ADDR 35 N West Temple Street, CONT Salt Lake City, UT 84150 USA Records of William Spooner of Plymouth, MA & his descendants Thomas Spooner, 1883 The Family of Nathan Bassett of Chatham, By Robert Ray King, of Munich, Germany (FTM CD

1. 117) (Plymouth Colony Its History & People 1620-1691 by Eugene Aubrey Stratton) From Steven Bassett

He was betrothed on 29 July 1611 to Margaret Oldham, with Edward Southworth, Roger Wilson, Elizabeth Neal, and Wybra Pontus as witnesses, and they married 13 August 1611. "On the 26th of July, 1611, were affianced, and on the 13th August were married Wm. Bassett, Englishman, widower of Cecilia Light, accompanied by Roger Wilson and Edward Southworth, his friends, and Margaret Oldham, young maid from England" (From "The Bassett-Preston Ancestry", Preston, 929.2 B2948P, Burton Library, Detroit Public Library (researched June 13, 1998), Records from the City of Leyden, Holland, quoted by Steven Bassett)

He married in Leyden a third time to Elizabeth (Dexter, p. 165), and he brought her and their son William to Plymouth. Wife Elizabeth and children William and Elizabeth were in the 1627 division, but the wife died later. Bassett married at Plymouth a fourth wife after 5 June 1651 Mary (Tilden) Lapham, for on that date Timothy Hatherly proved the will of Thomas Lapham, deceased. The widow Lapham, being weak, was not able to appear in court (PCR 2:169). Earlier, 22 June 1650, Mary Lapham, widow of Thomas Lapham of Scituate, confirmed the sale of land in Tenterden, Kent, to Thomas Hiland (MD 10:199; PCR 12:194). The will of Timothy Hatherly dated 12 December 1664 (MD 16:158-59), left L5 to the wife of William Bassett, "my wifes Daughter," and thus Mary would have been the daughter of Nathaniel Tilden of Scituate. (Submitted to the Rootsweb WorldConnect Project by Harry C. Hadaway, Jr. hhadaway@mail.tds.net)

THE PILGRIM WILLIAM BASSETT IN AMERICA William first settled in Plymouth then in Duxbury (1638) and finally in Bridgewater, of which town he was an original proprietor. He died there in 1667. He was comparative wealthy, being a large landholder, only four in Plymouth paying a higher tax in the year 1633. He had a large library, from which it is inferred that he was an educated man. In 1648, he was fined five shillings for neglecting "to mend guns in seasonable times" - an offense of not a very heinous character - but it shows that he was a mechanic as well as a planter. His name is on the earliest list of freeman, made in 1633; he was a volunteer in the company raised in 1637, to assist Massachusetts and Connecticut in the Pequod War; a member of the committee of the town of Duxbury to lay out bounds, and to decide on the fitness of persons applying to become residents and was representative to the Old Colony Court six years. When William died, he left books by Robinson and Ainsworth, a concordance, commentaries, sermons and religious histories. (Jeffery Bassett)

"William Bassett was one of 35 who came in 1621, in the Fortune, landing in November. He remained in Plymouth until 1638, then to Duxbury when for several years he and Captain Miles Standish were alternately deputies of the town to the General Court." "He became a large land holder and had the largest library owned by any of the Pilgrims. He was a blacksmith and "armorer". "He was a volunteer in the war against the Pequots in 1637: a member of Captain Miles Standish's Military Company, 1643." "He married, probably in England, Elizabeth (Neil?), who died before 1650, he married after 1651, Mary (Tilton) Lapham, who was baptized in Tenterden, England, 1610, daughter of Nathaniel Tilton and widow of Thomas Lapham". (From "History of the Town of Plymouth", Wm T. Davis, J.W. Lewis & Co., Philadelphia, 1885 Page 27, from Steven Bassett)

