Category: Uncategorized

 

Thomas Henry Butcher, 1839 – 1883

 

Headstone GPS Coordinates: Location in the cemetery is unknown

Birth: 1839, England

Death: 21 April 1883, Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Thomas Butcher (infant)

American Revolutionary War Patriots*: None

 

Thomas Henry Butcher was born around 1839 in England. Little is currently known about his parents or early life. Sometime between his birth and his marriage in 1862, he immigrated to Victoria, British Columbia, where he met Christina Veitch. Christina had emigrated from Scotland as a child with her parents; her father was an early employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company in Victoria.

Thomas was twenty-three and Christina only sixteen when they married in 1862. The couple initially settled in Victoria, where their first two children were born: Jane in 1864 and Isabella in 1868.

Later in 1868, the family moved south into the Washington Territory and settled in Seabeck. There, their family continued to grow with the birth of a son, Fred, in 1869, followed by three daughters: Aimee (1872), May (1874), and Grace, known as “Bessie,” in 1878.

Thomas supported his growing family through skilled labor. In 1870 he worked as a blacksmith, and from 1871 to 1876 he was employed at the Seabeck Mill, earning $85 per month. Despite this stability, the years that followed brought increasing hardship. According to historian Fred Just’s notes, Thomas and Christina had another son in 1879, whom they named Thomas; the child lived only one month and was buried in Seabeck Cemetery.

By that same year, Thomas’s mental health had deteriorated significantly. On June 9, 1879, he was committed to the Territorial Insane Asylum in Steilacoom, an event recorded in Jacob Hauptly’s diary:

“Mr. Thomas H. Butcher was sent off this morning to the Territorial Insane Asylum.”

The 1880 census shows Christina living in Port Orchard with her children, where she appears to have managed a boarding house. Listed as head of household, she lived with five of her children, a servant, five white men employed as loggers, sailors, or laborers, and three Chinese laborers. Christina was recorded as a widow who “kept house,” though Thomas was still living at the asylum.

In 1883, Thomas returned to Seabeck to rejoin his family, but his health was severely compromised. He died in April of that year. Jacob Hauptly recorded his death and the community’s response:

 “April 21, 1883: Mr. Thos. Butcher died this morn. I went around with subscription paper and raised about $150 for the Butcher Family. Funeral of butcher evening of 22nd at 5:30 o’clock. Craig read a prayer. Large turnout. A little sprinkle while at grave.”
The following day, Hauptly noted that the total collected for the family amounted to $184.25.

After Thomas’s death, Christina and her children remained in Seabeck for several more years before eventually relocating to Port Townsend.

Neither Thomas Butcher nor his infant son has a surviving grave marker, and their exact burial locations within Seabeck Cemetery are unknown.

 

Thomas Butcher, 1879-1879

 

Headstone GPS Coordinates: 

Birth: 1879, Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington

Death: 1879, Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Thomas Henry Butcher

American Revolutionary War Patriots*: None

 

Thomas Butcher was born in 1879 in Seabeck, Washington Territory, the youngest child of Thomas Henry Butcher and Christina (Veitch) Butcher. 

Thomas’s parents were long-time residents of Seabeck. His father, an English immigrant born around 1839, had worked as a blacksmith and later as a mill laborer at the Seabeck Mill, while his mother, Christina Veitch, had come to British Columbia from Scotland as a child with her family. By 1879, Thomas and Christina were raising a large family that included older siblings Jane, Isabella, Fred, Aimee, May, and Grace, known as “Bessie.”

Infant Thomas lived only one month. According to notes later compiled by historian Fred Just, the child’s brief life ended in 1879, and he was buried in Seabeck Cemetery. No surviving marker identifies his grave, and the precise location of his burial is unknown.

His death coincided with a rapid deterioration in his father’s mental health. On June 9, 1879, shortly after the infant’s death, Thomas Henry Butcher was committed to the Territorial Insane Asylum in Steilacoom, as recorded in Jacob Hauptly’s diary. The loss of the child and the institutionalization of his father marked a turning point for the family.

