Elizabeth Basset

Elizabeth Basset, also known as Elizabeth Potts and Elizabeth Pott Bennett, was born 27 Dec 1636 and died 08 Mar 1708. A widow before her 1685 marriage to Edmund Bennett, she was associated with Quaker meetings in the Philadelphia area and was named sole executrix in Bennett’s 1692 will.

Elizabeth Basset was born on 27 Dec 1636. Before 1685, she was widowed and was known as Elizabeth Potts. Her daughter Jane Potts later married and was known as Jane Austin.

In 1685, Elizabeth married Edmund Bennett of Bucks County. The family notes state that they followed the Quaker process of declaring their intentions before the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting: first on 5 of the 8th month, identified in the notes as 5 Oct 1685, and a second time on 7 of the 10th month, identified as 7 Dec 1685. They were then permitted to marry on 22 of the 10th month, identified in the notes as 22 Dec 1685, at the house of John Otter near Burlington (Bristol), Pennsylvania.

Edmund Bennett was described in the notes as a tobacco cutter, a first purchaser of Pennsylvania land, and a resident of Northampton Township, Bucks County, although he owned extensive land in Bristol Township. He died in 1692. His will, dated 5 Sep 1692 and proved 24 Sep 1692, named Elizabeth as his sole executrix. It left one shilling to his nephew John Bartlett, then in England, and named John Kinsey, John Jones, and John Otter as overseers. The witnesses were Thomas Roberts, Jane Austin, and Theodore Roberts.

Elizabeth was widowed for the second time in 1692. The notes report that Bennett’s estate inventory, filed 23 Sep 1692, was valued at a little more than 123 pounds. She reportedly returned to Philadelphia to be nearer her children while continuing to sell Bennett’s land.

Elizabeth died on 08 Mar 1708. The family notes describe her as Elizabeth Pott Bennett and state that she was buried in the old Philadelphia Burying Ground.

Historical context

The supplied material places Elizabeth within Quaker communities connected with Philadelphia, Bucks County, and nearby Burlington. Family research also associates the Potts family with Llangurig and Llanidloes in Montgomeryshire, Wales. Joseph Besse’s account of Quaker sufferings records Thomas Pott and John Pott among people cited for nonattendance at parish worship in 1675, and records property seized from John Potts after a Friends meeting at Llanidloes in 1677. These Welsh records concern Thomas and John Pott and do not by themselves establish Elizabeth’s parentage or identity.

Sources & research

Supplied Family Tree Maker notes for Elizabeth Basset and Edmund Bennett.
Abstract of Will: BENNETT, EDMOND, of Philadelphia, Yeoman; dated 5 Sep 1692; proved 24 Sep 1692; B/P: A. 210.
Joseph Besse, The Collection of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers for the Testimony of a Good Conscience, 1753, Vol. XXIV, pp. 229-230.
Claudia Sullivan, research comments dated 13 Apr 2013 and 29 May 2013.