On 8 November 1666 William Bassett, who described himself as a blacksmith of Bridgewater, sold four lots to John Sprague of Duxbury, and Bassett's wife Mary gave her consent, John Sprague being her husband's son-in-law (Ply. Colony LR 3:66). In his will, dated 3 April 1667, sworn 5 June 1667, William Bassett mentioned his unnamed wife (Mary swore to his inventory), his son Joseph, and his son William's son William (MD 16:162); the inventory shows an interesting collection of books. On 2 June 1669 William Bassett of Sandwich, oldest son of William Bassett sometime of Bridgewater, deceased, confirmed land to his youngest brother, Joseph Bassett of Bridgewater (Ply. Colony LR 3:140). William Bassett, Sr. also had a daughter Sarah, who married Peregrine White, q.v.; a daughter Ruth, who married John, son of Francis Sprague, q.v. (TAG 41:178); and a daughter Elizabeth, who married Thomas Burgess in 1648 (PCR 8:6) and divorced him in 1661 after he was brought to court for an act of uncleanness with Lydia Gaunt (the first divorce in Plymouth Colony), and the Court allowed Elizabeth to keep small things "that are in William Bassett's hands" (PCR 3:221). On 6 June 1683 Goodwife Sprague and her son John agreed about land which formerly belonged to John Sprague's grandfather Bassett (PCR 6:109). Ruth (Bassett) Sprague married a man whose surname was Thomas (TAG 41:179). William, Sr. also had a son Nathaniel Bassett. Robert Ray King, "The Family of Nathan Bassett of Chatham," NEHGR 125:7, has to do with Nathan Bassett, the son of Nathaniel Bassett and his wife Dorcas Joyce, daughter of John. (Note: In correspondence, Robert S. Wakefield questions whether it was the same William Bassett in all four marriages, and it is a surprisingly large number of Englishmen sharing a name with someone else that was resident in Leyden, from Steven Bassett) "On the 9th of November, the "Fortune", a vessel of fifty-five tons, unexpectedly arrived with thirty-five passengers, having sailed from London early in July. The names of the passengers were as follow: ... William Bassite (2) ..."Page 34 "Thirty-three acres were granted to those who came in the "Fortune". ... Nineteen acres, extending from First or Shaw's Brook to the Wollen-Mill Brook, or Second Brook, were granted to ... Wiliam Bassite ........... 2" Page 39 "On the 22nd of May 1627, it was "concluded by the whole company that cattle which were the companies, to wit, the cows & the goats, should be divided by lot to all the psons of the same company, and so kept until the expiration of the ten years after the date above written. That the old stock with half the increase should remain for the common use, to be divided at the end of the said term or otherwise as occasion falleth out, and other half to be their own forever." "6. The sixth lot fell to John Shaw and his company joined ... 7. William Bassett, 8. Elizabeth Bassett, 9. William Bassett, Jr. To this lot fell the lesser of the black cows which came at first in the Ann, with which they must keep the biggest of two steers. Also to this lot was two she goats" Page 46 "The General Court was composed of all the freemen of the colony. They chose the officers of the government and made the laws. The first list of freemen in the records is found under date of 1633, as follows: ... William Bassett" (From "Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth", William T. Davis, A. Williams & Co., Boston, 1833, from Steven Bassett)

1642, Sept. 27. Vol. II, Plymouth Colony, P62: The General Court meets to provide defensive and offensive war on the Indians under Miantinomo who have been reported to be getting up a conspiracy to kill English in the land. Duxboro is represented by Capt. Miles Standish, John Alden, William Bassett and five others, Plymouth having only seven representatives, ... Eight towns were assessed 25 Pounds 5 shillings for the soldiers expenses.

1648, March 6. Vol. II, Plymouth Colony, P182: "William Bassett of Duxbury, Seni, having presented at the general Court holden at Plymouth aforesaid, the 4th of October, 1648 for not mending of guns in seasonable time, acording to order of Court, is fined for his neglect heerin five shillings'"

"1651, October 15 This is the day when the Court fines Nathaniel Bassett of Duxboro, son of William Bassett, "for disturbing the church of Duxboro on the Lord's Day." The fine was 20 Shillings or be bound to a post with the offense posted on the forehead for 2 hours." Nathaniel was 23 years old. Sometime after 1651 William Bassett takes his second wife Widow Mary Tilden Lapham of Scituate. Mary outlived her second husband William Bassett and appears in the Bridgewater records as late as March 28, 1690 (Vol. I, P 230L R), under grandson William Bassett' land, thus: "Imprimis sixe acors of lands wheare Widdow Bassett now liveth on the North side of the river." "1661, June 10 The Court grants the suit of Elizabeth Burgess, daughter of William Bassett, for a divorce from her husband Thomas Burgess. This is the first record of a divorce granted in the Colony. They lived together for 13 years but he was not faithful."1667, May 25, Vol. II, Part 2, P39, Plymouth Court, " Mary the Relect of the above said William Bassett tooke oath to the truth this Inventory this 25 of May 1667 before me Thomas Hinckley Assistant:" No inventory of land or dwelling appears of record. The inventory shows four guns at least and perhaps some swords. At any rate one of the swords is said to be on exhibit in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth.

