Bass Family Papers, 1864-1932 (C2367)

3 folders

INTRODUCTION

Notebook and miscellaneous papers concerning music, recipes, home remedies, medical care, school reports, accounts and business of Sallie F. Ellis [Mrs. Lawrence Derby Bass, Sr.], L. Derby Bass, Jr., and Ella Read Bass of Boone County, Missouri.

DONOR INFORMATION

The Bass Papers were transferred from the University of Missouri Library on November 21, 1966 (Accession No. 3691).

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Sarah (Sallie) Frances Ellis was born in Boone County, Missouri, east of Ashland on the Ellis homestead, August 28, 1840. She was the only child of Abraham E. Ellis and Ruth H. Young. Sallie attended the Lucy Wales College, later known as Stephens College, and Christian College in Columbia, and was a graduate of Daughters College of Harrodsburg, Kentucky. She was also a special student in music at Stephens College. She married Lawrence Derby Bass November 17, 1870. They lived in Virginia City, Nevada, for two years following their marriage. Upon returning to Boone County, they lived on the Ellis homestead where Mrs. Bass lived until her death in September 1933, at the age of 93.

Sallie's husband, Lawrence Derby Bass, was born January 22, 1830, near Ashland, son of George P. Bass and Susan Wiseman. He died January 20, 1903. The Basses had two sons, Lawrence Derby, Jr. and A. Ellis. A daughter, Roena, died in infancy. Lawrence Derby, Jr. married Ella Read on June 22, 1904. Ella was the daughter of John W. Read. The Derby Bass, Jrs. lived on a farm south of Columbia and had a 25 acre deer park.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

An 1864 Baptist College Composition notebook of Sallie Ellis is the oldest item in the collection. It contains her notes on music, an 1878 itemized account of "Barb" with L. Bass, and recipes.

Folder 2 contains recipes for food and home remedies. An undated card on rules for patient conduct determined by Doctor Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917), founder of Osteopathy, offers an unintentionally humorous glimpse into health care attitudes of the day.

Items in folder 3 include an 1881 letter from R.B. Price, Boone County National Bank President; an 1894 Logan Public School report card; 1903 and 1913 doctor bills and an order for medicine; a 1905 itemized account with the Ashland Livery and Feed Stable and Columbia Hack Line; a 1918 ration card for sugar; a 1919 theater program; and undated items. A 1903 letterhead lists the names of officers of the Boone County Home Fire Insurance Company.

The miscellaneous papers comprising this collection offer little insight into the lives of the Boone County pioneer families of Bass and Ellis, but do furnish local historians with names of individuals, merchants, and companies of the early 1900s. Folklore enthusiasts will appreciate the small collection of home remedies and recipes.

FOLDER LIST

f. 1Notebook, 1864
f. 2Recipes, remedies, and miscellaneous
f. 3Miscellaneous, 1881-1932, n.d.

INDEX TERMS

These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.

  • Accounts, 1870s
  • Accounts, 1905
  • Bass family
  • Bass, L. Derby
  • Ellis family
  • Ellis, Sallie F.
  • Folk medicine
  • Health care, 1900s
  • Logan Public Schools, Boone County, MO
  • Medicine
  • Medicine--Practice
  • Merchants--Missouri, Boone County
  • Missouri, Ashland
  • Missouri, Boone County
  • Missouri, Columbia
  • Music
  • Oil wells, Oklahoma
  • Oklahoma
  • Physicians
  • Postcards
  • Rationing
  • Read family
  • Read, Ella
  • Recipes
  • School reports
  • Still, Andrew Taylor (1828-1917)
  • Theater
  • Young family