Where Was Elijah Bass Born?
or I Don't Care What You Say, You Weren't Born There
How do you know where you were born?
For that matter, how do you know when you were born?
I cannot remember how old I was when I learned my birth date. I think the first time I laid eyes upon my birth certificate was probably when I was 15 and got my Florida learner’s permit for driving. I’m sure all the information I had been told up to that point was true and correct. Otherwise, I think I’d have remembered. It would have been quite shocking to believe I was born in East Orange, New Jersey only to find out that my birth certificate was issued by the State of Tennessee.
Most of us, I’m sure, have had to present our birth certificate to someone at some point in our lives, and I’m sure most of us have read our birth certificate, noting with some satisfaction that what we were told was true – if we were told at all. I’m pretty sure I learned at a young age the date of my birth. After all, next to Christmas, it’s the second biggest day of the year. At least for me it was. It was the day I got cake and ice cream and presents.
Toni is my wife, and her paternal great, great grandfather, Elijah Bass, didn’t have a birth certificate. He was a Vernon County, Wisconsin farmer who, in 1870, moved to the state from Ohio along with his parents, a brother, and a sister
.
States didn’t start issuing birth certificates until the early part of the 20th century and the practice was probably not widely adopted until after 1946, long after Bass’ birth in 1835 in Lawrence County, Ohio. How did he know when he was born? Somebody told him. Most likely it was his parents. How did he know where he was born? Again, somebody told him. Maybe. What if they told him wrong? Or what if he remembered wrong? At this point you’re probably thinking, Huh? Let’s look at the evidence.
I have a membership at Ancestry.com. All my cited records come from there, and based upon my long experience with them, I believe them to be reliable. Lawrence County, Ohio recorded the marriage of Elijah Bass and Elizabeth Duthen on March 20, 1835. Lawrence County, Ohio also recorded the birth of little Elijah to Elijah and Matilda Bass on October 15, 1835. Therefore, one may reasonably conclude that little Elijah was born in Ohio. Especially since the 1850 census, the earliest I could find on Elijah, Jr. recorded his birthplace as Ohio. He was 16 at the time so he probably didn’t give the information to the enumerator. It probably came from one of his parents.
However, every subsequent census from 1860 until 1910 listed his birthplace as the state of North Carolina. The book, “The History of Vernon County,” published in 1880 included a biographical sketch of Elijah Bass and that sketch stated that he was born in North Carolina. An internet search revealed a genealogical web site that gave his birthplace as Catawba, North Carolina. I have no idea where anyone got that idea from.
In June of 1863 Elijah Bass, along with his brothers Samuel and Peter, registered for the draft and it was recorded - in very good penmanship- that he was born in North Carolina. His brothers were listed as being born in Ohio, and they were. Interestingly, Elijah and Samuel had their race listed as “White.” Little brother Peter, though, was recorded as “Colored.” Peter served in the Civil War with the Ohio 23rd Infantry. Looks like the army was integrated long before 1948, but I digress.
Even Elijah Bass’ kids thought he was born in North Carolina. I’m speaking of the younger, not the elder. In the 1930 census daughter Matilda and son William reported their father as being born in North Carolina. Son Ransom Bass gave it as South Carolina. Close enough, I guess.
Elijah Bass’ father – and possibly his mother – were from Granville County, North Carolina. It is doubtful that in 1835 a pregnant woman would have traveled 400 miles by boat and wagon to give birth in North Carolina. Lawrence County, Ohio is at the southern tip of what was then the free state of Ohio. To the east was the slave state of Virginia. To the south, across the Ohio River, was the slave state of Kentucky. That was why the elder Elijah Bass came there from North Carolina. The wife of Elijah Bass the younger, Elizabeth Arnold, is mentioned in the book, “Strangers in Their Midst: The Free Black Population of Amherst County Virginia” by Sherrie McLeRoy and William McLeRoy. As required by law, two year old Elizabeth was taken to the court in Amherst County and registered as a free person of color. Had the Arnold family remained in Virginia, they would have had to report to the court every three years to get their “free papers.” Instead, the family moved to Lawrence County, Ohio, arriving around 1850. Ohio had no such requirement.
Elijah Bass was born in Ohio. I’m certain of it. In 1850 the enumerator was told he was born in Ohio. His brothers Samuel and Peter knew they were born in Ohio. So why did Elijah Bass, Jr. tell everyone he was born in North Carolina?
I don’t know. I could speculate, but won’t, and I’m going to end it with that.
Next time I’ll go way, way back and write about John Miller – or all the John Millers I found in the 18th century southeast.