Genealogy of Wm. Bassett Grand Rapids Public Library September 21, 1996 (from Steven Bassett)

From "Americana Illustrated", pages 275 -

276, Grand Rapids Library William Bassett - Until his death in 1667 he held a position for which his birth and talents befitted him, and was close in the councils of the dignitaries of the colony. He was three times married, his third wife, Elizabeth Tilden, and he was the father of the following children: William; Elizabeth; Nathaniel; Joseph; Sarah; and Jane. (From Steven Bassett)

WILLIAM BASSETT WILL

The Will of William Bassett, Sr Mayflower Descendent Volume 15, 1914, Page 162 [fol. 37] "The last Will " of William Bassett senir exhibited to the Court holden att Plymouth the fift Day of June Amo: Dom: 1667, on the oaths of Mr William Brett and John Cary" "The third of the 2cond Month Amo: Dom: 1667 "The Last Will" of William Bassett senir being very weake and sicke and having spoken to his wife and said wife I must leave thee but I shall leave thee with the Lord; if God had lengthened out my life It might have bine that thou mightest have bine more Comfortably provided for but it being Demauned of him by one which was acquainted with his mind about the Deposing of his estate; whether his mind was as formerly; That hee would give his moveable goods with his Chattles to his wife Answered yea it was his mind; and that shee should have the house and ground till shee Died; if shee Married not; and then he would give it to his son Williams son; and his tools to his son Joseph; and being Demaunded about his bookes which hee formerly took care about; Answered hee could not now Doe it; to satisfy as farr as we may; prsent they with him wee have sett to our hand as witnesses to the above writing soe farr as we know Witness heerunto William Brett John Carey"

From Al Myers, via Internet, October 26, 1998

(aem@ezone.com)

DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM BASSETT Some descendants of William Bassett are mentioned during this period Nathan Nathan Bassett, son of Nathaniel and Dorcus (Joyce) Bassett, the progenitor of the Bassetts of Chatham and Harwich, is said to have been born in Yarmouth 25 Sept. 1677: he died in Chatham in 1728. He married 7 March 1709/10, Mary Crow or Crowell, the daughter of Thomas and Deborah Crowell of Yarmouth, who was born 2 Dec. 1688 (May.Desc., vol.9,p.252-253). Shortly after marrying, Nathan settled in Monomoit which was incorporated and renamed Chatham about the time he settled there. A notation in the Proprietors' Book of Records of Chatham describes the boundaries of the property which he bought. Although no date is given, the entry was Probably made in 1714: "laid out to Nathan Bassett a parcell of land to ye westward of ye Indian Meeting House, bounded east by ye land left for ye Indian Meeting House, north by ye highway to a tree marked on four sides, with N.B. cut in it; thence set S.W. to ye pond next Harwich then by ye pond to range set between ye pond to ye other pond, and then by it to ye first mentioned land, allowing a highway through between ye ponds" (Josiah Paine Manuscripts, p.84, in the possession of the New England Historic Genealogical Society). This land lies on the Chatham-Harwich boundary south of Queen Anne Road near West Harwich. The ponds mentioned are now called Mill Pond and Ministers Pond. Nathan died in 1728, as his wife Mary was apponted administratrix of his estate 27 Nov. 1728 (Barnstable County Probaytes, vol. 4, p. 454). The estate was not settled until after the death of Mary. Her will, dated 5 Nov. 1741and proved 6 May 1742, lists seven children. Source: The Family of Nathan Bassett of Chatham, By Robert Ray King, of Munich, Germany (FTM CD #117)

Nathaniel William removed to Duxbury in 1638. In 1645 he was one of the original proprietors of Bridgewater which was incorporated in 1656. He died there in April 1667. His will, dictated on his death bed "the third of the second month " (i.e. April), was probated at Plymouth 5 June 1667 (The Mayflower Descendant< hereafter May. Desc., vol. 16, p. 162-163). One of William Bassett's seven children was Nathaniel Bassett, born in Plymouth about 1628, who married Dorcas Joyce, the daughter of John Joyce of Yarmouth. He lived in Duxbury and later settled in Yarmouth where he died 16 Jan. 1709/10, mentions nine living children, among them this son Nathan Bassett to whom he gave a small amount of property.