 

Hiram Bryant, 1823-1869

 

Headstone GPS Coordinates: Location in the cemetery is unknown

Birth: 1823, unknown location

Death: 26 January 1869, Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: None known

American Revolutionary War Patriots*: Unknown

 

While there are some stones still standing today, many of the graves in Seabeck cemetery are without a marker. Many of the graves were once marked with cedar slabs that stood about 3 feet tall with deeply carved letters that spelled out the name, date of death, and possibly a bit more information about where the buried person was from and how he or she died. All of the cedar markers have either rotted away or have been taken over the years, except one that is currently hanging in the Seabeck Conference Center. This marker belonged to a man named Hiram Bryant. 

Hiram Bryant’s marker reads “Sacred to the Memory of Hiram Bryant aged about 43 years who was killed in a dispute on the 26th day of January 1869.”

A newspaper article from the Seattle Intelligencer dated February 1, 1869 described the event of Hiram Bryant’s death. This excerpt is taken from Fredi Perry’s book ‘Seabeck: Tide’s Out. Table’s Set.’

“On Jan 26, 1869, a couple of local drunks were whooping it up at Seabeck’s US Hotel, run by William Warin. George Bryant ordered a drink and threw down a 50 cent piece. Sitting next to him was Hiram Bryant,no relation, who picked up the coin and put it in his pocket. Words passed between them and Hiram choked and struck George. George seized a tumbler and threw it at Hiram. As it broke, a shard struck Hiram’s jugular vein and he bled to death on the spot.”

Hiram would have been born in 1823 according to the information on his marker. Unfortunately, no other information can be found about Hiram. There were other Bryant’s in Seabeck, but none of them seem to be of any relation. Hiram’s name lives on because his cedar marker was preserved by the Seabeck Conference Center where visitors can go view his marker and wonder about who he was.

 

William Benjamin Brown, 1908-1943

Headstone GPS Coordinates: 

Birth: 20 August 1908, Squaw Valley, Okanogan County, Washington

Death: 18 October 1943, Port Orchard, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Larry Roy Brown

American Revolutionary War Patriots*: Thomas C. Pasley (Virginia) DAR #A134095

Disclaimer: These lines have not been officially proven by NSDAR standards.

 

William Benjamin Brown was born on August 20, 1908, in Squaw Valley, Washington, a rural community nestled in the rugged hills of Okanogan County. He was the son of William R. Brown, a man born in Arkansas, and Rose Myrtle Pasley, who came from Idaho. His earliest years unfolded against the backdrop of a frontier-like environment. Okanogan County, sparsely populated at the time, attracted homesteaders, ranchers, and orchardists who carved out a living in the challenging terrain of north-central Washington.

The 1910 census shows two-year-old William listed with his parents, his older brother Chester, and a young woman named Hazel Pasley. Hazel’s exact relationship to the family is uncertain—she may have been Rose Myrtle’s younger sister or perhaps her daughter from an earlier relationship.

By 1920, the Browns had moved about 100 miles south into Methow Valley, another fertile stretch of land in Okanogan County, well known for its orchards and farming potential. At this time, William was eleven years old, living with his parents, Chester, and his younger sister Eunice. The move was typical of families in the early 20th century West, following opportunities for land, farm labor, or seasonal work in orchards.

As William came of age, he likely began contributing to the family’s livelihood. In the 1930 census, a “B.W. Brown” appears in Methow Valley, age twenty-one, listed as a laborer in an orchard. Okanogan County’s orchards offered steady, if physically demanding, employment for young men in the region.

The next year on September 29, 1931, William married Martha C. Neyhart in Okanogan. Martha was the daughter of Ralph and Olive Neyhart of Skagit County, a region of western Washington known for its farmland. She had grown up surrounded by her extended family, and the marriage joined together two families rooted in different parts of the state.

Their joy as a young couple was soon tempered by tragedy. Their first child, Larry Roy Brown, was born on December 22, 1932, but lived only one month. He died on January 23, 1933, from bronchial pneumonia—a common but often fatal illness. His death certificate records his burial at Crosby, Washington, with Martha’s mother, Olive Neyhart, listed as the informant. Family ties suggest Olive may have encouraged the burial there, near her own family in Seabeck. Olive herself was living in Crosby by the mid-1930s, sharing a household with her brother Larry Selby, and other Selby relatives had been buried in Seabeck years earlier.

