Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Finding Uncle Sephus



    Uncle Sephus.  Sephus Bass was his full name.  He was my gr. grandfather Mitchell Bass's brother. But like many of my family, with roots in Tennessee, I never heard his name until the 1990s.  At a family reunion in 1989, his name came up as one of our Tennessee ancestors from Giles county. I would not hear the story until 1995, when one of the cousins related the story that he had heard at the family reunion years before.

     Our Arkansas patriarch in Horatio Arkansas, was Louis Mitchell Bass born in Giles County Tennessee. He was taken from his family in Tennessee never to see them anymore.  Oh he was not sold, but instead, he was "given" as a "wedding gift" when the slave owner's daughter married a man from Arkansas.


Louis Mitchell Bass
Patriarch of the Bass Family of SW Arkansas

     When freedom came---he would spend the rest of his life in Horatio, the small Arkansas town, having married a  young woman whom he loved, and with whom he started his own family. Not long afterwards, he farmed for himself, acquired land, and made a name for himself in the community of former slaves in Sevier County. He often longed for his family back in Tennessee, but never had the chance to travel, and, as the years passed, he received no word of their fate.

It would be decades after the war, before he would learn the story of what actually happened to his family left behind. Among those left behind were his parents, and brothers---one of whom was Sephus--Sephus Bass.

As I said, Grandpa Mitchell Bass would never see most of them ever again.  However late in life he did get a chance to meet a younger brother, John Silas Bass, who had moved to Kansas in the 1900's. And years later when the two met---John Silas, the younger brother told his brother Mitchell, the story of what happened to the family on one fateful night in 1888.

     Night riders---klansmen---visited the home of the Bass family in Elkton, and in one of the many acts of terrorizing black families in the county----- they attacked the Bass family.  To shorten a long and tragic story----in an effort to protect the family---a shoot-out took place. The younger members of the family were put on the roof of the house, and the shooting began.  The patriarch of  this family---Irving Bass---the father----and also my gr. gr. gr. grandfather would lose his life in that struggle to protect his family.

     One of the sons----Josephus (Sephus) was a marksman and he shot at least one of the night riders. After the incident---he, Sephus as he was called, had to leave. It was said that he left for Texas, and no other details about his life were ever known.


     Over the years the same story was told about him----he shot a white man and ran away to Texas. 
     
     Part of  this story involves the fact that even for many years---his name was never uttered. Finally at a family reunion in the 1980s, the only person living who ever heard the story about Uncle Sephus was there---my great uncle, George Bass. At this reunion, someone asked about the story of  the event of 1888. Uncle George shared the few facts that he had heard about the tragic end to Irving Bass's death and how the family defended itself. And he did mention the uncle who shot the white man and who fled to Texas.

     But Uncle George did not mention his name at least not at first. And when asked by one of the cousins---who was it who fired the shot----he replied simply and cautiously---"well, we are not supposed to talk about this."


     Finally----at the urging and prodding of our cousin Buddy---he pointed out the obvious ,"...but...they are all dead! This is the 1980s.  Nobody can argue with you for saying his name...what was his name?"  


With much reluctance, he finally said, "well, his name was Sephus."

     There it was---his name was Sephus Bass. Could I find additional information about Sephus Bass?  He was from Tennessee and ran away to Texas.


     But WHERE in Texas? Texas is huge! And did he actually make it to Texas? Or was he just headed for Texas? There were no stories of anything that happened to him when and if he arrived.

     Did he write back to the family? And since he was on the run---could he have written back to communicate where he was?  Chances are---no. A letter arriving at the post office for this family, coming from a wanted man---they would never have been allowed to even receive it, and warrants would have been put out immediately for his arrest. Could that possibly have happened?

     And  if 100 years later, Uncle George was still cautious about even telling the family his name---surely in the days and years when the terrible incident happened, chances are, he could not have made contact at all.  And the fear lasted for 100 years! But---could I find out what happened to Uncle Sephus and how his life turned out?


