Moses Bass

Moses Bass was born onĀ July 1, 1877 to Samuel and Margaret (McGinnis) Bass in Chatham, Ontario. Mr. Bass’s mother was born in Scotland. The oldest person in our archive, Moses came to Ypsilanti with his family in the 1880s and worked in the building trades. Moses and his children built many of the homes and businesses in Ypsilanti. Married several times, Moses had twelve children; two with Ollie Richardson, whom he divorced. He later married Gertrude (Walls) Bass and together they had ten children. One of their sons, Samuel Bass, became Ypsilanti’s first Black policeman and would serve on city council. Moses Bass passed away about one year after this interview was conducted on September 2, 1974.