William and Martha persevered after their loss. By April 1940, the census listed them once again in Okanogan County, in the Methow Valley area. William—recorded this time as “Ben”—was thirty-one, Martha twenty-five, and they had a five-year-old son, R. Richard. William was working steadily, and later that year he completed his mandated World War II draft registration card in Twisp, Washington, listing his occupation with the Department of Highways. This work reflected a shift in rural employment during the Depression years, when government programs and state projects offered stability that farm and orchard work could not always provide. Although registered, William was never called to serve in the military. At that stage of WWII, draft boards generally gave preference to younger, unmarried men, sparing older husbands and fathers like William from conscription.

In 1943, however, the Browns’ lives were altered again. That October, William and his family had moved west to Waterman, near Port Orchard in Kitsap County, where William found work clearing timber and continuing his employment with the state highway department. On October 18, he was suddenly stricken with a heart attack while working near his home. Despite the efforts of his wife and a neighbor who found him, William died at just thirty-five years old. His passing was reported in the Kitsap Sun: 

“William Benjamin Brown, 35, was found dead last evening near his Waterman home by his wife and a neighbor woman. He was clearing timber and was apparently stricken with a heart attack, dying shortly afterwards. He was born August 20, 1908, in Squaw Creek, Wash., and came to Waterman eight months ago with his wife and son. The deceased was employed as a laborer on the state highway department near Port Orchard.”

Martha remarried not long after William’s death and would marry at least once more before her own passing in 1980.

 

Sara B. Brown, née Brujordet, 1864-1928

 

Headstone GPS Coordinates: burial location in the cemetery unknown

Birth: 1864, Bismo, Oppland, Norway

Death: 13 February 1928, Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Madeline Josephine Brown

 

Sigrid Olsdotter Brujordet was born in 1864 in Bismo, Oppland, Norway, the eldest of five children born to Ole Olsen Gubhagen Brujordet (1836–1881) and Magnhild Toresdatter Gjeilo, also known as Gjellaug (1840–about 1898). She was baptized on October 16, 1864 in the parish of Skjåk, Oppland. As a child, she was recorded with her parents and younger siblings in the 1875 census, growing up in a rural Norwegian community shaped by family ties, farm life, and the rhythms of the church.

In the summer of 1886, at just twenty-one years old, Sigrid left Norway for America. Traveling westward through Minnesota, she passed through areas where some of her relatives may have settled; an uncle lived there, and years later her sister would visit him. Eventually, Sigrid became known as Sarah B. Brown, the name she would use for the remainder of her life.

In November 1892, Sarah married Henry M. Brown, possibly in Oregon, though no marriage record has yet been located. Henry was a ship’s carpenter from Maine and was twelve years her senior. Their married life eventually brought them to Seattle, King County, Washington, where the births of their children were officially recorded. Their first son, Charles, was born on April 1, 1897, followed by William M. Brown on July 11, 1899. During this period, Sarah’s sister Thora—often spelled “Toro” in contemporary records—boarded with the family. Thora later returned to Minnesota, and when she traveled west again to visit Sarah in Seattle, her local Minnesota newspaper noted that she would be making the journey on the Northern Pacific Railroad.

By 1900, Sarah and Henry were living on 10th Avenue South in Seattle with their two young sons. They had been married for eight years, and Sarah reported that she had already lost one child, likely between the births of Charles and William. The home, however, was not a happy one. On January 30, 1901, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that articles of separation between Henry M. Brown and Sarah B. Brown had been filed with the county auditor. The document, described as the first of its kind recorded in King County, recited their marriage in November 1892, noted that there were two children, and stated that many differences had arisen between them. By mutual agreement, they resolved to live separate and apart for the rest of their natural lives.

At the time of the separation, it was unclear whether Sarah knew she was pregnant, as the papers made no mention of it. Nevertheless, on September 3, 1901, the birth of Maggie Brown was recorded. The record identified the parents as Sarah “Burjority,” a 37-year-old woman from Norway, and Henry Miller Brown, a 48-year-old carpenter from Maine.

Shortly after the separation, Henry filed for divorce and then disappeared from Seattle, likely returning to life at sea. He resurfaced in the 1910 census near New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was working as a ship’s carpenter. By 1930, he was again located in the census, this time living in East Palatka, Putnam County, Florida, employed as a laborer on a potato farm. Henry died there in 1932 and was buried in the Putnam County Poor Farm Cemetery. There is no evidence that he had any contact with his children in Washington during those years.

