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EBENEZER D. BASSETT
NEW HAVEN: Ex-Minister to Hayti
Ebenezer D. Bassett was born at Litchfield, Conn., on Oct. 16, 1833. His father was a mulatto, and his mother a pure Indian of the Pequot tribe. He attended the Birmingham Academy, and early distinguished himself as a mathematician by solving problems in the differential and integral calculus with as much ease as an ordinary scholar would perform examples in arithmetic. After finishing the course of study at this academy, he attended the State Normal School at New Britain, from which he was graduated in 1853. During the two years following his graduation he taught successfully the Whiting Street Grammar School in New Haven. At this time he availed himself of the privilege of continuing the study of the classics and higher mathematics under professors at Yale College.
In 1855 he married Miss Eliza Park of New Haven, and moved to Philadelphia, Pa., where he accepted the principalship of the Institute for Colored Youth, a school founded by the Orthodox Society of Friends for the purpose of giving a liberal education to colored youth, and preparing them to become efficient teachers. At this institution he taught the advanced classes in Latin, Greek, and the higher mathematics, and devoted himself to the education of his race. Here he exhibited marked ability as an instructor and disciplinarian. He possessed the rare quality of inspiring his pupils with an earnest desire to excel in whatever they undertook, and he therefore cultivated to a high degree the power of patient investigation and application. Mr. Bassett’s scholarly ability awakened in his pupils a desire to emulate him. About this time the institute used to be visited by interested persons from all parts of the United States and even from the old world, and, as they listened to the translations of Homer, of Virgil, and of Horace, and as they saw the facility with which difficult problems in mathematics were demonstrated and solved, they would exclaim, "This is wonderful!" And this expression was not exaggerated when we consider that these results were achieved during the dark and apparently hopeless days of slavery. Through the untiring efforts of Mr. Bassett this school was made to rank with the best institutions in the country. The proficiency of his classes became a standing argument against the injustice which could keep in the darkness of ignorance minds capable of such attainments. So much was the cause of freedom advanced and its possibilities worked out in the quiet of the school-room.
At the beginning of President Grant’s administration, it was decided by the republican leaders at Washington that colored men of acknowledged ability should receive positions in both home and foreign service. Mr. Bassett was the first candidate selected unanimously by the prominent men of his own race, and supported by distinguished persons in all parts of the Union for a diplomatic appointment. In President Grant’s first list of nominations Mr. Bassett’s name was sent for the mission to Hayti, and the nomination was promptly confirmed by the senate. This appointment made Mr. Bassett the first colored man to represent our country abroad. Mr. Frederick Douglass spoke of it as "a significant event, the triumph of a cause - the first small wire stretched over a chasm separating two races."
After receiving from his countrymen many ovations and considerate attentions, Mr. Bassett sailed for Hayti in June, 1869. When he reached Port-au-Prince he was received with every evidence of regard and satisfaction by the Haytian government and people. Hayti was unfortunately at this time in the midst of a bitter civil strife. Mr. Bassett found himself surrounded at once by factions and intrigues, and yet, in the discharge of his duties, he won and maintained the confidence and respect of our government at Washington, by whom he was highly commended for his heroic conduct during the Salnave revolution.
Mr. Bassett’s experience at this time in a country where the right of asylum had a particular force and significance, brought to him afterwards an invitation from the Kent Club of the Yale Law School, to lecture before its members on the subject. The New Haven Palladium, at this time, in speaking of this lecture said: "Mr. Bassett, having been our ambassador at Port-au-Prince, was peculiarly qualified for the masterly handling of ‘The Right of Asylum.’ The lecture was listened to by a highly intelligent and appreciative audience, among whom were many who are prominent in law circles. Those who attended had the pleasure of hearing an able and scholarly disquisition on the subject." Mr. Bassett so won the confidence of the Haytian people by his nine years residence among them, that he was appointed by President Salomon in 1880 to be Haytian consul at New York. He faithfully discharged the duties of this office until the end of President Salomon’s administration in December, 1888.
Mr. Bassett’s ripe scholarship and high attainments make him distinguished among scholars. His thorough study of the classics and of the French language shows itself in the style of his writing, which is finished and accurate. He is unassuming and cordial in his manners, thus making his social intercourse pleasant and agreeable. He could hardly fail to have an honorable position in the community at his present home, New Haven, where he is known as one of its scholarly, public-spirited and influential citizens. On many occasions he enjoys extended courtesies from New Haven’s city fathers. In all the relations of life he is emphatically a good man - not passively good, but actively worthy and earnest.
Source: Illustrated Popular Biography of Connecticut - 1891, Compiled and Published by J. A. Spalding, Hartford Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company, 1891
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