Company B, 16th Mississippi Infantry
Confederate States of America

Primary Source(s):
Bass Family History by Admiral Ivan Ernest Bass, published 1955, p 356
Edit and further research by Ron Roberts

Thomas Wesley Bass, son of William and Lavica (Newman) Bass was born in Simpson County, Mississippi, in the year 1836. He died unmarried [ERROR], March 1904, of pneumonia and was buried in the family cemetery on the old Bass homestead located near Bass Bayou and Pearl River; his grave is marked by a Confederate soldier's marker.

Thomas Wesley Bass was a Confederate Soldier. The following Record of his services is taken from State and National Archives: Enlisted April 20, 1861 by Lieutenant Ramsey in Company B, Sixteenth Mississippi Infantry at Westville, Mississippi, May 29, 1861; admitted to Chimborazo Hospital Number 5, Richmond, Virginia, with gunshot wound in foot, December 18, 1862, wound was received at Fredericksburg, Virginia, December 13, 1862; admitted to General Hospital, Camp Winder, Richmond, Virginia, with chronic diarrhoea, April 24, 1863, and furloughed for 30 days June 21, 1863; admitted to General Hospital, Howards Grove, Richmond, Virginia, November 28, 1863, with diagnosis "Vol Solopt Left Ankle" and returned to duty December 4, 1863; in Howards Grove General Hospital and Stuart Hospital, both of Richmond, Virginia, from August 12 to December 19, 1864 for treatment for "Vulnus Scloper, Left Heel".

According to family recollections, Thomas Wesley Bass never fully recovered from a wound received in battle in which one hand was torn off by an exploding shell. Following his return from war, he lived as a farmer and fisherman, having a permanent camp on Bass Bayou, where he spent the greater part of his time.

Addendum by Ron Roberts, March 2010

Review of census records reflect Thomas Wesley Bass
1850 Simpson County Mississippi, with his father and mother
1860 Simpson County Mississippi, with his father and step-mother
1870 Simpson County Mississippi, with his father and step-mother
1880 Simpson County Mississippi, with his wife Eliza and several children noted as his sons and daughters ranging in ages, 1 to 19 years. Thomas is listed as White but his wife and children are listed as Black.

Conclusion: Due to politics of the time, the family of Thomas Wesley Bass was not recorded on census reports until 1880. From what I can determine, Thomas was joined, before the Civil War, with Eliza who was a slave of the Bass family. There is later documentation which supports that his grandchildren were considered Mulatto. A photograph is available of one greatgrandson who was well respected in community, attested by obituary (available).

Addendum as posted by a descendant:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/stories/263.html

"Even though my grandmother (Mrs. Carrie Bass now deceased 1995) had always told us that our Great Great Grandfather Thomas Bass was a white man. I was very shocked to find doing my review of the 1880 Census records for Simpson County, Mississippi that he listed my Great Great Grandmother Eliza Bass (Black Female) as his wife and all eight children by her, which included my Great Grandfather Laurance Bass. Everyone knows how hostile Mississippi was during that time period. My hat goes off to my grandparents. I can't imagine the stress, but only by the "Grace of God" did this union survive."
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U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 about Thomas W Bass
Name: Thomas W Bass
Death Date: 15 Feb 1903
Cemetery: Bass Cemetery
Cemetery Location: Georgetown, Mississippi

Note: Headstone ordered by P. B. Bass on October 14, 1930