In 1907, Sarah left Seattle for a quieter life in Seabeck to raise her three children. 

By 1910, Sarah was enumerated in the census as a “widowed” mother of five children, only three of whom were still living. It was not uncommon at the time for women who had been abandoned by their husbands to describe themselves as widowed, even when their spouse or former spouse was still alive. Living with her were Charles R., age 13; William K., age 10; and Madeline J., age 8. To support her family, Sarah worked as a cook in a hotel.

Tragedy struck again in 1911, when a house fire claimed the life of her daughter. On Madeline’s death certificate, she was listed as “Josephine,” likely her middle name. Family lore holds that she ran back into the burning house to retrieve her doll. Her remains were presumably interred in Seabeck Cemetery, although the death certificate does not specify a burial location. A descendant later recalled that the house was rebuilt on the same property, only to burn down again years afterward.

By 1920, Sarah was living alone in her home in Seabeck, though her son Charles lived nearby. The census noted that she owned her property outright, free of mortgage, and that she was a naturalized citizen.

Sarah B. Brown died on February 13, 1928, at the home of her son Charles in Bremerton, likely as the result of a stroke. She had been bedridden for two years by that time. She was buried two days later in Seabeck, marked only by a temporary marker in the upper eastern side of the cemetery with Madeline, according to her family. Over the following decades, knowledge of Sarah had faded from local memory, and it was mistakenly believed that she was buried in the Brown family plot with William and Larry Brown. In fact, neither she nor her husband had any relationship to William or Larry Brown.

 

 Frances Fayette (nee Cilley) Bowker, 1833-1881 

 

Headstone GPS Coordinates: location unknown

Birth: 28 Aug 1833, Machias, Washington County, Maine, USA

Death: 15 Oct 1881, Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington, USA

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Samuel Bowker

American Revolutionary War Patriots*: Ichabod Bonney, Jr. of Massachusetts (A012028), and William Cilley of Massachusetts (A021979). 

Disclaimer: These lines have not been officially proven by NSDAR standards.

 

Frances Fayette (Cilley) Bowker was born on August 28, 1833, in Machias, Washington County, Maine, to Joseph Bonney Cilley and Mary Stickney. She was the youngest of their seven children. Her father, Joseph, supported the family by working as a shoemaker.

On December 7, 1853, Frances married Simeon Crocker Bowker in Machias. Together they had six children: Mary Lizzie (1855), Nellie M. (1858), Martha Grace (1862), Joseph S. (1866), Samuel (1868), and Frank (1878). Their first five children were born in Maine, while their youngest, Frank, was born in Seabeck, Washington. Their eldest daughter, Mary Lizzie, born on April 8, 1855, died on January 31, 1857, just shy of her second birthday.

Simeon supported his family through work in the lumber industry. In addition, he owned land valued at $1,200 and personal property valued at $100. In the 1870 census, Simeon and his family were enumerated in Machias, Maine. That same year, Simeon appeared a second time in the U.S. Federal Census, listed as living in Union, Mason County, Washington, where he was employed as a head lumberman. By 1872, he was working for the Washington Mill Company as a bull puncher, driving oxen and hauling logs to tidewater via skid road.

Company ledgers record Simeon’s purchases from the mill store, which included a pair of shoes, butter, a bottle of “pain killers,” and two bottles of “spices.” In 1873, additional purchases were noted, including cheese, coffee, herring, silk, silesia (a fabric sometimes used as window coverings or clothing linings), a box of soap, lard, and clothespins. These household items suggest that Frances and the children had either arrived in Seabeck or were expected to arrive around that time. Simeon’s repeated purchases of painkillers and liniment provide insight into the physically demanding nature of his work.

As 1873 progressed, Simeon occasionally spent more than his account balance, with notations indicating that he later paid off outstanding amounts; shoes were one such example. Research conducted by a University of Washington graduate student in a 1966 thesis revealed that “S. Bowker” had spent nearly $500 more than he had earned.

