Burwell Bassett, Jr. (March 18, 1764 – February 26, 1841) was an American planter and politician from New Kent County and for two decades from Williamsburg in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Like his father, he served in both chambers of the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

, and in addition won election (and lost re-election) several times to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, where he served for more than a decade in three different districts, because of census-required reorganizations.

Early and family life

Born in at the family slave plantation, known as

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

, in New Kent County, to the former Anna Marie Dandridge and her husband Burwell Bassett Sr. He was their second of four sons, and fifth of the couple's eight children, and received a private education appropriate to his class, then attended the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

in Williamsburg. Although he was his father's principal heir and married twice, he had no children. Both sides of his family were among the

First Families of Virginia First Families of Virginia (FFV) were those families in Colonial Virginia who were socially prominent and wealthy, but not necessarily the earliest settlers. They descended from English colonists who primarily settled at Jamestown, Williamsburg ...

. His father, Burwell Bassett Sr. and maternal grandfather

Bartholomew Dandridge Bartholomew Dandridge (25 December 1737 – 18 April 1785) was an early American planter, lawyer and patriot. He represented New Kent County in the House of Burgesses, all five Virginia Revolutionary Conventions, and once in the Virginia House ...

were patriots and served many terms in the

, with father also serving in the

Virginia Ratification Convention The Virginia Ratifying Convention (also historically referred to as the "Virginia Federal Convention") was a convention of 168 delegates from Virginia who met in 1788 to ratify or reject the United States Constitution, which had been drafted at ...

for the U.S. Constitution and Bartholomew Dandridge also serving on what is now known as the

Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrativ ...

. Furthermore, his aunt

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 21, 1731 — May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington served as the inaugural ...

was married to General (later President)

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

. He was also the first cousin of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...

. Bassett married twice. On January 10, 1788, he married Elizabeth McCarty, the daughter of planter and delegate Col. Daniel McCarty of Westmoreland County. After her death, Bassett remarried in 1800, to Philadelphia Ann Claiborne.

Career

The Bassetts had long been among the ruling elite in New Kent County and neighboring Hanover County (which split from New Kent County in his father's lifetime). When his father died, Bassett inherited about 6,000 acres of land in New Kent County and more than 1000 acres in Hanover County. Following his father's death he also purchased about 350 acres in neighboring

James City County James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg. Located ...

. Bassett operated these plantations using enslaved labor, mostly using overseers, especially after he moved to Williamsburg, where Basset lived from 1815 until 1837. In the 1810 census, he owned 98 enslaved people in New Kent County. A decade later, his two New Kent slave plantations under separate overseers included 88 enslaved men and women, and he owned another 19 in James City County. In the 1830 federal census, Bassett owned 109 enslaved men and women in New Kent County, and 18 in James City County. Bassett sold his James City County land in 1837, and may also have sold enslaved people from his New Kent County plantations, or given them to relatives. In 1840, the last census in his lifetime, he appears to have owned 75 enslaved people in New Kent County. Although Bassett held an officer's commission in the county militia, his only combat experience occurred during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, principally in 1814 as the British invaded Chesapeake Bay. He was then Lieutenant Colonel of the 68th Regiment of the Virginia Militia. Basset began his political career by running to become of New Kent County's two part-time representatives in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, while at the same time his father represented New Kent and adjacent James City and Charles City Counties in the Virginia Senate. Voters elected (and re-elected) Bassett as one of New Kent County's delegates from 1787 to 1789. After his father's death in January 1793, Bassett won election and re-election to that seat in the

Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

; thus he served in that part-time position from October 1793 to 1805. Although Bassett lost his first contest to become a member of the

(to incumbent

John Clopton John Clopton (February 7, 1756 – September 11, 1816) was a United States representative from Virginia. Early life and education John Clopton was born in St. Peter's Parish, near Tunstall, New Kent County in the Colony of Virginia on Febru ...

in 1794), he was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

in 1804, and re-elected several times, serving from 1805 to 1813. During these terms, Bassett served as chairman of the Committee on Claims in the 12th Congress and of the

Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

from 1811 to 1813. Bassett failed to win re-election in 1812, but was elected again in 1814, and re-elected, and so served from 1815 to 1819. Despite announcing his retirement from Congress, Bassett won election to the House of Delegates from James City County, and won re-election for a second single-year term, serving from 1819 until taking his federal seat again in 1821. Voters returned Bassett to the United States House a third time beginning in 1820, and re-elected him several times. He again announced his retirement early in 1828, then was convinced to run again, but lost to Richard Coke, who in the interim had received pledges of support from other politicians in that district. In his final legislative terms, from 1821 to 1829, Basset aligned with the

Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

, then the Crawford Republicans and finally with the

Jacksonian Democrats Jacksonian democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy in the United States that expanded suffrage to most white men over the age of 21, and restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh U.S. president, And ...

. He lost his bid for reelection in 1828, although he would live for more than another decade. His political career ended after he ran last in a field of eight candidates for the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830. During his final congressional terms, Basset spoke only occasionally, criticizing President John Quincy Adams and attempted to reduce the U.S. Navy. Bassett also promoted public schooling and was active in the Episcopal Church. British educational reformer

Joseph Lancaster Joseph Lancaster (25 November 1778 – 23 October 1838) was an English Quaker and public education innovator. He developed, and propagated on the grounds both of economy and efficacy, a monitorial system of primary education. In the first de ...

stayed with Bassett while touring Virginia in 1819. While living in Williamsburg, Bassett served on the vestry of historic

Bruton Parish Church Bruton Parish Church is located in the restored area of Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1674 by the consolidation of two previous parishes in the Virginia Colony, and remains an active Epi ...

. In 1811 he sponsored a bill in the House of Representatives to incorporate Alexandria's Episcopal Church, but President James Madison vetoed the proposed legislation, saying it violated the First Amendment. Bassett also served as a delegate to several Virginia episcopal church conventions and in 1827 became a trustee of the

Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, located at 3737 Seminary Road in Alexandria, Virginia is the largest and second oldest accredited Episcopal seminary in the Unit ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Death and legacy

In 1837, Bassett sold his James City County land and returned to live his final years in New Kent County. He died on February 26, 1841 in New Kent County, Virginia. He was probably interred at his Eltham Plantation, in

Eltham, Virginia Eltham is a small unincorporated community in New Kent County, Virginia, United States. Located along state routes 30, 33, and 249 in modern times, it is slightly west of the town of West Point. It was named for the Eltham slave plantation, acr ...

; the plantation house burned to the ground in 1875. A grand-niece later wrote that Bassett had been "perhaps the last man in Virginia who wore small clothes and powdered hair in a queue. citing Anna Maria Dandridge Yeatman,"Personal History of the Families Deans and Bassett and of Some of their Connections, at page 57 of a typescript circa 1912 at the Virginia Historical Society.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassett, Burwell 1764 births 1840 deaths People from New Kent County, Virginia Virginia colonial people American people of English descent Episcopalians from Virginia Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Virginia state senators American planters American slave owners Politicians from Williamsburg, Virginia College of William & Mary alumni