Divorce Action in Williams County, Ohio - Bassett, 1867

Thomas P. Bassett v Lydia Marrifield Bassett (Journal 7 p35/98 - 12 Mar 1867)

 

By Pamela Pattison Lash (updated 13 October 2021)

 

No marriage date has currently been discovered, but they were married before the 1860 federal census; moreover, several online resources suggest they were married c1856 in Huron Co, OH.  The case was continued.  She committed adultery but was granted alimony and an interest in land, which Thomas held in fee simple in Sec 3 (N1/2 of SW 1/4 of NW 1/4 - 20 acres) in Defiance Co, OH.

 

Thomas was born on 5 Apr 1829 in  Kent, England, the son of William Earl and Jane Pelham Bassett.  He immigrated with his parents to the US in 1831, settling in Huron Co, OH.  The Bassett family was enumerated in the 1850 Clarksfield, Huron Co, OH federal census p355 as J. William Bassett 52 ENG, Jane 46 ENG, Thomas 21 ENG, Lucy 17 OH, George 15 OH, Samuel 13 OH, Henry 10 OH, John 7 OH, and Ellen 4 OH. 

 

Thomas was a Civil War veteran, having served in Co E 86^th OVI between 1863-1864.  The couple was listed in the 1860 Milford Twp, Defiance Co, OH federal census p397 as Thomas Bassett 31 ENG and wife Lydia 29 OH.  By the 1870 Milford Twp federal census p149, Thomas 41 ENG lived as a single man with the J. Fletcher Haller family.

 

Later Thomas married Sibyl Sprague on 21 Mar 1871.  Sibyl, born 9 Nov 1828, Fowler, St. Lawrence Co, NY, was the daughter of Samuel Bliss Sprague and Sibyl Hall.  She had been married before to Isaac Miller Ferguson on 28 July 1850, but the marriage appears to have ended in divorce.  

 

In the 1870 Milford Twp federal census p150, Sibel Sprague 40 NY was the head of house with her son George S. Ferguson 19 NY.  The Bassett couple was enumerated in the 1880 Milford Twp federal census p207A, as Thomas 51 ENG, Sibyl Elizabeth 50 NY, and Clifford 7 OH.  Thomas died on 11 Dec 1891 in Defiance Co of heart disease @62Y 8M 6D and was buried in the Six Corners Cem, Hicksville.  His wife, Sibyl, was living with her son. George S. Ferguson as shown in the 1910 Shawnee, Fountain Co, IN federal census p8A as George 59 NY, Elizabeth Ferguson 19 IN daughter, and Sibyl Bassett 81 NY mother, widow; Sibyl died on 22 Oct 1915.