The Bascoms of Whitehall, New York, descend from an English ancestor, Thomas Bascom. Says Bishop Henry Biddleman Bascom in his journal: "It would seem from family records and traditions that I am paternally descended from a French Huguenot family, which driven from France by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, settled in one of the border counties near the Clyde." There is no record of the birthplace of Thomas, the year of his birth, nor of the date of his coming to America.
(I) Thomas Bascom was established at Dorchester in the year 1634. He removed to Windsor, Connecticut, in 1639, being one of the second company that settled at that place, and later removed to Northampton, Massachusetts. The first mention of his name to be found in the records of the latter place is the date of his own and his wife's admission to full communion to the church, May 14, 1661. In 1666 he was elected town constable, made freeman May, 1670, took the oath of allegiance, February 8, 1679, and died there May 9, 1682. He married Avis ————, who died February 2, 1676. Children:
- Hannah, born before 1640, married (first) John Broughton, (second) William Jaynes;
- Abigail, baptized at Windsor, Connecticut, June 7, 1640, married John Ingersole;
- Thomas, of whom further;
- Hepzibah, born at Windsor, Connecticut, April 14, 1644, married Robert Lyman.
(II) Thomas (2), only son of Thomas (I) and Avis Bascom, was born in Windsor, Connecticut, February 20, 1642. He married, March 20, 1667, Mary, daughter of Thomas Newell, of Farmington, Connecticut. Thomas and wife Mary were admitted to full communion in the Northampton church, March, 1670. He died there September 11, 1689. Children:
- Thomas, of whom further;
- John, born 1671, died young;
- John, born October 14, 1672, married Thankful, daughter of Thomas and Abigail Webster and granddaughter of Governor John Webster;
- Mary, died young.
(III) Thomas (3), son of Thomas (2) and Mary (Newell) Bascom, was born about the year 1668. He inherited the homestead at Northampton and died in that town February 2, 1714. He married Hannah, daughter of John Catlin, of Deerfield; she survived him many years, and died January, 1747. By his will, dated January 28, 1714, he gave to her one-half of his home, land and "movables," so long as she remained a widow. Children, all born at Northampton, Massachusetts:
- Samuel, born January 27, 1692, married (first) Experience Parson, (second) Sarah, widow of Comfort Barnes;
- Hannah, born September, 1694, married Thomas Judd;
- Thomas, died in infancy;
- Thomas (2), died young;
- Ezekiel, of whom further;
- Abigail, died in infancy;
- Ruth, born April 1703, married ———— Curtis;
- Jonathan, born 1706, was one of the earliest settlers of Southampton, where his house was fortified against Indian attack; he married Mindwell King;
- Joseph, born January 20, 1709, married Hannah Rider;
- Mary, married Noah Sheldon;
- Martha, born September 16, 1713, married Nathaniel White (2), of South Hadley.
(IV) Ezekiel, son of Thomas (3) and Hannah (Catlin) Bascom, was born at Northampton, Massachusetts, November 22, 1700, died in 1746, at Greenfield or Deerfield. He married (first) Sarah Severance, March 6, 1728; she died September 9, 1729, at Deerfield. He married (second) May 23, 1734, Rebecca Clary. Children:
- Moses, born June 8, 1736;
- Elias, of whom further;
- Rebecca, married Captain Caleb Chapin;
- Ezekiel, born 1742.
(V) Deacon Elias, son of Ezekiel and Rebecca (Clary) Bascom, was born (probably) at Deerfield, Massachusetts, May 8, 1737. He resided successively at Hatfield, Hadley, Deerfield and Northfield, Massachusetts, at which latter place he settled in 1760. He was a clothier or weaver, and until an advanced age wrought woolen cloth, flannel and linen for his neighbors. Another account says "While an apprentice to a clothier, during a season of bad health, he learned to weave and when too old for farm work (which was his occupation) he asked for a loom for exercise and contrived to use it until he was very old," He was so strictly temperate that when past ninety years old, he objected to a second pint of gin, prescribed by his physician for dropsy in the chest, saying he feared he should learn to like it. In 1829 he headed the family lists of names for the Temperance Society formed in the town. He served three months in the French and Indian war at Lake George, New York, and was present at the battle of Saratoga as a volunteer soldier from Northfield, Massachusetts. From Northfield he removed in 1779 to Newport, New Hampshire, and in 1792 to Orwell, Vermont, where he died November 29, 1833, at the advanced age of ninety-six years. He was deacon of the Congregational church at Orwell. He married (first) at Deerfield, Massachusetts, March 13, 1761, Emma Allen; (second) Thankful Graves, of Greenfield, Massachusetts. Children:
- Eliza, born February 27, 1762;
- Reuben, April 22, 1763;
- Eunice, August 25, 1764, married Daniel Buell;
- Jerusha, November 23, 1765;
- Joseph, baptized February 13, 1767, died February 14, 1767;
- Joseph, born March 30, 1768, of whom further;
- Zeri, January 13, 1770;
- Artermidorus;
- Elisha, baptized October 13, 1776;
- Cynthia, married Daniel Blandon;
- Lucy, born August 17, 1778, married Thomas Cutts and had fourteen children;
- Rebecca, married Reuben Wright;
- Ira, born 1783;
- Lucinda, born 1786, married Clark Sanford.
