The Sasser's 1. John Sasser Birth c. 1715, N.C. Died 1785 N.C. 2. William Sasser Birth c. 1753, N.C. 3. Henry Sasser Birth c. 1778, N.C. Died 1859 KY 4. Barden Sasser Birth c. October 25, 1819 m. Pharby Jones B. 1831 5. A.H. Sasser April 5, 1864 Died 1932 6. Newton E. Sasser Birth February 10, 1891 John Sasser (1715-1785) According to family sources, John Sasser's forbears were French Huguenots who had fled from religious persecution in France to England during the 1680's and emigrated to the Carolina soon thereafter. The family name, which was "De Sasseur" (or an approximation), was changed to "Sasser", either in England or after emigration to the colonies. Based on research completes thus far, John Sasser was a merchant, trader (import-export), and an extensive land holder in several counties in eastern North Carolina, primarily in the area of present-day Johnston and Wayne counties. By one deed alone, he transferred over 1,200 acres in Wayne County (seat Goldsboro), bordering on Johnston County. A relatively small tract (90 acres), adjacent to land he owned in Johnston county (seat Smithfield), was granted John Sasser by King George II of England in 1775. No will, estate inventory, etc. for John Sasser have been found. Part of the county records were destroyed by Cornwallis' troops. The date of his death and most of the information about his children are gleaned from the few land deeds that survived. On these documents, John Sasser mentioned four sons and one daughter. 1. Josiah (c.1745-1781) 2. Stephen (c.1747-1815) 3. John, Jr. (c.1750- ) 4. William (c.1753-1815) 5. Mary (?) m Samuel Blyth Much is made of John Sasser's eldest son Josiah, in Wayne county history on two counts: * The first court for the newly-established county was held in his home * He married into a prominent and well-documented family. The Act establishing Wayne county provided that "the court be held at the home of Col. Josiah Sasser, pending erection of a court house". His plantation on Little River was the oldest and largest clearing in the area surveyed for the new county. Photographs of the Sasser place were taken in 1975 under the auspices of the Wayne County Historical Association. Josiah Sasser died following the first court session, held at his home in 1781. He was about 36 years old and was said to have been wounded in the Revolutionary War. He married Elizabeth Smith Bryan (1751-1842) in Smith field in 1770. They had six children, the eldest of whom was named John, for Josiah's father. John Sasser, Sr. who outlived his sone by a few years, gave his grandson a negro in 1782 and the state of North Carolina granted the young boy a tract of land in 1784. Josiah's widow re-married twice and eventually moved to Georgia, where she died in 1842 at 91 years of age. William Sasser (c. 1753-1815) This youngest son of John Sasser, Sr. and his brother, John, Jr. were apparently working for their father in 1771: William Sasser witnessed a receipt from the colonial government to a certain Thomas Toler for "bringing boat to Mr. John Sasser's landing to carry Ye King's provisions down to New Bern"; and, in the same year John Sasser, Jr. witnessed receipt of money paid a wagoner to "his Excellency's troops". William and John, Jr. were probably 18-20 years old at the time and not yet married. William Sasser sold a tract of land in 1781 that had been conveyed to him by John Sasser, Sr., indicating that William had married during the 1770's. According to a land deed in 1784, he was living on a plantation adjoining those of his father and his brothers, Stephen and John. Based on research in North Carolina and information from kentucky family sources, William Sasser (c. 1753-1815), son of John Sasser, Sr., married a Martha Bishop in North Carolina and fathered at least two sons, Henry and John, born 1778 and 1779. He was elected sheriff of Johnston County., N.C. on 31, May 1796. He and his wife may have been the older couple reported in the household of Henry Sasser on the 1810 census of Johnston Co., N.C. 41219 SASSER: Died at Smithfield, lately, of the prevailing disease, Capt. William Sasser, of that place, merchant. RR Fri 31 Mar 1815 3:5. As far as we can learn, the above named died of the prevailing Epidemic or Camp Plague. RaNCSw Fri 31 Mar 1815 3:4. Taken from Volume I abstracts of Vital Records from Raleigh, N.C. Newspapers, 1799-1819. Henry Sasser (c. 1778, N.C. - 1859 KY) According to family sources, Henry was born in Johnston Co., N.C., the elder son of William Sasser and Martha Bishop. He was my mother's maternal grandfather. There were several Sasser families in the original Johnston County (established 1746). Some of them-notably, "the French Sassers who were no kin to the other Sassers in the area-owned land in the eastern part of Johnston that was split off to create Dobbs County in 1758. Of no particular importance, but Henry Sasser was probably born in Dobbs County (now extinct), a few years before it was replaced by Wayne. At any rate, he lived in or near Smithfield, N.C. (county seat of Johnston) from the time he was a young man. Here, he was closely acquainted with three Sasser brothers, some 15-20 years his senior. Research in Smithfield disproved and close kinship: one of the Sassers had two sons, named in his will in 1815 as Lewis and John; the other two had only one sone each; on of them designated Henry Sasser as co-executor of his estate, referring to him as "my friend Henry Sasser". The earliest mention of Henry Sasser in the court