On January 9, 1875, Frances and Simeon’s daughter Nellie married William Chillman. On October 14, 1878, their daughter Martha (“Mattie”) married Ensley Doncaster in Port Madison. The marriage record notes that an affidavit was required to obtain parental permission, as Mattie was only sixteen years old. That same year, Frances and Simeon welcomed their youngest child, Frank, who was born in Seabeck.

In the 1880 U.S. census, Simeon and Frances, along with their three sons—Joseph, age 14; Samuel, age 10; and Frank, age 2—were living in the household of their daughter Martha and her husband, Ensley Doncaster.

Frances Bowker died on October 15, 1881, from unknown causes, at the age of forty-eight. Jacob Hauptly, who managed the Seabeck Cemetery at the time, noted in his diary that there was “a large turnout” at her burial.

A Washington Territorial Census was conducted in 1883, though it contains several inconsistencies. It appears that the census taker—likely county assessor Joseph Comstock—may have relied on earlier records, possibly from the 1880 census, when compiling the document. One family entry lists the household of Simeon Bowker as follows:

• Simeon Bowker, age 59
  
• Frances Bowker, age 49 (despite records indicating her death in 1881)
  
• Joseph Bowker, age 16
  
• Samuel Bowker, age 7 (though he should have been approximately 14–15)
  
• Frank Bowker, age 5
  

Six pages earlier in the same census, “Sam’l Bowker,” age 14, born in Maine and listed as a “mill man,” appears among other workers at “P. Seabeck” (Port of Seabeck).

On June 8, 1883, fifteen-year-old Samuel Bowker died in a mill accident. Jacob Hauptly recorded that he was buried two days later. According to notes by historian Fred Just, Samuel was marked with a cedar grave marker that has since disappeared from the cemetery.

In her book Tide’s Out, Table’s Set, Fredi Perry stated that Simeon Bowker was the individual killed in the mill accident; however, this is inaccurate. Simeon was enumerated in the 1887 Washington Territorial Census as living in Seabeck. By that time, his son Frank, then eight years old, was living with the Doncasters, who also had a two-year-old son of their own.

It remains unknown whether Simeon Bowker was buried in Seabeck alongside his wife and son. No death record has been located for him. He last appears in the 1900 census, living in Port Hadlock near his son Frank. The burial locations of Frances and Samuel Bowker within Seabeck Cemetery are also currently unknown.

The Elizabeth Ellington Chapter wishes to acknowledge the Revolutionary War ancestors of Frances (Cilley) Bowker and Samuel Bowker: Ichabod Bonney, Jr. of Massachusetts (A012028), and William Cilley of Massachusetts (A021979). Samuel is also related to Major Levi B. Bowker of Massachusetts (A012833).

 

William Bell, Abt 1831-1869

 

Headstone GPS Coordinates: 

Birth: Abt. 1831, location unknown

Death: 17 Jan 1869, Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: None known.

American Revolutionary War Patriots: None known. 

 

While researching the earliest newspapers from the period when Washington was still a territory, the SCRP team uncovered several articles describing the circumstances surrounding the deaths of William Bell and a man known only by the surname Hamilton. According to these accounts, the two men had been indulging in strong drink before setting out in a canoe to cross Hood Canal to Walker’s timber camp. They never arrived.

A letter published in The Echo and dated February 5, 1869, recounts the incident:

“Seabeck, Jan. 26th, 1868.
It is with painful feelings I record the following: On the evening of the 17th inst., Wm. Bell and —-Hamilton were drowned. The particulars, as near as I can learn, are that about dusk on the day above mentioned, they left this place for Walker’s camp, on the opposite side of the Canal, and it is supposed that when within hearing distance of camp their canoe upset, separating them, as voices were heard at camp in different directions; but as the hallooing soon ceased, and those in the camp thinking it was Indians, no assistance was rendered, and thus they met their untimely death.”

Nine days later, William Bell’s body washed ashore nearly twenty miles away. It was recovered and returned to Seabeck, where he was buried and marked with an inscribed cedar slab.

William Bell’s grave marker is one of only two original cedar markers still known to exist from Seabeck Cemetery. Its inscription reads:

Sacred to the memory of William Bell,
Aged about 38 years,
Drowned, Jan 17, 1869.

