James W. BASS, citizen and farmer of Hardeman County, was born in Rutherford County, Tenn., July 4, 1848, and is a son of Thomas W. and Nannie P. (Avent) BASS.  The father was born in 1822, and is now living in Rutherford County near Murfreesboro.  The mother is several years younger than her husband and is still living.  In 1852, they moved to West Tennessee and lived until the war, dividing the time in Madison, Gibson and Hardeman counties.  The father entered the Confederate Army in 1862, in the Twelfth Tennessee Regiment of Calvary, and was quartermaster or foragemaster of the regiment until the war was closed; was captured and kept for several months a prisoner at Alton, Ill.  Two years after the ware he moved his family back to Rutherford County, where he has since lived and farmed.

With his wife he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church South.  Our subject is the second of ten children; he had a good education, and when eight years old moved with his parents to Hardeman County and has since made it his home.  After finishing school he sold goods for various parties in New Castle for eight years, and in 1875 he established, with Thomas POLK, a store in New Castle and was in the mercantile business for two years.  In 1876 he purchased the farm where he now lives, and moved to it in 1879.  Mr. BASS owns now over 1,600 acres of land in Hardeman County and in Arkansas.  December 20, 1874, he married Miss Olivia B. KENT, born in Lee County, Ark., November 26, 1856.  They have one daughter born December 7, 1879.  Our subject is a Democrat, and in August, 1882, was elected magistrate and still holds the office; he is not a church member; his wife is Roman Catholic.  He is an honest man and a kind neighbor, and exerts an influence for good in his country.

Source:  Goodspeed’s History of Tennessee, 1887.