Lawrence Derby Bass

  General Notes:

The subject of this biographical sketch is the son of George P. and Susan (Wiseman) Bass. He was born on the old Wiseman place, January 22, 1830. He is one of a family of eleven children \emdash nine sons and two daughters \emdash of whom five sons and two daughters are now living. When a small boy his parents removed from the old home, in the vicinity of Ashland, to a farm in Howard county, where Lawrence lived and labored until seventeen years of age.

The next three years were spent in learning the saddlery business, but not liking the trade, he has never followed it.

In the spring of 1850 Mr. Bass started for California by the overland route, reaching his destination in the month of July following. He remained in California and Nevada until 1875, making several business trips East, at onetime bringing with him from Colorado a herd of 2,000 cattle.

While in the West he was actively engaged in freighting, mining, and trading in stock.

In the spring of 1876 he moved to the A. E. Ellis farm, where he now resides. He is a member of the firm of Bass, Johnston, Brooks & Harris, Ashland. The firm is known as the Trade Centre. They have a branch store at Guthrie, in Callaway county. Mr. Bass is also a member of the Ashland Mill Company; also a stockholder in the Ashland Bank, and one of the directors. He was one of the originators of the Boone county stock sales. He has been an extensive sheep-raiser, having large flocks in Texas. His experience in business is of wider range perhaps than that of any other capitalist or trader in his locality.

Mr. Bass was married November 17, 1870, to Miss Sallie Ellis, only daughter of A. E. Ellis, of Boone county. They have had three children \emdash two sons (Abraham Ellis, Lawrence Derby) and one daughter (Roena) \emdash of whom only one, the youngest son, is living. Mr. Bass has had many adventures during his extensive travels, the most thrilling of which perhaps was a shipwreck off the coast of British Columbia in 1858. The vessel was a total wreck. Mr. Bass and several others escaped in an open boat. He is an affable gentleman, kind and courteous in his manners, and is justly honored and esteemed by all who know him.

[Source: History of Boone County, Missouri; By Author Col. Wm. F. Switzler; Publ. 1882; Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack]

"He is a member of the firm of Bass, Johnston, Brooks & Harris, of Ashland. The firm is known as the Trade Centre. They have a branch store at Guthrie, in Callaway County. Mr. Bass is also a member of the Ashland Mill Company; also a stockholder in the Ashland Bank, and one of the directors. He was one of the originators of the Boone County stock sales. He has been an extensive sheep-raiser, having large flocks in Texas. His experience in business is of wider range perhaps than that of any other capitalist or trader in his locality. . . . He is an affable gentleman, kind and courteous in his manners" (William F. Switzler, The History of Boone County, Missouri, published in 1882).

Bass-Johnston Banking Company of Ashland in 1883 was formally chartered in 1897, with J.T.M. Johnston as president. Directors were Johnston; Lawrence Bass; John Lawrence Johnston (1887\endash 1958), son of J.T.M. and Florence; S.R. Hazell (bank cashier); and Eli Penter (1836\endash 1915). The firm opened banks in Kansas City and Muskogee, Oklahoma, as well as Denison.

Lawrence married Sarah Frances "Sallie" Ellis on 17 Nov 1870 in Boone, Missouri, USA. (Sarah Frances "Sallie" Ellis was born on 28 Aug 1840 in Boone, Missouri and died on 26 Sep 1933 in Columbia, Boone, MO.)