To date, the team has been unable to locate additional records detailing William Bell’s life. There is no indication that he had family in Seabeck, suggesting he was likely one of the many hardworking bachelors in the area whose life ended prematurely due to a combination of liquor and poor judgment.

While little is known about William Bell himself, the story of his wooden marker is well documented. The marker remained in the cemetery until July 24, 1971, when it was reported stolen in the Kitsap Sun. Shortly thereafter, an anonymous caller contacted the Kitsap County Sheriff to report seeing the marker “near the old county road shed on Mitchell Road” in Port Orchard. Deputies recovered the marker and returned it to Seabeck.

On August 21, 1977, cemetery caretaker and historian Fred Just donated the cedar marker to the Kitsap History Museum, where it has since been protected from both theft and the elements.

Hamilton’s body was never recovered. Records from the Washington Mill Company for the years 1860–1870 list an employee named J. Hamilton earning $35 per month. Whether this individual was the same man who drowned alongside William Bell—and who may still rest at the bottom of Hood Canal—remains uncertain.

 

Samuel J. Basset, 1850-1940    

 

Headstone GPS Coordinates: 

Birth: 4 April 1850,   Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales   

Death: 23 June 1940, Sedro-Woolley, Skagit County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Anna (Evans) Bassett, John Evans

American Revolutionary War Patriots: None

 

Samuel J. Bassett was born on April 4, 1850, in Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales, United Kingdom, to Samuel Bassett and Elizabeth Hopkins. He was the eldest of six children.

Many families in Llanelly worked in the region’s rich coal mines, and, like his father, Samuel became a coal miner. Around 1871, when he was twenty-one years old, Samuel moved with his parents and siblings to Clydach, Ystradyfodwg, Glamorgan, Wales, where he may have met his future wife, Anna.

Anna J. Evans was born on December 16, 1849, in Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire, Wales. Her father, John Evans, was a laborer, and her mother was Mary Vaughn.

Samuel and Anna were married in 1874.

In 1877, the couple departed Liverpool, England, aboard the steamer City of Richmond, arriving in New York City on October 1. In the 1880 census, they were living in Palmyra, Portage County, Ohio, where Samuel worked as a coal miner and Anna as a housekeeper. Anna’s father, John Evans, was living next door with her uncle, Wakin Vaughn; both men were employed as coal miners.

Sometime around 1891, the Bassetts moved to Crosby in Kitsap County, Washington. They eventually purchased 160 acres of land just northeast of the Crosby School. In time, Anna’s father, John Evans, came to live with them.

While primarily working his farm, Samuel also became a Baptist minister. He conducted church services in the Crosby Schoolhouse on Sundays and wrote several obituaries for deceased community members that were published in the Kitsap County Herald under the pen name “Brutus.” He was also a member of the Crosby Community Club. In 1895, he was elected Justice of the Peace in Seabeck and served in this role for one year.

By 1910, Samuel was listed as working as a carpenter. On April 10, 1918, his wife Anna died in Seattle, likely while seeking treatment for the lobar pneumonia that claimed her life. She was sixty-seven years old. Her body was brought back across the Sound for burial at Seabeck Cemetery.

The late historian Fred Just recorded the following story in his book Seabeck and the Surrounding Area:

“After his wife died, he [Samuel] tried to ‘spark’ Nancy M. Just. Sam always carried a cane and chewed tobacco which drooled down his chin. She had no interest in him although she was kind to him. One night when visiting her he stayed till after dark, so she asked her grandson Melvin E. Just to walk Mr. Bassett home. Melvin did not like Mr. Bassett. Shortly after leaving, Melvin came back home. When questioned why he was back so quick, he said that Mr. Bassett told him that he could make it on his own so Melvin could go back home. At that time, Mrs. Just’s son Lester had taken out some large stumps so that the garden could be extended. One hole in particular was rather deep and muddy. It was found out later that Melvin had led Mr. Bassett into the hole and left him there to make his own way home. There is no record of Melvin’s punishment.”

Samuel continued to live alone on his farm in Crosby until tragedy struck twice when two of his homes burned down in 1927 and 1928. These incidents were recorded in the Kitsap County Herald (it is worth noting that Samuel himself was known in the paper by the pen name “Brutus”).