Page 23 - " William Bassett, married in Leyden, Netherlands, 1611, Margaret Oldham, having previously married Cecil Lecht, and came in the Fortune 1621, with wife, and had William; Nathaniel; Joseph, m. Martha, d. of Edmund Hobart; and Jane, m. Thomas Gilbert of Taunton. In the division of cattle, 1627, his wife is called Elizabeth. He afterwards moved to Duxbury, and finally to Bridgewater." (From "One Bassett Family in America", Buell Burdett Bassette, 1926, L929.2 B2948B , Burton Library, Detroit Public Library (researched June 13, 1998), quoted by Steven Bassett)

William Bassett of Duxbarrow gave his son in law Lt. Peregrine White 40 arces of Upland. On 16 June 1565 William Bassett of Duxbarrow, now living at Bridgewater, gave his lands in Scituate to his two sons Peregrine White and Nathaniel. (Mayflower Familes Through Five Generations, Volume 13, p6).

Wife Elizabeth and child, William 1627, Sons Nathaniel and Peregrine White had land deed from William in 1656. Daughter Elizabeth married November 8, 1648 to Thomas Burgess of Sandwich. William died at Bridgewater 1667 bequeathed to wife Mary and sons William and Joseph. From" Genealogical Register of Plymouth Families" R929.374482 D299g 1975 same as above from "The Pioneers of Massachusetts" plus below: had children William; Nathaniel; Joseph married to Martha, daughter of Edmund Hobart of Hingham; Sarah married Peregrine White; Elizabeth married Thomas Burgess, Jane married Thomas Gilbert of Taunton.

From" Genealogical Register of Mayflower Families" Grand Rapids Library (From Steven Bassett)

MISCELLANEOUS

William Bassett, an Englishman, married at Leyden, Holland, August 31, 1611, Margaret Oldham, previously married to Cecil Light/Lecht, (Leyden Record). Came to America 1621 on the ship "Fortune", from 1622, he resided in Duxbury; gunsmith: deputy, Resided at Sandwich in 1650 (Plymouth Colony Record), Removed to Bridgewater.

From "The Pioneers of Massachusetts"

R929.3744 Page 81 (From Steven Bassett)

William Bassett, the immigrant, came to Plymouth in the ship "Fortune" in 1621. He removed to Duxbury in 1638. In 1645 he was one of the original proprietors of Bridgewater which Was incorporated in 1656. He died there in April 1667. His will, dictated on his death bed "the third of the seconf month" {i.e. April} was probated at Plymouth 5 June 1667. (From Steven Bassett)

From "Plymouth Colony" page 242:

William Bassett, of the Leyden Separatists, arrived in 1621 on the "Fortune". In the Leyden records, he is shown as a master mason, from Sandwich ,Kent, England. He was a widower of Cicely Bassett, and was betrothed in Leyden in 1611 to Mary Butler, with William Brewster, Roger Wilson, Anna Fuller, and Rose Lisle as witnessess, but Mary died before the marriage. He was betrothed on 29 July 1611 to Margaret Oldham, with Edward Southward, Roger Wilson, Elizabeth Neal, and Wybra Pontus as witnessess, and they married 13 August 1611. He married in Leyden a third time to Elizabeth ______, and brought her and their son William to Plymouth. Wife Elizabeth and children William and Elizabeth were in the division of 1627, but the wife died later. Bassett married at Plymouth a fourth wife after 5 June 1651 Mary (Tilden) Lapham. On 8 November 1666 William Bassett, who described himself as a blacksmith of Bridgewater, sold four lots to John Sprague of Duxbury, and Bassett's wife Mary gave her consent, John Sprague being her husband's son-in-law. In his will, dated 3 April 1667, sworn 5 June 1667, William Bassett mentioned his unnamed wife (Mary swore to his inventory), his son Joseph, and his son William's son William; the inventory shows an interesting collection of books. On 2 June 1669 William Bassett of Sandwich, oldest son of William Bassett sometime of Bridgewater, deceased, confirmed land to his youngest brother Joseph Bassett of Bridgewater. William Bassett Sr. also had a daughter Sarah, who married Peregrine White; a daughter Ruth, who married John, son of Francis Sprague; and a daughter Elizabeth, who married Thomas Burgess in 1648 and divorced him in 1661 after he was brought to court for an act of uncleanness with Lydia Gaunt the first divorce in Plymouth Colony), and the Court allowed Elizabeth to keep small things "that are in William Bassett's hands". From Steven Bassett

From "Hudson and Mohawk Valley", Grand Rapids

Library The first of the name in America was William Bassett or Bassite, who came in the "Fortune" in 1621. The tradition is that he intended joining the "Mayflower" pilgrims, but waited for his bride. He was an educated man and brought his box of books with him. He was freeman in 1633; for six years represented to the old colony court; help to lay out Duxbury, and served in the Pequot war. (From Steven Bassett)