     All I had was his name----Sephus.  It was supposed to be short for Josephus. We all know that "Spelling dusn't cownt"*  And there were many ways to spell Sephus.  Sephus, Sephas,  Cephus, Cephas----and even more ways to misspell his name.  

     But I wanted to find him, somewhere in the records---just to know that he survived.  All I knew was that he shot a man and fled to Texas.

     I had to used some logic. The incident took place in 1888.  Since there is no 1890 census to use, could he possibly have been found in the 1900's?  And would he have possibly be in Texas, if he lived that long?  Well, my mind kept dwelling on the possibilities-------he might have died along the way, or never made it to Texas.   But,  I decided to look anyway. A search of Texas census records reflected a lot of people with the surname of BASS.


Luck!!!
       In the 1910---there was a Sephus Bass.  He was an older man, living with a married daughter and her husband.  He was living in Fayette County Tennessee, AND he had Tennessee roots.  But-----was this MY Sephus Bass?


1910 Federal Census Image of  Fayette County TX. "Cephas" Bass listed with married daughter & family.


Luck again!!  In 1900, there was also a Sephus Bass----and this one had to be mine!!  He was enumerated with a brother----Napier Bass!  Wow---Napier----this was a surprise!  I was delighted to see this, because I recognized the name Napier as a family name.  Uncle George---the one who revealed the name Sephus to the family---his middle name was Napier.  He had a son called Napier Bass.  And John Silas Bass---the man who moved to Kansas, he too had a son called Napier But wow----this man--brother to Sephus--might have been the first of the many Napier Bass's around!!  This HAD to be the family!!


     But how could I know?  I needed something to really connect a Texas-based Sephus with a Tennessee-born Sephus (or Cephus).  Then----came a hunch---I wonder if he fought in the Civil War.  Were there soldiers from Tennessee named Bass? And one named Sephus?

     Well, this was years before the NPS Soldiers &  Sailors online database was created. I would have to make a trip to the National Archives to find out more.  I planned a trip, and my task was to look up on microfilm, the alpha index of US Colored Troops.  I found out the BASS surname was not unique---there were hundreds of soldiers called Bass who served in the Union Army.  


     So I cranked the microfilm.  I was being careful to note spelling C-E-P-H-U-S,  C-E-P-H-A-S,  C-E-P-H-I-S- and on and on. I looked for Josephus Bass as well. Nothing came up.  I kept cranking and then I got to the letter S and there was----SEPHAS BASS.  Hmm...........could this have been MY Sephus?  The index file simply said that he was a private who had served in the 111th US Colored Infantry.

     Well, I had 3 things to do:
     1) I had to learn something about that regiment.  Where was it organized and where did they serve? If this was a regiment from Virginia, or Maryland, he would most likely not be connected to my Giles County Tennessee-based Bass family. )
     2) I had to learn if the Private Sephus Bass whose name I found, had possibly survived the war, and filed   
       for a pension.  
    3) I had to connect the Texas-based Sephus with my Tennessee-based Bass family.


So, first, what could I find out about the 111th US Colored Infantry?


     At the National Archives in the 1990s, on the 4th floor there were several reference rooms. There was a copy of Frederick Dyer's Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. This is a wonderful reference book to have and a great way to learn about the history of the various units that served in the Civil War. I turned to the section where the US Colored Troops were described.   I found a listing for the 111th US Colored Infantry.

(Luck!!!) 
     It stated:Organized June 25, 1864, from 3rd Alabama Colored Infantry. Attached to garrison at Pulaski, Tenn., District of North Alabama, Dept. of the Cumberland, to February, 1865. Defences of Nashville & Northwestern Railroad, Dept. of the Cumberland, to March, 1865. 3rd Sub-District, District of Middle Tennessee, to July, 1865. Dept. of the Tennessee to April, 1866. ** 



SERVICE.--Duty at Pulaski, Tenn., and Athens, Ala., District of North Alabama, until September, 1864. Action at Athens with Forest September 23-24 (most of Regiment captured). Sulphur Branch Trestle September 25 (Detachment). Duty at Pulaski, Tenn., until January, 1865. Guard duty on Nashville & Northwestern Railroad and in Middle Tennessee until April, 1866. Mustered out April 30, 1866. 

