Williams - Richards Family Tree » Ruth Bassett (1633-> 1693)

Personal data Ruth Bassett 

• Also known as Sprague.
• She was born on November 13, 1633 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• She died after March 22, 1693 in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• A child of William Bassett and Elizabeth Unknown

Household of Ruth Bassett

(1) She is married to John Sprague.

They got married on June 6, 1655 at Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts, she was 21 years old.

(2) She is married to John Thomas.

They got married in the year 1683 at Marshfield, Plymouth, she was 49 years old.

Notes about Ruth Bassett

== Biography ==

===1634 Birth and Parents===
Ruth was born circa 1634, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Bassett of Duxbury, Massachusetts[https://www.americanancestors.org/DB393/i/12107/129/1415509250 The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III] see William Bassett, page 127. Ruth is found on page 129, and the text cites the McLean reference also shown here. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). [https://www.americanancestors.org/DB283/i/11870/178/23577279 ''John² Sprague (1636-1676) of Duxbury, Mass''] by Maclean W. McLean, published in Volume 41, page 178 of ''The American Genealogist''. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .)

Ruth Bassett was born about 1633 in Bridgewater, Plymouth County. Bassett Family in America, Bassett, Buell Bursett, (Springfield, Massachusetts: The F. A. Bassette Company, 1926), page 10. Cited by Richard E (Dick) Weber, Developer, Sprague Database of the Sprague Project. ''A Genealogical Database of Over 465,000 Individuals; Celebrating our twenty-third year on the internet.'' Sprague Mill, Upwey, England. [http://www.sprague-database.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I15105&tree=SpragueProject Profile for Ruth Bassett] Accessed 1 September 2020 [[Day-1904|jhd]] Bassett-Preston Ancestry, Preston, B., (1930), "b. a. 1632", page 25. Cited by Richard E (Dick) Weber, Developer, Sprague Database of the Sprague Project. ''A Genealogical Database of Over 465,000 Individuals; Celebrating our twenty-third year on the internet.'' Sprague Mill, Upwey, England. [http://www.sprague-database.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I15105&tree=SpragueProject Profile for Ruth Bassett] Accessed 1 September 2020 [[Day-1904|jhd]] The American Genealogist, "Ruth Bassett, born about 1635", July 1965, page 178. Cited by Richard E (Dick) Weber, Developer, Sprague Database of the Sprague Project. ''A Genealogical Database of Over 465,000 Individuals; Celebrating our twenty-third year on the internet.'' Sprague Mill, Upwey, England. [http://www.sprague-database.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I15105&tree=SpragueProject Profile for Ruth Bassett] Accessed 1 September 2020 [[Day-1904|jhd]]
She was the daughter of William Bassett, born 1590 in Sandwich, Kent, England, died 4 Apr 1667, Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., MA, (Age 77 years) and his wife Elizabeth [--?--], b. Abt 1603, Tenterden, Ashford, County Kent, England, d. Bef 1650, Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., MA, (Age ~ 46 years). They were married Abt 1621 Bassett Family in America, Bassett, Buell Bursett, (Springfield, Massachusetts: The F. A. Bassette Company, 1926), page 1. Cited by Richard E (Dick) Weber, Developer, Sprague Database of the Sprague Project. ''A Genealogical Database of Over 465,000 Individuals; Celebrating our twenty-third year on the internet.'' Sprague Mill, Upwey, England. [http://www.sprague-database.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I15105&tree=SpragueProject Profile for Ruth Bassett] Accessed 1 September 2020 [[Day-1904|jhd]]

