Kathryn Lorraine SMITH was born at Mt. Pleasant, Chester, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Joel Clemons and Beulah (Mosley) Smith Sr. . She married Aaron Charles BASS at Wayne, Delaware, Pennsylvania. He was born at Jackson, Madison, Tennessee, the son of Charlie Ulysses and Mayflower (Spencer) BASS. Lucille was named "Kathryn" after her godmother, Kathryn White. She attended Cheney State in Pennsylvania, receiving a BS in Education. After graduation she learned of a position available in North Carolina at an educational center (grammar and high schools), founded by the famous George Eastman of Kodak fame. A teacherage (living accomodations) came with the job, which, according to Lorraine, made it sound "soooo" attractive. She accepted a position sight unseen and traveled to Enfield, Halifax County, NC to teach the upper grades. She found a couple of clapboard houses, no water and chamber pots. It was too late to turn back she had spent all the money allocated for travel on a one way train ticket. She found that the male teachers lived downstairs and the ladies above. The shy lady teachers would put their chamber pots on a pillow so the men downstairs wouldn't hear. Lorraine, suffered terribly from an auto accident she was involved in near Richmond, Va. at age 21 which fractured her skull and injuried her right side. She was unconscious for a month. When she awoke in the Hospital, she could speak only the French she had studied for 3 years in High School! Later, Lorraine, moved back to Pa where she spent the balance of her teaching career. Aaron Bass was a private pilot prior to WW II, flying Piper Cub type light aircraft. His father was an electrical worker which influenced his son's choice of career. Aaron was trained at Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama and was a member of ROTC there. During World War II, he was called to active duty. The usual expectation for a college-trained person was a commission to Lieutenant at the end of basic training. But Fort Benning, Ga., at that time, had too many ROTC graduates for the limited number of slots available to colored men. He had had a hint of what was to come and attempted to enlist in the Air Force before a decision was made about his commission. The Army shipped him to Texas a week prior to his interview with the Air Force. He was told the Army did him a "favor" by giving him Corporal's stripes, telling him to be happy as he wouldn't have any KP duties to perform! Aaron retired after working as an aeronautical electrical engineer with U.S. Naval Air Development Center, Warminster, Bucks County, Pa. He specialized in aeronautical electronics, research and development, with emphasis on stress levels on electronics systems in Naval aircraft. After spending 36 years with the Navy, 26 of it in the environmental lab, which he headed, he became a troubleshooter for private industry. Children: 1. Aaron Charles BASS 2. Laurent Shawn BASS. Sources and notes: Interview with Lorraine Smith Bass, 9/5/97, at her home at Lamott, Pa. Birth and marriage dates deleted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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MITSAWOKETT "The History and Genealogy of the Native American Isolate Communities of Kent County, Delaware, and Surrounding Areas on the Delmarva Peninsula and Southern New Jersey"

 

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