Bettie Bass' siblings

September 2019 I'm focusing upon the Bass family, a branch of the Rogers family tree. (at least as often as I can!)

Here's a post (edited) about Elizabeth Bettie Bass' siblings 
from February 1, 2019:

I have such a satisfaction when I can add the details of a relative's life to my Ancestry data. I'm afraid I go off on a few tangents about them however!

I started looking at my great grandmother Elizabeth "Bettie"Bass Rogers' sisters and brothers. Since I  discovered the youngest sister was actually a sister of other folks named Mary Mason (married to a Bass), I wanted to know about these pioneers of Texas, who were really my relatives.

1) The first one, Julia A. Bass Barton (1841–1899) was born in (probably Perry) Alabama. But before she was a year old, her family (Col. Richard and Mary Ann (Mae) Powell Bass) moved to Union Parish in northern Louisiana.   She moved with her family again to Walker County Texas between 1854 and 1860.  She didn't marry until she was 28, to John Matilda Barton, in 1869. 

John Matilda Barton

Perhaps the Civil War interfered with her romantic life.  He had a son from his first marriage (wife died when son was about 6 mos old.) Julia and John Barton had a son and two daughters. They had moved upon marrying to Milam County, Texas, which is where Julia died at age 57-8.

2) The next sibling to be born was James M. Bass Sr , who (on Ancestry) had no date or place of death...though many census reports included him with his family.  But after doing a search to no avail, I looked a bit at the census reports of his wife, who (as often is the case) outlived him.  This was the excitement of my day!

By the time I was done, I had his approximate death date from a pension request from his widow, for his service in the Confederacy.

James M. Bass Sr. - Birth 05 DEC 1842, Union Parish, Louisiana, Death sometime in 1907  Harris County, Texas.  He married when he was 28, in 1870 in Walker County, TX to Laura A. Cunningham Bass, 1844–1924.  They had 5 children, of whom at least 3 lived to adulthood.  Richard Clarence Bass became a dentist.
  
The 1880 census of Walker County lists Laura A. and probably J.M her husband, living with his father-in-law.

J.D. Cuningham   57  Farmer, Head of household

M.A. Cuningham  51 housekeeping, wife

L.A. Bass              35  daughter (this must be Laura A. Bass, James M.'s wife)

John Bass              32  son  (not sure who this was) farmer

J.D. Bass               28 son farmer (who?)

G.M. Bass             14 son  at school (too old to be Laura and JD's son?)       

J.M. Bass              37 son-in-law merchant (probably Laura's husband James b. 1842)

J.N. Bass               8  son (s. of Laura and J. M. Bass, James M. Bass Jr, born in 1872)

R.C. Bass              6  son (s. of Laura and J. M. Bass, Richard Clarence Bass b. 1873)

T.O. Bass               1 son (s. of Laura and J. M. Bass, Thomas O. Bass b. 1874)

I admit to wondering where the Cunningham's own children had gone.


The earlier 1870 list of the Cunningham census report for Walker County say this:

James Cunningham	47 life insurance agent
Margaret Cunningham	41 keeping house
Laura Cunningham	25 at home
James Cunningham	17 at school
Samuel Cunningham	12  "
Edgar Cunningham	7   b. in Tx
Greeville Cunningham	4   b. in Tx

There's a reason (see down below) why I'm trying to figure out who were Cunninghams and who lived together...

By the size of the monument for Laura Cunningham Bass I imagine her children were well off.  She died 11 Mar 1924 (aged 79) in Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, and is buried in Fairlawn Cemetery. Oklahoma City, OK.  The monument also holds her son James' remains, as well as his wife, and children.  (I don't know if her husband James is buried there or not.)

The next 4 Bass siblings of Great-grandmom Bettie Bass have places of birth and general dates, but I don't have much information about their lives.

3) Ellen Bass, born in 1845 in Louisiana, was part of the family in the 1850 census. But by the 1860 census in Walker County Texas, where the Bass parents (Col. Richard and Mae) are farmers next to her Powell parents, there is no Ellen in the family. 

4)  John H. Bass was born about 1851, no place given. Not on any census reports of the family. But he's listed in Ancestry sites without any primary source.

5) Nancy E. Bass was born in 1853 in Louisiana. She is on the 1860 census as being 7 years old, in Texas. She is not on the 1870 census. 

The 1870 Census. This is where it gets a bit weird. Confusing? There's now a 16 year old Sarah Bass living in the Richard Bass household! Older son James is still living with them, but is listed below the 2 servants...he's now 27 and employed as a dry goods clerk (and this is taken in August 1870, the same year he married). But his wife Laura Cunningham Bass isn't listed. (She is on the Cunningham household for this census.)

6) Susan (or Sarah?) is listed in the 1870 census, being born in 1854 by that age given on the census.  Born in LA. No other information about this person.  Of course you're thinking Nancy E. changed her name to Susan (Sarah.) But neither of them continued to have any records.

An old plantation house, not one owned by my family as far as I know

7) My great grandmother, Elizabeth "Bettie" BASS ROGERS Birth 12 FEB 1860, Old Waverly, San Jacinto, TX  Death 17 JULY 1924, Galveston, Galveston, TX.  I celebrated her birth HERE.

8) Ella Bass, born around 1861 in Texas, appears on Census of Walker County TX in 1870 as a 9 year old.  No other information on her.  And of course not to be confused with Ellen born 1845 who also disappeared.  I'm afraid these children all died.

9) Martha E. "Mattie Bass Cunningham. BIRTH MAY 1863 • Walker County, Tx, DEATH 08 JAN 1929  San Antonio, TX. The following information is on Ancestry sites, and in a minute you'll see how sometimes they just fall apart.

Again the 1870 census record of the family has names of children that don't compute with other records.  (No Mattie, no Martha E.) Children are listed in age order...Sarah, 16; Elizabeth 10; Ella 9; Minni 7; Mary 5.

Martha E. "Mattie" Bass married James Durrah Cunningham Sr, (1852-1925) the younger brother of Laura Cunningham Bass who married our James Bass (see above number 2.)    Mattie was listed in many census and city directory records (finally an Auntie who was documented! - well, second great Aunt.)

The 1880 Census of Walker County has her listed as a 16 year old boarder, but the household name is missing as it is on the previous sheet, but she is "at school."  And her name is given as M. E. Bass. But not for long, because she married J.D. Cunningham in 1881, according to the later 1910 census data which gives information of "married 28 years." They had 3 children, all of whom lived to adulthood, and one lived until 1974.

But there are confusing statements about Mattie and J.D. Cunningham of Houston, namely that she had another family of origin. The last time we heard about Mattie Bass was in Huntsville when she was a student boarder in the census of 1880, age 16.  So between being called M. E, and Mattie Bass, we know that is the girl who was sister to Bettie Bass Rogers.  We don't know that she was the wife of James Cunningham Sr.  

Oh, there was still at least one more younger sister!

10) Minnie Bass Zellner,  - Birth 29 FEB 1864 • Texas,  Death MAR 13, 1939 • Port Neches, Jefferson, TX  She was 7 when her mother died. And yes, she was listed on the (infamous) 1870 census of Walker County Texas, as a 7 year old, with 5 year old Mary also listed (who doesn't appear elsewhere.)  

Minnie married when she was 20 (1885) to Frances Edward Alexander Zellner (known as Frank). They had 3 sons and a daughter, and lived on several farms through their lives.  She lived until 1939, dying at 75.

11). As mentioned before, there was a Mary Bass listed in the 1870 census of Walker County TX.  She was listed as 5 years old.  So I've added her as a child of Richard and Mae Bass. Nobody has given any more information about her.