===1654 Liaison with Samuel Fuller===
At the General Court at Plymouth on 6 Jun 1655, John2 Sprague, son of Francis, and Ruth Bassett, daughter of William, of Duxbury were "present[ed] for fornication before they were married..." indicating that the infant John was born less than 9 months after the wedding. ''Lt. John Sprague (ca. 1655–1727/8) of Duxbury, Mass., and Lebanon, Conn., an illegitimate son of Samuel2 Fuller (Samuel1)?'' by [https://www.americanancestors.org/about/staff/publications Christopher Challender Child] (an NEHGS staff member), published in Volume 67, Number 2, page 177 of the ''Mayflower Descendant: An Illustrated Quarterly Magazine of Pilgrim Genealogy, History and Biography'' (Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, Summer 2019), which is not yet available in the NHEGS database but is currently referenced on the [https://www.americanancestors.org/browse/publications/mayflower-descendant NEHGS website].
This alone would be genealogically unremarkable, but comparison of the Y-DNA of descendants of eldest son John3 to younger sons Samuel and William and other Sprague children show John3 was not John2 Sprague's biological child. These descendants match the Y-DNA haplogroup of the Fullers of Plymouth. Only [[Fuller-10|Samuel2 Fuller]] (Samuel1), born 1625, Plymouth Colony, died 17 August 1695, Middleboro, Plymouth County, was living near Duxbury.
Documents will likely never answer whether John2 Sprague knew that he was not the biological father of his wife's first child.

===1655 Marriage to John Sprague===
Before 6 June 1655 Ruth married John Sprague, son of Francis and Lydia Sprague of DuxburyNew Plymouth Colony., Pulsifer, D., Shurtleff, N. Bradstreet., Massachusetts. General Court. (185561). ''Records of the colony of New Plymouth, in New England''. Boston: Press of W. White. See [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo1.ark:/13960/t8bg38f06&view=1up&seq=125 Volume 6, page 109], which states ''In reference to Goodwife Sprague and her son, John Sprague, about som smale psells of land, they are come to an agreement before the Court, viz : that the said John Sprague taketh up and is contented with the land which was formerly his grand father Spragues, according as it was formerly bounded, and a smale psell of land which was formerly his grand father Bassetts, bounded by a white oake tree standing by a stone, a little westerly of the widdow Spragues dwelling house, and soe ranging by a square line downe to the creike and up to the highway ; and the said widdow Sprague doth giud her thirds of the proffits of said lands to her son John during her marriage.'' [https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/i/21175/1425/426904942 New England Marriages to 1700]. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. This secondary source provides references for further reading in Volume 2, page 1425, as follows: ''SPRAGUE, John (-1678) & Ruth (?BARSOTT)?; ca 1655; Plymouth/Marshfield {Bridgewater Corr. 3; Plymouth (Davis) 308; Munsey-Hopkins 67, 164; Bassett (,1) 17; Bassett (,2) 14; Sprague 11; Bassett Reunion 6; Bassett-Preston 25; Bassett (1926) 10; Cape Cod Lib 85:1; MD 2:7; Reg 87:160; NYGBR 8:7; 45:7.
In 1655 in Dusbury, Plymouth County, she married first John Sprague, Sr., b. Abt 1630, Duxbury, Plymouth Co., MA,, d. 26 Mar 1676, Pawtucket, Providence Co., RI, (Age ~ 46 years) New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Torrey, Clarence A., (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Pub. Co., c1985), pages 697-698. Cited by Richard E (Dick) Weber, Developer, Sprague Database of the Sprague Project. ''A Genealogical Database of Over 465,000 Individuals; Celebrating our twenty-third year on the internet.'' Sprague Mill, Upwey, England. [http://www.sprague-database.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I15105&tree=SpragueProject Profile for Ruth Bassett] Accessed 1 September 2020 [[Day-1904|jhd]]

