1. John J. Baskin (born Feb 5, 1843 in Alabama, died in Munday, TX) married
Emily Cathern Henderson.
2. William Orren Baskin, Jr. (born Sep. 29, 1844, died Apr. 10, 1918 in LA)
married Sallie L. Dunham in 1865, then Annie M. Mecklin in 1885, then Rosa Baskin (his cousin) on Feb. 10, 1895 - all in Franklin Parish, LA.
3. George Baxter Baskin (born May 29, 1845 in Alabama, died Jan. 20, 1931 in
Democrat, TX) married Rose Ella Barnes Henderson (born Aug. 20, 1852 in
MS, died Jan 13, 1940 in Mullins, TX) on Jan. 7, 1873 in Franklin Parish, LA.
4. Sarah Baskin (born 1848) married Oliver (Nathan) Balph (died Feb. 5,
1903)
WILLIAM ORREN BASKIN
William Orren Baskin was born on Nov. 2, 1811, according to his headstone (which I recently found!). This contradicts my previous belief, which was based on the work of Raymond Martin Bell in 1963. This new birth date is also supported by the 1850 US Census which was dated 20 Nov. 1850 and lists his age as 39 years, as well as the 1860 US Census, dated 29 June 1860, which lists his age as 48 years. Clearly the November birth date is most likely. This finding also changes my assumptions of his parents, John and Sarah, and why they may have been married. Although these two certainly wasted no time between their wedding in January 1811 and the conception of their first born, Sarah could not have been pregnant when the couple got married.
(Just thought I should clear that up...more to come later.)
So, as we've learned, William Orren Baskin was born Nov. 2, 1811, first child of John Alexander Baskin and Sarah Noble Baskin. His parents gave him lots of siblings, and his first 24 years were lived in Abbeville County, SC. By this time the Baskins had a long history in that area, and though their grandfather died in 1804, you can bet William Orren and his siblings grew up with stories of his namesake, Capt. William Baskin, the old war horse.
In what seems to have become almost a family tradition though, the family packed up and moved to Alabama in 1835. The move seems to have served the family well. On Valentine's Day 1842 William Orren married Mary Ann Mitchell, and they soon started a family of their own. First came John J. (born Feb. 5, 1843), then William Orren, Jr. (born Sep. 29, 1844), then George Baxter (born May 29, 1845), and finally a girl, Sarah (born 1848). Yes, it was a small family for the Baskins, but there were cousins nearby. The 1850 US Census shows this little family prospering with William Orren, Sr. listed as a planter with real estate valued at $2000 and 6 slaves who, judging by their ages, may have been a young family themselves, though we may never know that for sure. What we do know is that there was lots of family in the area in the 1850s. A directory of Greene County, AL from 1855-56 shows John A., Sr., a planter, John A., Jr., a merchant, T.S. (Thomas Stuart), a druggist, Moses H., a planter, G.R. (George Reid/Reed), "California" (still no clue what this means!), and, of course, W.O. (William Orren), a planter. By 1860, planter William Orren Baskin had improved his lot further according to that year's census. His real estate is valued at $3600, his personal estate at $14990, which included 14 slaves by this time. The 1860 US Census also tells us that three of William's brothers, John A., Jr., Thomas Stuart and Adolphus McDuffie, and his son, George Baxter, have moved to Franklin Parish, LA. So, on the eve of the Civil War, the family is separated by a great distance. As it will later become clear, however, they kept in touch.
William Orren, Sr. was, perhaps, too old to join the army on either side when the Civil War began, but his sons and nephews were not. With so many planters and slave owners in the family, and so many rambunctious young men, it is no surprise they fought for the Confederacy. What is interesting is that they did not all fight for a company from the state in which they were living when the war broke out. Some of those boys who had moved from Alabama to Louisiana, for example, returned to Alabama to fight in a regiment led by their second cousin! This underscores the family connection that must have existed among different branches of this large family tree. That, sadly, is the only bright side of the Civil War for the Baskins. William Orren, Sr. lost his brother, Moses, in action at Fredericksburg in 1862, several cousins were taken prisoner at Vicksburg in 1863, and when the war finally ended the Southern economy had collapsed. By 1870 the US Census shows that old William Orren and Mary Ann Baskin had joined their family in Louisiana, but the value of their real estate was one $300, their personal estate $100. It is the same for the rest of the family too, but they stuck together, presumably to help each other. Next door to William and Mary in 1870 live all of their adult sons and one grandchild, born the year before. The boys are all listed as farmers living on what appears to be William Orren, Jr.'s land. Interestingly, just a few doors down from them lived another Baskin family, a black Baskin family. Since 1870 is the first year that most Southern black families were listed by name in the census, it may be impossible to know if these Baskins are our kin, our ancestors' former slaves, or both; but they aren't doing much worse that William Orren and his boys financially in 1870.
It is no surprise then that a couple of William and Mary's sons moved on in search of opportunity, I presume, in the 1880s. Perhaps William Orren, Sr. was visiting one or both of the boys in Texas in 1891 when he died, I don't know. All I do know is that he was buried at Carolina Cemetery in Falls County, TX. According to his tombstone, he died on Feb. 6, 1891. Mary Ann, his wife, seems to have stayed in Louisiana because she died there in 1907.
NOTE: My next post will veer off of my/our direct line a bit to tell you about one of
William Orren's brothers, about whom I have some interesting information.
Also, if you read the comments posted on the entry about John Alexander
Baskin, you noticed we've found a new relative! Our next entry will address
one of her ancestors, Adolphus McDuffie Baskin, MD. Welcome to the family,
Sandy!