(VI) Joseph, fourth son of Deacon Elias and Emma (Allen) Bascom, was born at Northfield, Massachusetts, March 30, 1768. In 1814 he removed from Newport, New Hampshire, to Benson, Vermont. He was for some time a deacon in the Congregational church at Benson, and was a man of refinement and education. He married (first) at Hopewell, New Jersey, 1795, Esther Slack; she died at Newport, New Hampshire, March 30, 1813. He married (second) June 5, 1814, at Benson, Vermont, Widow Lucretia Farnham, who died August 19, 1834. Children, all born at Newport, New Hampshire:
- Elias, born February 23, 1796;
- Elizabeth, February 26, 1798 died at Newport, March 27, 1865;
- Joseph, February 22, 1800;
- Edmund B., February 14, 1802, resided in 1865 at Mishawaka, Indiana;
- Sybil, January 16, 1804, died at Newport, March 19, 1813;
- Benjamin Horace, of whom further;
- Matilda, January 18, 1808, married, January 20, 1830, at Warsaw, New York, Dr. S. S. Ransome, of Burlington, Iowa; children:
- Horace Bascom, born November, 1834,
- James J., August, 1839,
- Harriet Matilda, June, 1842,
both sons with the father were in 1863 practicing physicians in Burlington;
- Horace, March 14, 1810, died unmarried in New Orleans, Louisiana, 1840;
- Ira, April 2, 1812, died at Newport, February 28, 1813;
- Abigail, October 11, 1816, married Roger Griswold, and in 1863 was at Vermontville, Michigan.
(VII) Benjamin Horace, son of Joseph and Esther (Slack) Bascom, was born at Newport, New Hampshire, February 12, 1806, died in Benson, Vermont, where he removed with his parents when a boy. He was a successful. and prosperous farmer in Benson where he built the homestead now standing and occupied by his son, William S., and his daughter Sarah Bascom. He was quite a prominent man in his town and an active and influential member of the Congregational church. He married, October 14, 1833, Ursula Goodrich. Children:
- Sarah, born March 1, 1835;
- Joseph, October, 1840, married Mary Bolster, children: Alice, Helen, Minnie, and William B.;
- Helen, October, 1845;
- William S., October, 1847;
- Benjamin Horace, March, 1849, of whom further.
(VIII) Benjamin Horace (2), son of Benjamin Horace (I) and Ursula (Goodrich) Bascom, was born March 29, 1849, at the homestead at Benson, Vermont, where he spent the early years of his life receiving his education in the common schools of the town, later attending a business college. He was employed as clerk at Pittsford, Vermont, for a time, then removed to Whitehall, New York, where he remained a number of years. His next business venture was in the west, where he engaged in the grocery business at Lake City, Colorado; later selling out his store, he bought a cattle ranch and successfully conducted this until in 1886 he returned east. He settled in Whitehall, New York, and entered into partnership with C. W. Harding, establishing a clothing and shoe store. At the death of the latter in 1905 he entered into partnership with George Brett, also admitting his son William S., under the name of Bascom, Brett & Company, which became a successful business firm, having a constantly increasing trade. In religion he is a Presbyterian and in politics a Republican. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Alfred Griswold. Children:
- Benjamin Horace (3), born December 19, 1879, in Lake City, Colorado, married Bessie Thomas;
- William S., of whom further;
- Sarah Elizabeth, born June 19, 1884, at Benson, Vermont, married J. W. Emerson, of Whitehall;
- Harland J., born December 6, 1892.
(IX) William S., son of Benjamin Horace (2) and Elizabeth (Griswold) Bascom, was born June 16, 1881, at Lake City, Colorado. He returned with his father to Whitehall, New York, where he obtained his preparatory education in the local schools. Later he attended a business college in Albany, New York. He entered his father's business as clerk and in 1905 was taken into the firm. He belongs to the Masonic Lodge, is a member of Phoenix Blue Lodge, Champlain Chapter, Washington Council, Washington Commandery and Oriental Shrine. He married Elizabeth C., daughter of James and Elizabeth (Johnson) Spencer. He has a stepdaughter Jane Holcomb.