Descendants of: "Pioneer" William Bassett 1 "Pioneer" William Bassett b. 1595 d. 1667 m. 13-Aug-1611 Elizabeth (Neil ?)(Tilden?) William came on the Ship Fortune; resided at Duxbury and Bridgewater, Mass.; was a gunsmith and metal worker. The Bassett family in Sandwich, England is Huguenot per Barber's "British Family Names"{-"The Trail of the Huguenots...," G. Elmore Reaman (Toronto: Thomas Allen Ltd., 1963, p.263)} The Leyden, Holland record indicates that "Pioneer" William Bassett came from Sandwich, England, a master mason, widower of Cecelia Light. William was Representative, 1640-44; with Gov. Bradford and others he joined in the purchase of Dartmouth and moved to Bridgewater, Mass. in 1652. Arriving in 1621, he was one of the "purchasers", first in Plymouth with his wife, Elizabeth, and son, William, and daughter, Elizabeth, and took part in the division of cattle in 1627; then resided at Duxbury; then was among the first settlers and a proprietor of Bridgewater. "Pioneer" William Bassett was baptised at Stepney, 24 Oct 1600, per Charles Edward Banks, "The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers" (Balt.:De Puny, 1971), p.106, who also states that he arrived in America never married and married there before the land division of 1623. "The Mayflower Planters" (Balt.:Gen.Pub.Co.) lists William who arrived on the Fortune in 1621 as married to Margaret Oldham and settled in Duxbury, an "iron monger from Bethnal, Co. Middlesex," whose father is John Bassett. Also see the "Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families." (Note: Mary and Elizabeth are often the same name - Mary Oldham may be Elizabeth Bassett.) Cf. "Plymouth Colony," Eugene Stratton, pp. 242-3; "One Bassett Family in America," Buell Burdett Bassette (New Britain, Conn.: 1926), pp. 1-10.

Elizabeth: A footnote on "Gen. Notes of Barnstable Families" reports "His wife Mary presented the inventory of his estate, May 12, 1667, and took the oath required. The names Mary and Elizabeth were formerly considered synonymous, and it may be that Mary was not his second wife." The text states "His wife was named Elizabeth and it is stated by Judge Mitchell that she was probably a Tilden."

From Steven Bassett

Regards,
Loyal Gordon Bassett

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The Descendants of Elder William Brewster, Part 1, Generations 1 through 4, Barbara Lambert Merrick, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth MA, 2014, p. 143

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'Edmond Freeman

was Deputy to the General Court for Sandwich (1666-1673)

and Assistant to the Governor, 1666-1686 and 1689-1691.

See TAG 40:2.

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http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=43529426 :

Birth: 1620, England Death: unknown Massachusetts, USA

IMMIGRANT, 1635

DEPUTY TO THE GENERAL COURT FOR SANDWICH, 1666-1673

ASSISTANT TO THE GOVERNOR, 1666-1686 and 1689-1691

Edmund was baptized Nov 26, 1620 in Billingshurst, Sussex, England. He immigrated on the "Abigail" in 1635 with his father, siblings and stepmother. {Steve Bell's note: http://www.winthropsociety.com/ships/abigail.htm #152 matches him, and #135 Edward could be his father (#136 is Edward's wife) or there are others who are the right age to be our subjects father. http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/abigail1635.shtml lists "Edward" alongside three other Freemans. Groupings like this often indicated family relationships. A clerk could have easily written Edward instead of Edmond. This ship also brought John Winthrop, Jr. Let me say that we are not dealing in speculation here - both this man and his father were assistants to the Governor. http://www.immigrantships.net/v2/1600v2/abigail16351008.html#Freeman : Transcriber's Ancestors

• 8th and 9th gr. grandfathers of transcriber. Freeman Edmond II - baptized 25 Jul 1596, died at age 86, body was interred at Old Town Cemetery, in Sandwich Plymouth colony. Will on 21 Jun 1682 in Sandwich, Inventory of estate in Sandwich taken on 4 Oct 1682, amount unknown, probated 2 Nov 1682. He married first Bennett Hodsoll in 1617, who died in England in 1630 and then he married Elizabeth Perry in 1632. She is on this voyage. Edmond III and Alice on this voyage are both children of Edmond II and Bennett.

