Many Bassetts in the United States can trace their ancestry to one of five early Bassett immigrants who arrived in New England during the seventeenth century. Little is known of the origins of these five early New England families. The immigrants were:

1. William Bassett of Plymouth, Massachusetts, who arrived on the Fortune in 1621
2. William Bassett of Lynn, Massachusetts, who arrived on the Abigail in 1635
3. John Bassett of New Haven, Connecticut, who died there in 1652
4. William Bassett of New Haven, Connecticut, who died there in 1684
5. Thomas Bassett of Fairfield, Connecticut, who arrived on the Christian in 1635.

In addition to these New England Bassetts, many Bassetts in the South descend from Thomas Bassett of Virginia, who arrived on the Truelove in 1635, or from Francis Bassett, first seen in records in 1772 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, who later settled in Barnwell County, South Carolina.

Resources

• Bassett Family Association
• Genetics & Genealogy, The Bassetts of New England: A Comparison of Five Early Immigrants