Jeremiah (Jerry) Moses Bass, Vernon Parish Louisiana
Submitted by Jane Parker McManus
Date: October 30, 2008

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Bass, Jeremiah (Jerry) Moses 
Jeremiah (Jerry) Moses Bass was born 16 February 1838 LA and died 3 September 
1891 LA, son of James Bass and Emily Groves. He married first to Elizabeth 
Ventioner, daughter of Isaac Ventioner and Matilda Sweat, and three children 
were born. Elizabeth Bass was born ca 1840, daughter of Isaac Ventioner and 
Matilda Sweat, and she died ca 1862-69. Her burial is unknown.

Jerry Bass married second on 12 February 1870 (Rapides) LA to Emeline Smith, 
and seven children were born. Emeline Bass was born 16 July 1844 FL, daughter 
of William Smith and Catharine Jane Sellars, and she died 22 October 1928 
(Vernon) LA. Jerry and Emeline Bass are buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, 
Leander (Vernon) LA.

Jerry Bass signed up to support the Southern cause during the Civil War.  
At the age of 24, he enlisted as a Private, Company C, 27th Regiment, and 
was serving in Vicksburg when that city fell to Grant’s army. Jerry Bass 
was listed as a “Prisoner of War” after that altercation, and he agreed 
“never to take up arms against the United States again.” He returned to 
Louisiana and promptly reenlisted in the Confederate Army for a second 
tour of duty. He was finally paroled in 1865 at the conclusion of the 
war. While serving on the battlefront, Jerry’s wife returned to her 
parents’ home where she died, leaving him with three small children who 
remained with their grandparents.  

Jeremiah Bass and both his wives were charter members of Laurel Hill 
Baptist Church.  The issue:  Matilda (1855), Levi (1857), and Minerva 
(1862) from his first wife; William (1871), Pollie Ann (1873), Eliza 
Jane (1874), Marion Columbus (1876, Margaret Elizabeth (1878), Catharine 
Lucretia (1880, and Moses Jeremiah Bass (1882) by his second wife.  

Confederate Military Records, LA Archives, Baton Rouge LA.
Confederate Military Pension Records, LA Archives, Baton Rouge LA.

1850, 1860, 1870 US Population Schedules, LA, Rapides Parish
1880, 1900 US Population Schedules, LA, Vernon Parish

McManus, Jane P., A Backward Glance, Parker Enterprises, Ball LA, 1986.

McManus, Jane P. & Parker, Essie, Laurel Hill Missionary Baptist Church 
Vernon Parish, Louisiana, 1869 – 1920, Its People and Its History, Parker 
Enterprises, Englewood CO, 1988. 

Laurel Hill Cemetery Records, Leander (Vernon) LA.