Description:
George sent me several Family Tree Maker files from which I used. These files covered the Basden's, Qualls' and Sprouse's. My great-grandmother was Cora Isabel Basden.
George also sent the following in an e-mail in December 22 1999:
I have come across some information that needed to
be verified and we believe we may have verified it. In the line of Charley
Baseden, he had a grandaughter by the name of Harriet Baseden who married
into the Ellis line. Now a decendant of that marriage reveals there was a
Phyllis Baseden. However, none of my research ever showed such an
individual with one exception. I checked with Janet who is a decendant of
Charley Baseden and she did further research and no one from that line seems
to know anything about Phyllis.
In the Vital Records Index for the British Isles the following family is
listed:
George Baseden and wife Elizabeth children are as follows:
Phillis christened 16 Nov 1823
Eliza christened 3 Aug 1828
*Harriet christened 10 Jul 1831
*George christened 24 Nov 1833
James christened 27 Nov 1836
*Richard christened 4 Aug 1839
*Sarah Ann christened 7 Aug 1842
*Based on my research in Jackson Co, these names do show up as children of
George and Elizabeth. The christening dates also are ALL within one to
three months of birth dates. Now if you will notice there are two names
missing from here. Charley Baseden and Henry Basden. First, anyone here
with the spelling as Baseden are decended from Charley and everyone here
with the spelling of Basden are decended from Henry, with the exception of
Nellie here who is a decendant of Sarah ( thank goodness - I'll explain in a
moment).
Now, based on my original research I always thought Henry was a son of
George and Elizabeth. However, previous research in England shows no such
child being born of these parents, BUT there is a Henry who was the son of
Phillis and no father is listed. That birth is in the same place as the
others listed above - All in Yalding, Kent, England, which is were I suspect
our family came from.
Anyway, thanks to Nellie being able to remember stories handed down by Sarah
and naturalization certificate for the son George, I have determined that
our ancestors did not come to the US until either late 1851 or early 1852
and they came straight to Jackson Co, IL. That is another reason why I
think the above family may be ours. However, the stickler in all this is
that Henry then, is not a sibling of Charley, Harriet, Richard, George and
Sarah but rather a NEPHEW. If this is true then Henry may have been
shunned by the siblings and thus could be one reason for the change in
spelling. I need to find this Phyllis down in Jackson Co and see what age
she is on a census.
George also sent the following in an e-mail in December 30 1999:
I had already mentioned about the possibility that my great grandfather, Henry Basden, may actually be a nephew of "Little Foot" Charley Chumley Baseden. Well, this does turn out to be the case. Henry's mother is Phillis Basden. Janet, that is why I was asking you about the Phyllis in Jackson Co. Turns out, sadly, I do not know Henry's father. His birth certificate says "UNKNOWN" for father. Phillis is the daughter of George and Elizabeth Baseden. I do have the certificate for Henry. Now, George's mother-in-law, Jane Bishop, was living with George and Elizabeth in 1841 IN ENGLAND. She was 75. I mention this as this finally nails the lid shut on the "stories" set down that he (George) came over here as a child. All other indications where that he did not arrive until 1851/1852. Now we stand by that. A naturalization certificate proves that. We/I need to find WHY did the BASDEN/BASEDENs come STRAIGHT to Jackson Co, IL from England? There had to be a connection already in place. Our family did not follow the traditional migration routes. I believe the answer lies in the HARRIS family of Jackson Co. Harriet Baseden, sister of Charley, now aunt of Henry, married within about 6 months of landing in this country to Benjamin Harris. I bet there is a Harris family in the same parish in Kent. I'll see what I can find there.
George also sent the following in an e-mail in January 14, 2000:
. First of all, Henry was not a son of George Basden
and Elizabeth Bishop. He was their grandson. Charley "Little Foot" Baseden
is Henry's uncle - not brother. Irene, this also means Sarah Basden was
Henry's Aunt, not sister.
To Bernie, Barb, Gary and Larry, here is some, what I hope is exciting news
to you. George Basden parents were William Basden and Elizabeth Pierson.
They had the following children:
Rebecca Basden christened 15 May 1796 in Yalding, Kent, England
Ann Basden christenened 13 Jan 1799 in Yalding, Kent, England
George Basden married Elizabeth Bishop (my gr grandparents)
William Basden married (1) Elizabeth Foster, married (2) Frances ?
James Basden married Mary Pennall
Harriet Basden christened 4 Oct 1812 in Yalding, Kent, England.
Irene, this confirms also the stories handed down by our ancestor Sarah
Basden and what I got from my uncle Bill Basden. The family was still in
England in 1851 as they are on the census records then. Based on the
naturalization certificate for the Sarah's brother, George, this means the
family came here sometime after Feb 1851 and before May 1852. On the 1851
census Sarah's father, George is listed as age 50 and he was born in Feb
1851. The naturalization certificate is dated May 1859 and shows that
Sarah's brother, was living in the US for 7 years and in the State of IL for
7 years.
So between those two pieces of fact, this blows out of the water any
theories handed down by Ivy Baseden that the old man was a slave trader and
came here about 1825. All the children were born in Yalding, Kent, England
up to 1843, which is when Henry was born. Also the old man was listed as a
farmer which explains why he became a farmer here in IL.
Speaking of Henry, he did in fact commit suicide June 3, 1909. The death
certificate shows a "gunshot wound center forehead penetrating brain" and
that contributory caase or complication was listed as "Suicide". Bert
Basden told me in an interview with him, that he heard or thought he
remembered hearing that the stories go that Henry was not in good health so
the family suspected he committed suicide but that there never was a
determination made. Obviously story handed down was not quite 100% accurate
as there is a death certificate on him.
George also sent the following in an e-mail in January 17, 2000:
I knew I was forgetting to mention something in that last email! Henry's father was a man by the name of Henry Robinson. It showed up in the Kent Co Bastardy Cases. Henry was required to pay so much per week for son Henry.
Type: e-mail
Date: 1999-12-22
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