Hmm........Pulaski, Tennessee.  Something rang a bell.  I had to look at  a Tennessee map because I needed to know if the unit served anyplace near the community where the Bass family lived in Elkton.

Luck!!  No WONDER Pulaski Tennessee was familiar.  It is the county seat of Giles County! 
So----this unit did operate in the vicinity where my Bass ancestors lived, and there was a Sephus that enlisted in that area. My next question was----if Sephus was a soldier, could he have fileld for and received a pension?  If so, I might be able to learn more about him and pick up some details about his life.

Luck!!!  Sephus Bass DID file a pension!  And--holy cow---this Sephus Bass was applying from the state of Texas!  (Keeping in mind the one thing that I had ever heard about Uncle Sephus: He shot a white man and fled to Texas!)

So, there on a warm summer day at the the National Archives, in the old 4th floor microfilm room---I  filled out the forms to order the Pension file to see if this man in Texas was MY Uncle Sephus. My mind kept racing......"this unit spent some time around Pulaski, the main city of Giles County.  My family of Bass's were from Giles County Tennessee.  Could Uncle Sephus have enlisted when the Federal soldiers came through, and if he did, then was THIS Sephus possibly MY Sephus?  And if the man filing for the pension was from Tennessee, and Giles County could this possibly be our ancestor found years later in Texas?


Now note-----when one visits the National Archives, and has a Civil War record pulled, one has to wait.  Staff members go into the stacks on the upper tiers, and the records are then taken to the 2nd floor reading room.  This takes about an hour.  That wait was the longest hour!


     Finally I went downstairs to the 2nd floor reading room to see what that file contained.  I approached the desk and gave them my name, and one of the staff members  presented a rather thick file to me, and I went over to one of the tables and settled down.  Unwrapping the string around the bundle I also said a small prayer, "God, please let this be my Uncle Sephus."  

     Pages upon pages came out of that file. I was astonished that I was looking at old pages many yellowed with age, and I realized that I had to handle them delicately. Some were physical reports addressing arthritis and other ailments of this aging soldier. And then I saw what I was looking for---A deposition from Sephus Bass.
Deposition of Sephus Bass
As I examined the file, an amazing story surfaced:

     What a revelation!!  So in April  of 1864, he enlisted at Sulphur Trestle Alabama---but the new revelation was that he enlisted with a brother---Braxton! Wow----he enlisted with whom???  I have never heard this name before! AND----he enlisted with two of his own sons!!!  Henry and Emanuel Bass!!  These names were never known to our family before.
   Of course---we were the Arkansas Bass   family---our gr. grandfather Mitchell Bass had never returned and rarely, if ever spoke of the folks left behind in Tennessee.  And here were the names of others in the family. Sephus mentioned a brother----Braxton. Now if Braxton was a brother to Uncle Sephus, then Braxton was also our gr. grandfather Mitchell's brother too!  Braxton Bass---a gr. gr. uncle!
  
Then I read more----and this was something to digest:


Deposition From Pension File of Pvt. Sephus Bass

Wait a minute!!!!   Did I see what I think I saw?   He was captured by N.B. Forrest.  The N.B. Forrest? As in General Nathan Bedford Forrest?? And wait a minute----did Uncle Sephus say that Nathan Bedford Forrest captured him and then pulled the four of them aside and then they---all four of them escaped?  From Nathan B. Forrest---the Confederate General?

This was hard to comprehend on so many levels.
     1) Nathan Bedford Forrest----a major name to those who study the history of the Confederate Army.

     2) Why would a general--of any army, in any war, care about enlisted men who were serving in the enemy forces? And why would---as Uncle Sephus said----why would he--(N.B. Forrest) have singled out Sephus Bass, his brother Braxton Bass, and his two sons---Henry and Emmanuel?