minutes of Johnston County is in 1797, as witness to a land deed. From then until he left for Kentucky some 30 years later, the county records are rife with his name. He was appointed juror or "most worshipful justice" on session after session, went security for the appointment of guardians for orphans, attested to land deeds, bought and sold land himself rather frequently, was named executor or co-administrator on wills by his wife's relatives and by friends, was appointed to take lists of polls and taxable property, was bondsman or witness on marriage bonds, was named to investigate the plight of destitute widows and to arrange for the provision of sustenance, was named on a committee to "lay out roads", attested to estate inventories and reported on post-inventory divisions of property, etc. Henry Sasser evidently married the first time about 1800-1805 and was a widower with a daughter by 1810 (census). An older couple in his household at that time could have been his parents, but were, just as likely, the parents of his first wife. On the 1820 census, Henry's 10-15 year old daughter was living with him and his new family. The older couple was no longer in his household. The older daughter was probably one of the two Ann Sassers who married at Smithfield in 1824, at about 18-19 years of age. Henry Sasser married Nancy Kirby in Smithfield, N.C. in February 1812. He was almost 34 years old and his bride not yet 20. They had 10 children by 1826 when Henry and Nancy moved to Laurel County, Kentucky (Blackwater Creek), accompanied by several relatives and at least one of his Sasser friends. Henry Sasser was 49 years old at this time. One newborn infant died just prior to or during the move to Kentucky. Three additional children born in Kentucky, the youngest is 1834 when Henry was 56 years old and Nancy was 42. Henry is said to have died in Laurel County in January 1859, at almost 81 years of age. The following is a list of the children of Henry Sasser and Nancy Kirby: 1. Keziah "Kizzie" b 1813 N.C. m 1839 Peter Tuttle 2. Dixon b 1814 N.C. m 1863 Sarah Ann Tuttle 3. Malinda b 1815 N.C. m 1841 Milton B. Jones 4. Adin b 1816 N.C. m 1838 Elizabeth Waggoner; d 1869 5. Arthur b 1818 N.C. m 1839 Lavina Weaver; d 1899 6. Barden b 1819 N.C. m 1846 Pharby Jones 7. Piety b 1821 N.C. m 1837 William Humfleet 8. Martha Patsy b 1823 N.C. m 1839 Joseph Botkin 9. William Henry C. b.1824 N.C. m 1852 Rhoda Gilbert 10. James Henderson b 1825 N.C. m 1852 Martha Hubbard 11. Infant b c.1826; d c.1826 12. Jesse b 1828 KY m 1851 Nancy Gilbert; d 1863 13. Nancy b 1830 KY m 1852 William Williams 14. Patience b 1834 KY m 1852 Joseph Tuttle; d 1878 Adin Sasser (4) and his wife had 11 children born 1839-1861. Their second son, Thomas b. 1845, was killed in the Civil War. Son Eli b. 1849 married my mother's Aunt Mary Tuttle; they had 11 children; Mary Tuttle Sasser died in the lat4e 1880's and Eli Sasser re-married and moved to Oklahoma. Adin died in 1869, age 53. Henry Sasser named his son Arthur (5) for his friend in Smithfield, N.C. who had died shortly before his name sake's birth and whose only son would accompany Henry Sasser to Kentucky a few years later. Arthur and his wife had 10 children (9 survived infancy), born 1841-1858. One son and two daughters married Jonses (relationship undetermined). Barden Sasser (6) and his wife had 10 children, born 1847-1871. Their son Milton married his first cousin Louisa Sasser, daughter of Adin (4); Milton died in 1879, age 26, after five years of marriage and three children (A FOURTH WAS BORN AFTER HE DIED). One of Barden Sasser's daughters, Mary b.1855, married William Jones b 1854. Their daughter Elizabeth Jones b 1874 married her second cousin, my mother's brother "Jeff" Tuttle b 1871. Jesse Sasser (12) was named for his maternal grandfather, Jesse Kirby. He served in the 1st Tennessee Calvary Volunteers and was killed in action in Tennessee during the Civil War. He was 35 years old, had been married about 12 years and had fathered five children. One of his granddaughters, Rhoda b 1859, married Hiram Glass; their granddaughter, Rhoda Glass lived in Lexington, KY with her mother and taught high school during the 1920-30 period. Jesse Sasser's widow, Nancy Gilbert Sasser, did not remarry and was still living in Laurel County in 1900, age 72. Six of the seven Sasser brothers are known to have died before 1900. The widows of five of them were listed on the 1900 Laurel County Census. No trace of Adin Sasser's widow; he died in 1869. The seventh uncle, William Henry Sasser (9), is believed to have lived in Knox County. If he was still living in 1900, he would have been 76 years old. Piety Sasser Humfleet (7) had 10 children, born 1838-1860. Henry Sasser's 13 children-seven sons and six daughters-had 125 children who survived infancy, according to a list provided by one of my mother's nieces, a Tuttle-Sasser descendant. The grandchildren were born, generally speaking, between 1840 and 1880. Patience Sasser Tuttle (14) the youngest of Henry Sasser's children, was named for her maternal grandmother. She was married in 1852 to Joseph Tuttle. (This information was compiled by Edith Asher Gray of Clearwater, Florida in 1983. I have added or changed some information to fit our line. Received from Mary Ann Burrows and the Wallowa County Sasser Family Reunion) Dixie@locktrack.com Evans & Ricker, Inc. 7405 SW Tech Center Drive , Suite 144 Portland, OR 97223 Phone: 503-639-9296 Fax: 503-684-1411 ------------------------------