"Our Heritage"
Mt. Olive Tribune
By Claude Moore

Dr. Andrew Bass, physician & planter was not only the leading figure in Wayne County at the time of the American Revolution, but he was the founder of the old town of Waynesborough & one of the promoters for the establishment of Wayne County in 1779. He was also a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1788.

Dr. Bass came from a long line of distinguished men back in England & of pioneers here in the American Colonies. His first known Bass forefather was Humphrey Bass (died 1616) who married Mary Buschier & lived in Middlesex Parish, London. He was a shareholder in the Virginia Company in 1612. His son Nathaniel Bass (born 1589) married Mary Jourdan & came to Jamestown, Virginia in 1622. John Bass (son of Nathaniel) married Keziah Elizabeth Tucker Anasemond, Indian princess & had a son, Richard Bass who married Mary Barwell. Richard & Mary Bass had six sons: Andrew, Alexander, Richard, William, Uriah & Thomas.

He received large land grants on both sides of the Neuse River. He married & had the following children: Richard, Andrew, (Dr.) & Anne (died 1807) who married Richard Blackledge & lived in New Bern.

Dr. Andrew Bass, Jr., married Alice Rhodes & had one daughter. He owned more than 4,000 acres on both sides of the Neuse on Thoroughfare & Brooks Swamp. I am of the opinion from the description of a grant in 1785 that he owned the land on which Mount Olive College is located.

He owned a watermill on Brooks Swamp, operated a ferry on the Neuse & owned the land on which Waynesborough was laid out in 1787. He left 24 slaves to his daughter, Ann Bass who married General James Rhodes (1765-1810) & had the following children: Sally Ann (born 1794), who married Dr. Stephen Smith & lived on a plantation northwest of Mount Olive; Rhodes Clarissa Rhodes (1800-1862) who married Richard Blackledge Hatch (1797-1835) of Onslow County; James Rhodes (born 1805) who settled in Alabama; Joseph Andrew Rhodes (1803-1812); William Thomas Rhodes (1808-1816); & Anna Maria Rhodes (1797-1859) who married (1) General Edward Ward (2) Dr. Buckner L. Hill (1800-1861) & lived on a plantation called "Vernon", northwest of Mount Olive. Anna Maria Rhodes Ward Hill had no children & her extensive properties were left to her nieces & nephews. Ann Rhodes later married Cullen Blackman.

Richard & Rhodes Clarissa Hatch had the following children: Joseph Hatch (1821-1884) who married Ann Elizabeth Williams (1833-1922) & lived at "Vernon". Their children were: Iva, James, Winnie, Buckner, William, Annie, Malvina, Richard, Joseph E., Cullen, Robert W. & Francis M.

Cullen B. Hatch (born 1871) married Eliza Holmes, the daughter of William & Julia Peel Holmes & lived in Mount Olive. Cullen & Eliza Hatch had the following children: Cullen Blackman Hatch, Captain in World War II; Mrs. Ruth Hines & Mrs. Esther Burnett.

Cullen Blackman Hatch married Yvonne Cutts Cannon & they lived in northwest Mount Olive on part of the original Bass-Rhodes-Hatch plantation. Both are authorities on the local history & genealogy of the area.

In the Constitutional Convention of 1788, Dr. Bass along with most delegates from southeastern North Carolina voted against the ratification of the U. S. Constitution. During the American Revolution, Dr. Bass championed the American cause. When General Corwallis came through the county in 1781, much damage was done to his properties. He died in 1790 & is buried on the plantation on Thoroughfare Swamp along with other family members of his family.

The pioneer spirit of Dr. Andrew Bass & his family should be an inspiration to those of us today who have faith in the further development of Wayne County. A careful look at the past can provide a solid foundation for a healthy future. This is truly the value of knowledge & especially our local history as it relates to future directions.