     3) AND---more than anything----if anyone has studied the Civil War---there is the story of Ft. Pillow.

     (Ft. Pillow was a terrible massacre of black soldiers that occurred in March of 1864. When trying to surrender, they were brutally murdered, as the confederates under the direction of N.B. Forrest, in fact, swore to take no black soldiers prisoners. The CSA as it is told, did not see the colored soldiers as fit to be soldiers, nor considered them men, and had found their enlistment in the army to be so heinous, that their rage turned into one of the most horrific massacres of the Civil War.) But now I read that in late 1864---6 months after the Ft. Pillow massacre---the same general--makes prisoners of this regiment of black soldiers, and for some reason pulls my relatives aside, and then they escape!!!! Was this possible???)

    Well I had to study more about the history of the regiment and I had to look up records of the battle of  Sulphur Branch Trestle where they were captured.
  
     Sure enough, the official records do indicate that the 110th and 111th US Colored were captured!  AND they were taken prisoner.  And of course, my own curiosity extended back to N.B. Forrest and his relationship to my own ancestors.

    Why would a general pull these 4 men aside, then not watch them, and allow their escape? So I pulled the official records of the Civil War and read about the capture of the 110th & 111th.


Source: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Series 1, Volume 39, Part 1  Page 535.


Now this confirmed the capture of the 111th and that they were captured and not killed.  But I still had to try to comprehend, why Nathan B. Forrest had an interest in 4 enemy soldiers---enlisted men.

I also had to read about the capture of Sulphur Trestle to fully understand what took place:

SourceThe War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Series 1, Volume 39, Part 1  Chapter VI Page 514.

Still, I wanted to know why N.B. Forrest took an interest in these 4 men---my Uncle Sephus being one of them.  I then found a letter among the official records:



Letter from N.B. Forrest in the field pertaining to the capture of the Union soldiers.

Source: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Series 1, Volume 39, Part 1  Chapter VI Page 521.

From this letter I understood now that Forrest wanted the black soldiers to be returned to their slave owners. But did his act of pulling aside Uncle Sephus and Braxton comply with his state goals? And I studied the words very closely uttered by Uncle Sephus again:

Deposition of Sephus Bass explaining  how they escaped from N.B. Forrest

Pulled aside by Forrest himself, Sephus Bass states, "he did not guard us very closely and we got away when near our old home in Giles County Tex(sic) and after the capture of Mobile by the Union forces our Regiment rendezvoused at Nashville Tenn."

     They "got away"!  They escaped!  From Forrest!  Back home in Giles County TN they found their way home to Elkton. And in that statement----Sephus Bass confirmed that his home was indeed Giles County Tennessee. I had connected this man now in Texas---to Giles County Tennessee!

I also could not stop myself from speculating. I wanted to know more about the relationship between my ancestor and this Confederate general. I learned in the pension file that by occupation Sephus was a carpenter. I also learned that by occupation Uncle Braxton was a blacksmith.

     Now----who were they before the war? Well, before the war, they were the slaves of Major John Bass, of Elkton, Tennessee.  They resided on the Bass estate for mostly their entire lives.  Who was Nathan B. Forrest?  He was a wealthy man, a slave trader, and he lived in Pulaski, down the road from Elkton.  Being a man of wealth---he surely knew other men of prominence in the area.  Could he have known Major Bass?  If he knew him, did he have an occasion to visit him? Or vice versa? If there had been any kind of social contact----could there have been some recognition of these 4 men?  If on any occasion, had they met, could Braxton the blacksmith have shoed horses for Forrest?  These men were slaves of a prominent man from the same county---a man who could have known Forrest.  Perhaps there was some kind of recognition.  He might have truly known them. My speculations were only just that----but I was more than amazed at what I had found anyway. And if  a majority of the members of the 111th U,S Colored Infantry were sent to Mobile, then what could be the motivation for keeping the Bass soldiers apart? But--all of this is just speculation, and those answers I will never know---but I am still pleased that I learned that I had, at last found Uncle Sephus.


