The first mention of Angia (Angie) Jewell (Tom Bass's wife) is in the 1870 Audrain County, Missouri census when she was 13 years old. She was living in the town of Mexico with her mother, Ellen Jewell, age 35; sister, Mary, age 20; sister, Lottie, age 18; sister, Phillis age 17; and sister, Emma, age 10. At this time, neither Angie nor Emma could write but they could read.  Ellen and eldest daughter Mary had been born in Virginia. The younger four daughters, Lottie, Phillis, Angie and Emma were born in Missouri.  This pinpoints the time that Ellen Jewell must have been brought to Missouri as sometime between 1847 and 1850.  It is of interest to note that Angie's mother, Ellen was listed as black and so was her oldest sister, Mary. However, Angie and her other sisters who were born in Missouri were listed as mulatto. 

Sometime in the early 1880’s Tom had met a local Mexico girl named Mima Johnson. Tom and Mima, were not married, but in1881 they had twin boys who were named Ray and Ralph Bass. It appears that Tom had little to do with the raising of the twins although they were around Mexico.

At some point, Angie Jewell moved to St. Louis where she trained to become a teacher.  As a new teacher she then returned to Mexico in the early 1880’s. On September 20, 1882, Tom married Angie at the Second Baptist Church, Mexico, MO. After marrying Tom, Angie took over his business correspondence, money, and bookkeeping. Angie was well educated and by Tom letting her help she could put her creativity and her education to work to develop their business. Tom only had a third grade education. Angie taught her husband to read, and helped him with mathematics and spelling.   With the help of Angie’s teaching he became an excellent writer.  Letters written by Tom show beautiful penmanship as well as good spelling and grammar.

It was not until August 10, 1897, that they had a child - a boy named Inman Thomas Bass. Tom and Angie had been married at least 15 years before Inman was born. Inman was their only child.

The 1900 census showed that Tom, Angie, Inman, Jessie (Tom's brother), and Emma (Angie's sister) all lived on West Whitney Street in Mexico.  Jessie was 24 years old, having been born in February 1876. Emma Jewell’s birth date was recorded as November 1864.  Both Tom and his brother were described as horse dealers and Emma was a seamstress. It was also noted that Tom’s real estate was free of any debts.  All were able to read and write.

The 1900 Census showed Mima Johnson, the mother of the twins, living in Mexico. She was listed as a servant for the Joseph Barth family.  In that census, Mima listed her birth date as December 1839 and said that she had had no children.  That obviously was not correct.

Mrs. Angie Bass joined the Second Baptist Church in Mexico in 1917 under Rev. G. W. Wright. Tom also was a faithful member of his church.  In addition, Tom also made donations to the Log Providence Church in Boone County near his boyhood home.

By the 1920 census, Mima Johnson lived with her son Ray Bass in Mexico. Ray’s age was listed as 36, which was probably incorrect and Mima’s was 60. Ray was apparently the only one of Tom’s sons who had an interest in training horses.  However, he was limited by the loss of one hand.  Ray was said to resemble his father.  He kept a scrapbook to record the winnings of his father’s show ring competitions. Ray died in 1939.

The 1920 census shows that Ray’s twin brother, Ralph, was living at 402 Fifth Street in Moberly, Randolph County, Missouri.  Living with him was his wife, Carrie, and five boarders.  During the 1920's Ralph was a special chef for the Official’s car on the Wabash Railroad. He was considered to be one of the finest chefs in the trade.

Inman Bass did not share his father’s interest in horses.  He enlisted in the U. S. Army at the age of 21, listing his occupation as undertaker.  His height was five feet nine inches.    Inman remained in the army and received his honorable discharge on March 30, 1922.  Sometime during his military years, Inman had married as the 1920 census lists Inman’s wife, Freda, and they were living with Tom and Angie.  Following his discharge from the military, he enrolled in the Sweeney Auto School in Kansas City. Little is known about Inman during the 1920’s.  However, by the early 1930’s, Inman was at the Fulton State Hospital. He died there on March 17, 1932. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Mexico.[1]

Two years after Inman had died, Tom died on Nov. 20,1934. Tom’s obituaries can been seen at another web page in this series. 

After Tom's death, Angie's health was poor. She was taken care of by Miss Nannie Fountain until Miss Fountain passed away. Then her nephew, Herbert, took care of Angie until she died on Oct. 10, 1941. She was buried along the side her husband, Tom and their son, Inman.

Elmwood Cemetery, Mexico, MO

After Angie had died, Ralph Bass was the only survivor. Ralph regretted that Angie never had a relationship with the twins. In fact, they were not mentioned in any of the many Tom Bass obituaries.  Ralph once said that, “he was proud to be the son of the world's greatest horsemen.”  Ralph died of suffocation during a fire in December 1962. Firemen tried to revive him but they had no luck. At that time, had been working as a butler for Mrs. W. W. Greenland of Moberly, Missouri.

Photo Credits

• American Saddlebred Horse Museum, Mexico, Missouri and Audrain County Historical Society.
• Irwin photo:

This page was designed by JaNetta Fowler under direction of Dr. Lyndon Irwin