a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1787 to 1789, and the Virginia Senate from 1794 to 1805. Born in Williamsburg, Virginia to Burwell Bassett, Sr. and Anna Marie (née Dandridge), the sister of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, Bassett attended the College of William and Mary. He was the nephew of George and Martha Washington and first cousin of President William Henry Harrison. He was unsuccessful in contesting the election of John Clopton to the United States House of Representatives in 1794, but was later elected as a Democratic-Republican in 1804, serving from 1805 to 1813.