     When I started, I had only hoped just to find him living in Texas and I ended up learning the story of a Civil War battle with a famous general and I learned that whatever happened in 1888, he survived and made it to Texas!  Oh yes----that pension file also contained one additional gem---I learned the birth date of Sephus Bass.
In this document the day and actual year of his birth is listed.

Sephus Bass stated that he was born July 12th 1833.  This was information rarely obtained about those who were enslaved.  To read this from one of the pages of the pension file, was more than moving, I felt humbled to have been one of the descendants to find it.

The file also confirmed that he was living with his now married daughter, Mary Poole, and her husband and children. So---that family that I saw in the census---that was Uncle Sephus!!

So after the tragedy of 1888 he fled and started a new life for himself while there. I could now say yes-----he made it to Texas!!  And I had found him!  

And there is much more to the family history that came from the file, and I was able to also learn more when I read the file of Braxton Bass, his brother.  But it was Uncle Sephus, whose name was not spoken for 100 years----his story led me to so much more.

I don't know much about the man he as said to have shot while defending the family---but I know that whatever took him to Texas, that he, like my gr. grandfather Mitchell, in Horatio Arkansas, they both would live their remaining years apart from the Tennessee family, but they would survive and the family would go on.

There is a wonderful Yoruba Proverb:  An ancestor never dies till there is no one left to call his name.
I thank my Uncle George N. Bass for saying our ancestor's name. I too can now say his name as well----Sephus Bass!!  May he never be forgotten.
 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


*Lisa Lee, 10 Rules of Genealogy. (Genealogy.Com)
** Frederick Dyer, Compendium of the War of the Rebellion



28 comments:

Kristin said...

You had me on the edge of my seat with this story. I am so glad your relative finally said his name and that you are able to keep his memory alive! finding that folder of information was wonderful. My father's family is from Athens TN so I was interested to see it mentioned in your narrative.

Angela Y. Walton-Raji said...

Thank you Kristin! Telling the story always amazes me, as often as I have told it over the years. There is so much more to tell about the capture of Sulphur Trestle, and I have learned where this took place. I hope to visit the area, soon.

Renate Yarborough Sanders said...

Angela, I read this FABULOUS post last night on my cell phone, and was unable to leave a comment. I just had to stop back by to tell you how very much I enjoyed reading this. Your hard work and determination has paid off. Congratulations on finding Uncle Sephus! Your post was well-written and so engaging! I felt as though I was right there with you on your journey as you discovered, and uncovered, more and more of his story.

Thanks for sharing this will all of us.

Renate

Angela Y. Walton-Raji said...

Thanks Renate, finding Uncle Sephus and telling his story is one of the most incredible adventures that I have had. The story still has some new dimensions and I still research this line, as well, but the opportunity to find him and know that he did survive and did make it to Texas---and that his life did not end tragically--well that was such a joy to learn. Thanks for reading it and I am glad that you enjoyed it!
-Angela-

EV Pace said...

MY,my,my! DIVA TEACHER Angela, again I am speechless. What a saga you have shared and based on your acumen for thorough research, ability to hear from oral history what others miss and your love for your people. Thank you,thank you,thank you for writing and sharing with us. I am inspired! EV Pace

Angela Y. Walton-Raji said...

Why thank you so much for reading about my Uncle Sephus. This man, long forgotten by one branch can now be reclaimed. I have been so blessed by this journey to tell his story. I encourage others to ask the questions and follow those paths, that appear, for they lead to wonderful places.
-Angela-

Ms Vicky said...

What a wonderful and compelling story Angela. You do have such a way of putting your readers on the scene and involving them in the moment in time. Uncle Sephus, you and the rest of the Bass men are my heroes...

Angela Y. Walton-Raji said...

Thank you Vicky for your warm words! Uncle Sephus heard you I am sure. These men with their remarkable history continue to make my genealogical journey so special.

Terrence Garnett said...

Thanks for sharing this story Angela. I was so excited to see that your Uncle Sephas made if safely to Texas.
I need to plan a trip to the National Archives to do some research too.

Angela Y. Walton-Raji said...

Thanks, Terrence! I too was happy to found him and living with loved ones around him, as well.

Cheryll Toney Holley said...

What a wonderful story! I am so glad that your uncle made it safely to Texas. May his name be called for generations to come.

Angela Y. Walton-Raji said...

Amen!!! May Sephus Bass be remembered!

Anonymous said...

I read your story and loved it. It's great that you found Sephus Bass. My great-great grandfather was Josephus C. Bass from Missouri. I had run across this while searching for Josephus. Keep up the good work. I am continuing to try to learn all about my Josephus.

Thanks,
Sara Bass

Angela Y. Walton-Raji said...

Thank you Sara. Actually there is a possibility that while in Tennessee, Uncle Sephus did use the name Josephus Bass. An early marriage record reflected that. I would love to hear about your Josephus.

Espahan said...

Angela, what a wonderful true story. I was pulled in immediately by your search for your long unspoken relative, Sephus. You are certainly a skilled detective. It is amazing the history lessons we learn while looking for family members. Genealogy research has proven to be a marvelous way of furthering my education. I have learned so many things I never learned in school.

Angela Y. Walton-Raji said...

Thank you so much, Espahan. Learning about this uncle whose name was not spoken for so long was a humbling experience. There are so many stories from the past and what a joy to have the chance to discover some of them.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

This story, like others had said had me on the edge of my seat, because i found it, while researching my own ancestor... and guess what!?...he was there, ny ancestor, with yours, another member of the ALabama 111th, at the battle of sulphur branch trestle. My G-g-grandfather Henry Harville Johnson and his brother Charles. My ancestor, accord to his statement in his pension records says they, colored detachment captured, was whipped out of the blockhouse at the fort guarding the bridge and they sent to prison for 8 months and nearly starved. And guess where my ancestor was born... in Giles, TN on the farm of Dr Thomas Harville. What a coincidence? How proud I am for us both of our ancestor's bravery and courage in serving their country at such a perilous time in their lives!

Unknown said...

This is great, I have visited Sulphur Creek. My g g grandfather Sampson Bishop and his son in law Cornelius Davis were soldiers in the 111. I would love to share with you and exchange stories. My family is from Marshall County Lewisburg, TN one county over from Giles county - Colby Biggers

Nancy Russell said...

Thank you so much for your story and your research. My ancestors were with the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry (U.S.A.) also taken at Sulphur Trestle, but imprisoned at Cahaba. My g-g grandfather was killed on the Sultana when he and his 2 sons were finally released. I love the stories!

Angela Y. Walton-Raji said...

Thanks so much, Nancy! There are so many stories that lie buried in the soil. Our task is to find them and to tell them.

Anonymous said...

Male descendants of Union Soldiers can join SUVCW

http://www.suvcw.org/member.htm

Female descendants of Union Soldiers can join DUVCW

http://www.duvcw.org/

Anonymous said...

This is a fascinating, fascinating story, and I am in awe of your research. You have kind of given me some pointers about how I can research a topic I'm very interested in. I'm posting anonymously, and when I tell you how I found this blog you will understand why - I don't want to offend anyone. When I got my DNA tested by ancestry.com, I was shocked to find out I had a number of black cousins. And yes, my family came from the South and apparently owned slaves. I didn't really know that - I always assumed they were poor.

I am a writer, and I feel like it is time that this story be told. I look around me at all the whites I know, and I realize that there are blacks I am waaay more closely related to. I think that is important. Race in this country is, frankly, kind of a made-up concept. I've been in touch with a couple of my distant black cousins, and one of them is a documentary film maker. We're all three fascinated by this general story and want to tell it. Here's the thing - with that group of "cousins," we know in theory what the connection is because of other people that we are all three connected to genetically. Historically, though, we just can't figure it out.

