October 1, 1890 Our Little Harold

Genealogists sometimes get obsessed with finding proof for a statement, the house where someone was born or lived, or in some cases, where a person is buried.

I can safely say, “I’ve done all three,” either for myself or when researching for others.

One case was the 18-month old son of D.C. and Mary Bassette. I had a name and dates from Wheeler A. Bassett’s A Bassett Book, but I had no idea where Harold was buried.

I borrowed the library’s copy of the Lake View Cemetery listing and input all of the information into a data base. Still no answers. All of this was back in the mid-1990s. One afternoon I took Dad and headed to the cemetery. My thought being that he might recall something if we looked over family sites.

The Jared Bassette lot at Lake  View Cemetery. Little Harold is to the right of the tall Bassette Stone.
Dewitt (Sr.) and Mary are to the left. Photo by the author

 After checking several family lots, we arrived at Jared Bassette’s family lot. In the middle of the lot is the large marker for Jared and his wife. To the north of that is the headstone for D.C. and Mary and other members of the family. Then just south of the large stone was a small “log shaped” stone. 

It looked like a tree branch, cut but un-split as if for the wood stove. We couldn’t read the carved-out letters and had to feel each one, “Our Little Harold.” Finally, a marker, unique in many ways, a place that could be identified.

Stone before cleaning. Photo by the author

 Dewitt Clinton Bassette, son of Jared and Mary Wheeler Bassette married Mary Catherine Peterson, daughter of Abram D. and Mary Jane Wintersteen Peterson on October 5, 1887. Jared retired to live in the village of Farmer and D.C. took over the family farm.

The Farmer Review, May 18, 1889 recorded the news of Harold Ditmars Bassette’s arrival. “Mr. and Mrs. D. C. Bassette rejoice in the advent of a son—last Sunday.”

Eighteen months later, the paper shared the sad news, “D. C. Bassette and wife have the sympathy of the community in the loss of their child, about eighteen months of age, whose death occurred Wednesday night. Funeral was held yesterday.” [Farmer Review, October 4, 1890]

Log ring detail on Harold Bassette's headstone
Photo by the author

On a follow-up visit to the site, while clearing leaves from around the “log,” we discovered that it was actually sitting on a base. A little digging and we were able to raise the base back to ground level.

Recently, I visited the site with the plan to clean moss and dirt from the stone. Some scrubbing with a soft brush, tub and tile cleaner, and fresh water and the stone was beginning to look clean and fresh again.

 Photo by the author.

Dewitt’s Diary, Tuesday, October 1, 1940

Edna and Frances at the canning factory.

I am picking my sweet corn. Corn is very late. Beans and corn do not ripen up because of the exceptionally cold summer.

No corn cut expect silo corn. My field corn needs two weeks.