Kitsap County Herald, Friday, April 1, 1927:
The Home of Brutus Burns to the Ground

“The house, barn and some other buildings belonging to Rev. S. J. Basset of Crosby burned to the ground Wednesday noon. Mr. Bassett had gone a little ways from home and was doing some work on his place, when he looked up and saw the roof of his house ablaze. He rushed home and made every effort to put out the fire, but it was too far gone. He was alone and had no one to help him. In the excitement, he rescued only a few minor things. About everything he had except the clothes he wore was burned up. He saved a few bedclothes and his radio, easiest to get out, but all the rest went up in smoke. He had $50 in paper money put away, and that burned up with the rest. He had many valuable things, some of which he could not put a price on, as they were much thought of. Mr. Bassett’s health has been quite poor lately, and he had no insurance, so everything is a complete loss. It is a pitiful case. His large number of friends may make some arrangement to help him out, as the people around Crosby have shown a fine spirit before.”

Kitsap County Herald, Friday, July 13, 1928, Seabeck:

“Rev. Bassett lost his little house again by fire a few weeks ago. He lost practically everything he had, among which was a gold watch and other precious heirlooms. The neighbors have helped him to build another small house. The Hite brothers donated part of the lumber.”

Samuel was in his late seventies when these fires occurred. In 1930, he was living as a boarder with the Barricean (Barrieau) family in Crosby. He sold forty acres of his property to Jack Barrieau and his family while continuing to live with them.

In 1933, fire struck once again.

Kitsap County Herald, October 27, 1933, Crosby:

“Mr. S. J. Bassett burned out his last small shack about a couple weeks ago. In the fire he lost his good overcoat and most all of his clothes. This is the third time Mr. Bassett has lost his place of abode by fire in the last five years. One has to be very careful about fire, and when a man gets old, he sure needs someone to watch and care for him, and even then, one can’t always do it. This time Mr. Bassett almost lost his life. It is a constant worry to the folks who care for him. He has caught his clothes on fire so many times with his pipe. We hope in the future that he will be more careful.”

In 1934, Samuel moved to Sunnyvale Home in Port Orchard. By 1935, he was living in Snohomish County. In the 1940 census, taken on April 16, Samuel was listed as a patient at Northern State Hospital. He died a few months later, on June 23, 1940, at the age of ninety.

Samuel’s body was returned to Seabeck Cemetery, where he was buried beside his wife. Neither Samuel’s nor Anna’s grave has a headstone today, but both burial sites are marked on Fred Just’s plot map.

According to available records, Samuel and Anna never had any children. Samuel’s only known relative living in the area was his nephew, John Emlyn Bassett, who resided in Bremerton.

 

Anna (nee Evans) Bassett, 1849-1918

 

Headstone GPS Coordinates: 

Birth: 16 Dec 1849, Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire, Wales, United Kingdom

Death: 10 Apr 1918, Seattle, King County, Washington, USA

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Samuel Bassett, John Evans

American Revolutionary War Patriots: None

 

Samuel J. Bassett was born on April 4, 1850, in Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales, United Kingdom, to Samuel Bassett and Elizabeth Hopkins. He was the eldest of six children.

Many families in Llanelly worked in the region’s rich coal mines, and, like his father, Samuel became a coal miner. Around 1871, when he was twenty-one years old, Samuel moved with his parents and siblings to Clydach, Ystradyfodwg, Glamorgan, Wales, where he may have met his future wife, Anna.

Anna J. Evans was born on December 16, 1849, in Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire, Wales. Her father, John Evans, was a laborer, and her mother was Mary Vaughn.

Samuel and Anna were married in 1874.

In 1877, the couple departed Liverpool, England, aboard the steamer City of Richmond, arriving in New York City on October 1. In the 1880 census, they were living in Palmyra, Portage County, Ohio, where Samuel worked as a coal miner and Anna as a housekeeper. Anna’s father, John Evans, was living next door with her uncle, Wakin Vaughn; both men were employed as coal miners.

Sometime around 1891, the Bassetts moved to Crosby in Kitsap County, Washington. They eventually purchased 160 acres of land just northeast of the Crosby School. In time, Anna’s father, John Evans, came to live with them.

