Robert BASS, b. 1827, d. 1909
Robert Bass, a prosperous farmer and fruit
grower, of White Oak township, his property
being on section 10 not far from the village
of Rose Hill, is numbered among the worthy
and honored pioneer settlers of Iowa. He
came to the state in 1843 and since 1845 has
lived in Mahaska county. Few residents have
longer been witnesses of the development and
progress of the county and at all times he has
taken an active and helpful part in the work
of advancement.
Mr. Bass was born in Boone, Kentucky, May
9, 1827. His father, William L. Bass, first
opened his eyes to the light of day in the same
state in 1802, representing one of the oldest
families there. He was reared and married in
his native locality, Miss Margaret Roberts
becoming his wife. Her birth occurred in
Kentucky in 1803. Mr. Bass followed farming in
that state and subsequently removed to
Bartholomew county, Indiana, where he opened up a
tract of land, transforming it from a wild
condition into one of rich fertility and productiveness.
In 1843 he came to Iowa with his family, settling in Van Buren county, and after two or
three years he arrived in Mahaska county
in 1845. Here he entered one hundred and
sixty acres of land from the government and
developed a farm in Union township, spending
his remaining days thereon, his death occurring
in 1885, while his wife passed away in 1883.
Both were more than eighty years of age at the
of their demise. They had long been
worthy and honored pioneer residents of the
county and as such certainly deserve mention in
this volume.
Bass was the eldest of the family of
six sons and three daughters, all of whom
reached mature years and three sons and three
daughters are yet living. He came to Iowa
when a young man of seventeen years and remained with his parents until he had attained
his majority. He worked by the month as a
farm hand for several years, first receiving ten
dollars per month and later an increased wage.
Saving his earnings, he was eventually enabled
to purchase forty acres of land near Oskaloosa,
and later he traded that property for two hundred acres of raw land in Adams township, paying thereon
a difference of one hundred and
twenty dollars. This he at once began to
break, placing the fields under cultivation,
and as the years passed by he carried on his
farming operations with success. Choosing a
companion and helpmate for life's journey, he
was married in Mahaska county in 1863 to
Miss Mary Ann Roberts. He continued farming thereafter
for some years, or until his wife
died, leaving two children. He had made a
good farm, had fenced the place and built a
comfortable dwelling and good barns. Eventually
however, he sold that property and
bought a farm of eight hundred acres in Monroe
township. Although in one tract this is
practically three farms with three sets of
buildings thereon.
On the 4th of July, 1865, Mr. Bass was married
the second time, when Miss Martha J. Algood
became his wife. She was born in Montgomery
county, Indiana, and is a daughter of
John H. Algood, one of the early settlers of
Iowa, arriving in this state about 1847. Unto
Mr. and Mrs. Bass have been born seven children
and of this number six are yet living. By
the first marriage there was a daughter and son:
Rosa, the wife of W. E. Stringer, of Monroe
county; and J. A. Bass, a farmer, of Pratt
county, Kansas, who owns twelve hundred acres
of land and is extensively engaged in raising
stock. The children of the present marriage
are: Mary B., the wife of W. E. Moore, a
farmer, of Adams township, Mahaska county;
Charles, who carries on farming in the same
township; Frank, also living in Adams township; Nellie, who died at the age of ten months;
R. W., who is engaged in the drug business in
Monona county; Agnes, the wife of Frank
Bacon, a resident farmer, of Adams township;
and Paul T., who follows farming in Monroe
township.
Mr. Bass has given to each of his children
eighty acres of land, thus enabling them to start
well in life. He was one of the organizers and
stockholders of the Rose Hill Savings Bank,
and is now its president. In 1902 he purchased
a small farm near Rose Hill, where he now resides, and since locating here he has planted a
nice orchard and much small fruit. He has
repaired the buildings and improved the place
and gives his time to keeping it in good condition
and also to the cultivation of fruit. In
former years he was very extensively engaged
in farming and his labors brought to him a
gratifying financial reward that enabled him to
provide liberally for his children and now enables him largely to live retired, but he has a
nature to which indolence and idleness are utterly foreign and he could not content himself
without some business interest.
Mr. and Mrs. Bass are members of the Methodist Episcopal church in which he is serving
as one of the officers, and they take a very active interest in church and Sunday-school work.
In politics Mr. Bass has been a life-long democrat since casting his first presidential vote for
Franklin Pierce in 1852. He was elected and
served as justice of the peace, filling the office
for several terms. He has also been township
treasurer and for about twenty-five years has
been a member of the school board. He has served as a delegate to county and state
conventions and he is never remiss in the duties of
citizenship, but on the contrary is ever alert to
public interests, doing all in his power for general progress. For sixty-one years he has lived
in Mahaska county and has therefore been a
witness of almost its entire growth and development. He has seen it opened up and improved
as the white men have reclaimed the district for
the uses of civilization and he has borne his full
part in advancing the onward movement.
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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy
Iowa Genealogy
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