So that leads me to your blog and why I am reading it. I won't go into all the details, but one thing led to another and I found out I'm about a fourth cousin to someone named Bass who is in your family group. What got me, though, is that this name had come up before and I was very puzzled at that time, because they lived in rural southeast Kansas, in the same general vicinity as my own great-great grandparents, who moved there in the 1880s from Tennessee. It didn't make sense - the connection HAD to be further back - but it seemed like an interesting coincidence.

Now, this other connection has come up - I have old, old photos of a black family with the same surname as my great-great grandparents - and I thought it would be cool to see if I could find some descendants and give them the photos. I thought to look in my ancestry.com DNA matches for an African-American with that surname in his or her family tree, and bingo! I still have no idea how it all fits together, but it all led me to your blog!

So, basically, I thought you might get a kick out of my story. Please don't hesitate to tell me if you think I ought to let sleeping dogs lie.

Angela Y. Walton-Raji said...

Hello,

Thanks for visiting my blog and sharing your own story! I hope to hear more about your findings!

Feel free to share more, as it sounds quite interesting! It comes as no surprise to learn of your own discoveries through DNA, and the fact that you are willing to explore them more in depth is a good thing!

Would love to have more about it!

Anonymous said...

I will keep you posted if I can ever figure out anything.

Unknown said...

Wow! What a truly amazing story, and what great detective work. These stories are priceless for all of us - thank you for sharing! I am a white male, descended from underground railroad operators in Ohio (not that it matters!). I am currently helping a friend, Mildred Terry, with her family history. She is a great-great granddaughter of the John Silas Bass you mentioned in this story, and that is how I found this wonderful story. John Silas Bass was a truly amazing person - after gaining his freedom, he completed high school, then became a teacher, taught for a few years, then went back to school - medical school - and became one of our nations first black physicians. I'm sure you know the story, but if not, let me know and I'll send you a link.

Truly, this entire family is very remarkable. Mildred is elderly, but can read very well. She will delight in reading these stories. You could do an entire "American Experience" show on PBS about this family.

Do you have a photo of John Silas Bass?

What you are doing and sharing is so very important, and has made a deep impact on my life. Thank you.

Unknown said...

Hello, even though I am a Price my mom side of the family were Bass, they were from Pulaski, Giles co. TN. That moved to texas. I have found a Ephron Bass who was my g, g, grandfather, there is also a Ephraim Bass who lived as they say a few houses down, some notes say he was my g, g, g, grandfather, I have been trying to put this the two together, every way they come up as family. Ephraim Bass is listed as Mulatto. My great grand father was George Washington Bass he married Emma Jane Atkins, while my grandmother was living she told me that Emma was a Indian and George was white, I have a picture of George and Emma and this is true. They had two boys who where born in Pulaski TN. James Malon Bass 1/04/1890, and George Washington Bass jr. 10/13/1890. They moved to Texas and had more kids J. Well Bass 1893, Clarence Stanley Bass SR. 11/28/1895, DeWitt Talmadge Bass 1/02/1899, Theodore Ezell Bass SR. 3/12/1903, Theophilus Jack Bass abt 1904, and my grandmother Memria Bass 3/05/1906 Emma pass away having the baby girl Sara Bass both of which died during delivery complication in 8/27/1919. I remember as a kid going to the Telico Cemetery for picnic every year around May, this is where I heard of Sara, my uncle Jack tried to tell me about there history but as a kid not all he told me is remebered. Uncle Jack was well off and lived in Fort Worth, Texas. If any of these names have been heard are brought up, please inform me. A Selphus was spoke of but I just remember the name what kin if any I don't know.

Angela Y. Walton-Raji said...

Thanks for your message about your Bass line from TN. Our families may have known each other at some time. Note however that our family is an African American family that for many years lived in Fayette County TX. Napier Bass an elder brother to Sephus was taken there in the 1860s before the war ended. Sephus joined him later after the family was attacked in the 1880s, in Elkton TN where they lived.

Another branch of the Bass family ended up in SW Arkansas in the years after the Civil War as well.