While primarily working his farm, Samuel also became a Baptist minister. He conducted church services in the Crosby Schoolhouse on Sundays and wrote several obituaries for deceased community members that were published in the Kitsap County Herald under the pen name “Brutus.” He was also a member of the Crosby Community Club. In 1895, he was elected Justice of the Peace in Seabeck and served in this role for one year.

By 1910, Samuel was listed as working as a carpenter. On April 10, 1918, his wife Anna died in Seattle, likely while seeking treatment for the lobar pneumonia that claimed her life. She was sixty-seven years old. Her body was brought back across the Sound for burial at Seabeck Cemetery.

The late historian Fred Just recorded the following story in his book Seabeck and the Surrounding Area:

“After his wife died, he [Samuel] tried to ‘spark’ Nancy M. Just. Sam always carried a cane and chewed tobacco which drooled down his chin. She had no interest in him although she was kind to him. One night when visiting her he stayed till after dark, so she asked her grandson Melvin E. Just to walk Mr. Bassett home. Melvin did not like Mr. Bassett. Shortly after leaving, Melvin came back home. When questioned why he was back so quick, he said that Mr. Bassett told him that he could make it on his own so Melvin could go back home. At that time, Mrs. Just’s son Lester had taken out some large stumps so that the garden could be extended. One hole in particular was rather deep and muddy. It was found out later that Melvin had led Mr. Bassett into the hole and left him there to make his own way home. There is no record of Melvin’s punishment.”

Samuel continued to live alone on his farm in Crosby until tragedy struck twice when two of his homes burned down in 1927 and 1928. These incidents were recorded in the Kitsap County Herald (it is worth noting that Samuel himself was known in the paper by the pen name “Brutus”).

Kitsap County Herald, Friday, April 1, 1927:
The Home of Brutus Burns to the Ground

“The house, barn and some other buildings belonging to Rev. S. J. Basset of Crosby burned to the ground Wednesday noon. Mr. Bassett had gone a little ways from home and was doing some work on his place, when he looked up and saw the roof of his house ablaze. He rushed home and made every effort to put out the fire, but it was too far gone. He was alone and had no one to help him. In the excitement, he rescued only a few minor things. About everything he had except the clothes he wore was burned up. He saved a few bedclothes and his radio, easiest to get out, but all the rest went up in smoke. He had $50 in paper money put away, and that burned up with the rest. He had many valuable things, some of which he could not put a price on, as they were much thought of. Mr. Bassett’s health has been quite poor lately, and he had no insurance, so everything is a complete loss. It is a pitiful case. His large number of friends may make some arrangement to help him out, as the people around Crosby have shown a fine spirit before.”

Kitsap County Herald, Friday, July 13, 1928, Seabeck:

“Rev. Bassett lost his little house again by fire a few weeks ago. He lost practically everything he had, among which was a gold watch and other precious heirlooms. The neighbors have helped him to build another small house. The Hite brothers donated part of the lumber.”

Samuel was in his late seventies when these fires occurred. In 1930, he was living as a boarder with the Barricean (Barrieau) family in Crosby. He sold forty acres of his property to Jack Barrieau and his family while continuing to live with them.

In 1933, fire struck once again.

Kitsap County Herald, October 27, 1933, Crosby:

“Mr. S. J. Bassett burned out his last small shack about a couple weeks ago. In the fire he lost his good overcoat and most all of his clothes. This is the third time Mr. Bassett has lost his place of abode by fire in the last five years. One has to be very careful about fire, and when a man gets old, he sure needs someone to watch and care for him, and even then, one can’t always do it. This time Mr. Bassett almost lost his life. It is a constant worry to the folks who care for him. He has caught his clothes on fire so many times with his pipe. We hope in the future that he will be more careful.”

In 1934, Samuel moved to Sunnyvale Home in Port Orchard. By 1935, he was living in Snohomish County. In the 1940 census, taken on April 16, Samuel was listed as a patient at Northern State Hospital. He died a few months later, on June 23, 1940, at the age of ninety.

Samuel’s body was returned to Seabeck Cemetery, where he was buried beside his wife. Neither Samuel’s nor Anna’s grave has a headstone today, but both burial sites are marked on Fred Just’s plot map.

According to available records, Samuel and Anna never had any children. Samuel’s only known relative living in the area was his nephew, John Emlyn Bassett, who resided in Bremerton.