NE Barren County, KY
(Note "Bessie Bastin Road" in the center.)
During the depression, the mill failed. James Thomas 'Tom' Bastin then became a full-time farmer. His oldest son, Cecil, had died in WW I in France of influenza on Oct 31, 1918, leaving no children. (Cecil's wife, incidentally, re-married, marrying Cecil's cousin, Garnett Bastin!) With his two remaining sons, James Thomas Bastin ran a fairly large farm located between Bear Wallow and Hiseville, KY, in Barren County, KY. Upon his death, the farm was split among his heirs. His daughter, Lois, had already died, and her share went to her son, Bill Lock. The other daughter, Iva ('Ivey'), also received a share. The other two shares went to James Cordis 'Cordie' Bastin and Bella 'Beeler' Bastin. However, neither Bill Lock nor Iva Barton wanted to keep their shares, and Bella only wanted to farm one share. So, 'Cordie' bought out the shares belonging to both Bill Lock and Iva Barton, ending up with three shares total. Bella kept the one share that he had inherited. So, Bella owned 1/4 of the original land on the south side of the lane which split the farm, and Cordie owned the remaining 3/4 of the original land on the North side of the lane.
When the road was paved and named, it was named Bessie Bastin Road, after Bella's wife, Bessie. This road is located in the center of the map shown below. (This map only shows part of the road. A north branch of the road actually departs from between the "S" and "T", winding upwards to the NE and curving to the N. Also, the road shown as BRANSPELLER is mispelled on the official county map -- the actual name is BRANSTETTER ;-)
Cordie originally lived at the fork of the lane, on the north side of the fork, before building a new house half-way between Branstetter Road and the fork in Bessie Bastin Road, on the north side of the lane. Bella first lived in a small white house on the SouthEast leg of the fork, to the east of Bessie Bastin Road, before building a new house in the early 1960's at the top of the hill on the South side of Bessie Bastin Road on Branstetter Road. The house became the landmark by which to know where the road was, since there was no street sign on the road, so it made sense to name the road after Bessie when all the lanes and roads were named!
Ilene Dawson Waddell Bastin, Cordie's wife, died at home during, or right after, a major thunderstorm. Cordie lived for several years after this, farming, making frequent trips to several of the ponds on his farm to fish, or trapping rabbits with his rabbit traps! Cordie's barn was located just northwest of the fork, NW of the site of the old house. It was here that he died, while milking one morning. His grand-son, Ronnie Joe 'Ron' Bastin, found him.
Cordie's old house, just north of the fork of the road, was where Donald Ray 'Don' Bastin, a son of Cordie, lived. Don lived in Cordie's old house after Cordie built his new house. The old house was torn down in about 1970, and Don built a brick home on the same site, which is where he lived when he died. Don died in a hospital in Louisville, Jefferson County, KY.
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