===Second Marriage to John Thomas===
John Sprague died in 1676. Ruth married second to Mr Thomas, who is thought to have been [[Thomas-2946|John Thomas of Marshfield]] [https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/i/21176/1505/426944165 New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700]. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. This secondary source provides references for further reading in Volume 3, page 1505, as follows: ''THOMAS, ____ & Rebecca/?Ruth (BASSETT) SPRAGUE (1633-), w John; aft 26 Mar 1676; Duxbury {Duxbury 221, 317; Munsey-Hopkins 67, 164-5; Sprague (,4) 9; Bassett (1926) 10; Bassett-Preston 25}''. No further children are noted. John Thomas died without a will in 1692, his probate file shows one sheet, giving his son administration. No other family members are noted.
She married ___ Thomas of Marshfield as per deed she signed as "Widow Ruth Thomas" "One Bassett Family in America", by Buell Bursett Bassett,page 10.
She married John? Thomas, who died before 12 Jan 1691/92

No other marriages are noted in these sources.

===1693 Death===
Ruth died after March 22, 1693 when she was noted as Ruth Thomas in records referring to a financial agreement with her son John Sprague, and before Jan 1, 1700
Ruth Bassett died between 22 Mar 1692/93 and 1 Jan 1699/00 Richard E (Dick) Weber, Developer, Sprague Database of the Sprague Project. ''A Genealogical Database of Over 465,000 Individuals; Celebrating our twenty-third year on the internet.'' Sprague Mill, Upwey, England. [http://www.sprague-database.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I15105&tree=SpragueProject Profile for Ruth Bassett] Accessed 1 September 2020 [[Day-1904|jhd]]

===Children===

'''Child of Ruth Bassett and Samuel Fuller'''
#John, born circa 1655, who married Lydia Unknown and Lois Standish. Although the records clearly show he was raised as the son of John Sprague, was noted as such in John's probate, and had land "by lineal descent" from Francis Sprague, there is convincing new information suggesting that he was actually the biological son of Samuel Fuller, Jr

'''Children of Ruth Bassett and John Sprague'''
#Elizabeth, born circa 1657, who married George Sampson Elizabeth Sprague, b. Abt 1657, Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA, d. 27 May 1727, Plympton, Plymouth Co., MA, USA (Age ~ 70 years) #Ruth, born Feb 12, 1659/70[https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/i/14517/5/265072570 Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850] (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). See Marshfield Volume 1, page 5, which states ''Ruth The daughter of John sprague was borne the 12 off ffebruary 1658'', who married Eleazar Smith Ruth Sprague, b. 12 Feb 1659/60, Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA, d. 1743, Duxbury, Plymouth Co., MA, (Age 82 years) #Samuel, born 1662, who married Ruth Alden Lieut. Samuel Sprague, b. 1670, Duxbury, Plymouth Co., MA, d. 25 Jul 1740, Rochester, Plymouth Co., MA (Age 70 years) #William, born 1664, who married Grace Wadsworth William Sprague, b. 1664, Duxbury, Plymouth Co., MA, d. 25 Nov 1712, Duxbury, Plymouth Co., MA, USA (Age 48 years) #Dorcas, born circa 1666, the second wife of Joseph Hatch Dorcas Sprague, b. Abt 1666, Duxbury, Plymouth Co., MA, d. 10 Jan 1709/10 (Age ~ 44 years) #Desire, born 1668, who married John Gifford Desire Sprague, b. Abt 1668, Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA,

== Sources ==


See also:
* Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Vol. 3, P-W, Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society (1995), 1727.* Roser, Susan E., Mayflower Increasings, 2nd Edition, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company (1997), 108.* Sprague, Warren Vincent, Sprague Families in America, Rutland, Vermont: The Tuttle Company, Printers (1913), 11, Internet Archive (Digital Library).* Wakefield, Robert S. and Russell L. Warner, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Vol. 14, Family of Myles Standish, Plymouth, Massachusetts: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (20007), 19.* Williams, Alicia Crane, ed., Mayflower Families through Five Generations: Vol. 16, Part 1, Family of John Alden, Plymouth, Massachusetts: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (1999), 163.* Source: S673 Title: Cape Cod Library, Vol. 1, The Bassett Family of Yarmouth (C. W. Swift, Publisher and Printer; The "Register" Press 1912)

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