Fassett History Archive

What branch of the Fassett family is this?  The branch associated with Charles Herschel Fassett (my father) of Monte Vista and his wife Ethel Marian McClelland Fassett (my mother) originally from Toledo.
Unfortunately, my father Charles passed away in July of 2010 after a long bout with Alzheimer's disease so an awful lot of history from that side of the family is gone forever.  His mother was a prominent member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and so those documents in our possession have been invaluable in adding to some of the really old listings.  His mother was also good about writing the names and dates on the back of photographs (bless her) and we have thousands and thousands of photos, negatives and even silver nitrate glass plates going back to the earliest days of photography.  It may take me years, but I hope to get it all digitized.
Fortunately, my mother Ethel (at 86) still has a mind like a steel trap (must be all the years of memorizing thousands of pieces of music for piano and organ--or maybe she was able to memorize so much because she had a fantastic memory).  I am amazed that she can remember the middle names of third cousins she hasn't seen in 60 or 70 years (along with their estimated birthdays and date of death where applicable).  She was an only child who went through the Great Depression in a large combined household of aunts, uncles, great uncles, grandparents, etc., and her grandmother was charged with keeping an eye on her while her mother (and the others) worked.  She says she would sit on the arm of Grandma Mathilda's chair for hours and listen to her tell all about her siblings, parents, and other relatives.  So far I have found her recollections to be right on the money and often when there is a discrepancy in the "official" (online genealogy) listings, she has proven to be correct when I dig deeper and find an official document to back it up.  Due to this experience, I have come to trust her when she says she is certain about something in either her or my father's family histories.  If she says she is not sure, she is still usually close--when that happens you will see a question mark next to the entry.
We also have in our possession a lot of old documents that were handed down only because the person who had them spent their "twilight" years with our branch of the family.  Many of these are more relevant to other branches of the family but for some reason, we ended up with them.  That is why there are so many "sub" branches on the family tree--when I find a reference, if my mother can shed some light on it, I add it to the tree.  As she is now a "captive" in my house since I care for her, I have taken it upon myself to dig out as much of this information as I can from of the dusty reaches of her memory before another generation is gone...  ;- )

The Tree (A work in progress)
This is the Family Tree of our branch of the family as best as can be ascertained.  I'll add to it as I get more information from others.  If you are on this tree and there is information missing from your listing, please let me know.  Most of the information here is taken from family documents in my possession as well as the memory of my mother, Ethel Marian McClelland Fassett.

Relatives
This is a listing of various relatives found when going through different documents.  I will try to add any and all information I can find as I update the family tree.

Documents
These are documents that we have in our possession that have been scanned.  These are linked from the other pages and more will be added and linked as I get better organized (and find the time).

Stories
This will be an ongoing project as I get time to add material.  These are family stories told by those still around to remember them.  Unfortunately, my mother tosses this stuff out in rapid succession and I can't get it written down.  Perhaps I could put all my years as a sound engineer/recordist to use and actually use a recording device...  ;- )

Things we would really like to know...
This is a page with stuff that is driving my brother John and I nuts trying to research.  If you have anything that might keep us from pulling (any more of) our hair out, please let me know.