Samuel Harris Vassar, Fifth Great-Grandfather

November 26, 2017 — 4 Comments

Sunbridge Cemetery
Also known as: City Cemetery, Saint Joseph City Cemetery
Saint Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri, USA

My fifth great-grandfather was born in Virginia and died in Buchannan County, Missouri after a long and prosperous life.  He was a pioneer who crashed with Daniel Boone in his youth.

Samuel Harris Vassar was the son of Abraham Vassar and his wife Rhoda. His birth place lay in the beautiful county of the Flat Creekwatershed of Amelia co. VA. He found his way to Kentucky. Later, after the death of his father in 1779, he learned he had been given 200 acres of the Flat Creek Plantation a a deed of gift that he see to the care of his mother and young sister Delilah after the father was dead.His elder sister Martha Catherine Deaton and her husband Levi lived onthe place until 1803. Levi Deaton had died in 1799 leaving Martha a widow.
On the return trip to Kentucky, Samuel and his mother and sister took refuge in Daniel Boone’s Fort. Later, in 1803, Rhoda Harris Vassar died in Clark Co, KY.
During the time he was in Kentucky, Samuel Harris Vassar acquired a200 acre farm on the south side of the Red River at its mouth and theKentucky river on its east bank. This spot had a workable salt desposit which he developed. In addition to the regular farm crops, hehad a water mill on Calloway Creek which ran along his southern line.
Samuel Harris Vassar met the daughter of Peter and Mary Ann Goossee, named for her mother and nicknamed “Polly”. Samuel was 38. However consent must be had from the father of the child to be married if the child was between the ages of 12 1/2 and 16. Thus, a bond was given as reguired: Clark Co KY; January 21, 1795; Samuel H Vassar to Polly Goossee, the father. Bondsman, Peter Goossee, JR. To this union were born 5 sons and 2 daughters.
In 1818, Simpson R, son of Samuel and Polly, went to Missouri territory as a fur trader for a St Louis based fur company. Upon returning to KY with his wife and new son, he told tales of the newland opening up. These stories led Samuel at the age of 61 to go to Howard Co, MO with his wife and 3 unmarried children. Another son, Samuel Jenkins, became an Indian Trader for the Chouteaus of St Louis. Elizabeth and Benjamin remained with their parents until their marriages in Clay co, MO.
About this time, in 1830, Mary “Polly” the mother died. She is buried near the north county line of Clay co in a graveyard with other Goosey family members. In 1835 Samuel married Cynthia (Simpson) Castile, the widow of Joseph Castile. Both Samuel and Cynthia were advanced in age. Samuel never returned to KY. He sold his holdings there by Power of Attorney. He and his son Benjamin operated a grist mill in Clinton Co, MO. At his death he held many notes. One of thesefor a few hundred dollars was on Joseph Robidoux, the founder of St Joseph MO. This note was never paid. He died 24 Oct 1846 and is buried in the NE corner of Sunbridge Cemetery in Buchanan Co, MO. A statementon file in the Buchanan Probate Papers records that he was “taken inhis 89th year”.
After the death of Samuel, Cynthia, his second wife, lived with a son by her first marriage. The 1850 census shows David Castile, age 36, born TN, to have a wife and 6 children and Cynthia Vassar living with this family. Castile Creek, which headed in the new county of DeKalb, MO and flowed through Clinton and Caly counties emptying eventually into a tributary of the Missouri River was named for Joseph Castile.

Samuel Harris VASSAR (1757 – 1846)
5th great-grandfather
Mary VESSOR (1801 – 1836)
daughter of Samuel Harris VASSAR
Margaret Mathews (1831 – 1867)
daughter of Mary VESSOR
Julia McConnell (1854 – 1879)
daughter of Margaret Mathews
Minnie M Smith (1872 – 1893)
daughter of Julia McConnell
Ernest Abner Morse (1890 – 1965)
son of Minnie M Smith
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Ernest Abner Morse
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse