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One of the riverboat landings on the Mississippi River west of
Mooring, Southwest of Tiptonville and Northwest of Ridgely, was known as Bass Landing.
Sometime prior to 1860, Mr. J. H. BASS, a wealthy farmer from North Carolina, and his wife
Sarah, and children: John F., Margaret M., Mary S., Frances E. And Leona settled on the
bank of the Mississippi River. This part of the river became known in later years as
"Old River" when the Mississippi changed its course and cut a channel further
west.
In the early 1880's William Wesley BASS, moved from Stewart County, TN to Lake County, to man the lamps to alert the barges to the location of Bass Landing. He married Sammie Dessie JACKSON from Hickman, KY and they moved a little to the north where they kept the lamps lit to warn the barges of the land which jutted out into the Mississippi. The picture below shows the William Wesley BASS family on the porch of their house which was built on stilts to keep it above the Mississippi flood waters.
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Back Row from Left to right:
Maude BASS LEWIS - Myrtle BASS WHEATLEY - Eula Lee BASS CROUCH
Front Row from Left to right:
Bertha Mae BASS - William
Wesley BASS - Sammie Dessie JACKSON BASS, holding Euna BASS
William Jethro "Dick" BASS, and Leona BASS
A post office was established at Bass Landing in 1876. Mail was already being received by boat prior to that time. Postmasters serving Bass Landing included Thompson B. Wiggins, Abraham S. Keating, Abraham S. Wiggins, Jr., and Royal Bell. The name was changed 27 Jan 1879 to Tenbrook with Royal Bell continuing to serve as post master. On 9 March 1886 Robert L. Watson was appointed postmaster and served until 22 April 1887 when service was discontinued and mail was delivered to Stewart, Mo.
Cole Crabtree lived in the rather large home on "Old River" when he was a young
boy. He remembers hearing his father tell that at one time the mail was delivered at
Stewart, across the river from Bass Landing and someone went across in a boat to bring the
mail over to the Tennessee side of the river.
Cole also remembered that his family lived in the Bass house in 1937 and no flood water
prior to 1937 had ever been high enough to get in the house.
The Bass family lived in Mooring and other parts of Lake Co. Until the last descendant by
the name Bass died in the late 1980's. There are descendants of the BASS family still living in
West Tennessee today.