Freeman, Edmond III(aka Edmund/Edward)- died between 4 Mar 1696 and 5 Jan 1704 in Sandwich, Barnstable Co., MA Christened 26 Nov 1620 in Billingshurst, Sussex, Eng. Resided in Shawme (now Sandwich) after 3 Apr 1637. Plymouth records, 3 Apr 1637, is thus granted permission to settle Sandwich, the fourth town in the Plymouth Colony: "It is also agreed by the Court that these ten men of Saugus, Edmund Freeman, Henry Feake, Thomas Dexter, Edward Dillingham, William Wood, John Carman, Richard Chadwell, William Almy, Thomas Tupper and George Knott shall have liberty to view a place and sit down and have sufficient lands for three score families upon the conditions propounded to them by the Governor and Mr. Winslow." Edmund was the deputy to the General Court from Sandwich. Edmond married 1648 1st to Rebecca Prence, daughter of Gov. Thomas Prence of Plymouth Colony and granddaughter of William Brewster, patriarch of Mayflower 1620 voyage and 2nd in 1651 to Margaret Perry.}

He died bef Jan. 5. 1703/4, probably in Sandwich, Barnstable Co., MA.

Family links:

Parents:

 Edmond Freeman (1590 - 1682)

 Bennett Hodsoll Freeman (1600 - 1630)

Spouse:

 Margaret Perry Freeman (1624 - 1688)

Children:

 Edmund Freeman (1655 - 1720)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: Unknown Specifically: Unknown burial location

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William Bassett BIRTH 1600 England DEATH 1667 (aged 66–67) Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA BURIAL Unknown MEMORIAL ID 17096990 · View Source

MEMORIAL PHOTOS 0 FLOWERS 76 William Bassett was the husband of Elizabeth Unknown and Mary Tilden. Father of my 7th great-grandmother Sarah Bassett White, wife of the first pilgrim child, Peregrine White.

William Bassett's origins are unknown at this time. He was among the very early arrivals in New England, arriving on the "Fortune" in 1621. His first wife Elizabeth may have also been among the passengers, either as a single woman or recently married to him.

He was a freeman of Plymouth,MA, among those already admitted before Jan 1,1632/3. By 1639 he had removed to Duxbury. He was a blacksmith by trade. He wrote his will on April 3,1667, probaby dying very shortly thereafter. His estate inventory was taken May 12,1667.

He married, first, Elizabeth ____, probably before 1623. Sometime after 1651, he married Mary (Tilden) Lapham, the widow of Thomas Lapham.

Children(all by first marriage): William Bassett Jr, Elizabeth Bassett Burgess, Sarah Bassett White, Nathaniel Bassett, Joseph Bassett, and Ruth Bassett Sprague.

Family Members Spouses Elizabeth Bassett 1603–1650 (m. 1623)

Elizabeth Tilden 1603–1667

Photo Mary Tilden Bassett 1610–1690

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William Bassett was the husband of Elizabeth Unknown and Mary Tilden. Father of my 7th great-grandmother Sarah Bassett White, wife of the first pilgrim child, Peregrine White.

William Bassett's origins are unknown at this time. He was among the very early arrivals in New England, arriving on the "Fortune" in 1621. His first wife Elizabeth may have also been among the passengers, either as a single woman or recently married to him.

He was a freeman of Plymouth,MA, among those already admitted before Jan 1,1632/3. By 1639 he had removed to Duxbury. He was a blacksmith by trade. He wrote his will on April 3,1667, probaby dying very shortly thereafter. His estate inventory was taken May 12,1667.

He married, first, Elizabeth ____, probably before 1623. Sometime after 1651, he married Mary (Tilden) Lapham, the widow of Thomas Lapham.

Children(all by first marriage): William Bassett Jr, Elizabeth Bassett Burgess, Sarah Bassett White, Nathaniel Bassett, Joseph Bassett, and Ruth Bassett Sprague.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 7 2022, 10:38:40 UTC

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William Bassett the immigrant, who came over in the ship " Fortune"in 1621, lived in Duxbury in 1637, was deputy to the general court several years and joined Governor Bradford and others in the purchase of Dartmouth Massachusetts, and removed to Bridgewater where he died in 1667. Ruth Whittemore was appointed April 3 1730, administratrix of her husbands' estate, which was inventoried at five hundred and three pounds.

Source:https://www.books.google.com

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GEDCOM Note

The ship Fortune captained by Master Thomas Barton, arrived at Plymouth on November 9, 1621, just a few weeks after the First Thanksgiving. bringing Wiliam Bassett and his wife Elizabeth to Plymouth.