BASSETT, JOHN SPENCER American historian, was horn in Tarboro, N.C., on Sept. 1o, 1867. He graduated at Trinity college, now Duke university, in 1888 and received the degree of doctor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins in 1894. In 1893 he began ing history in Trinity college, continuing there until 1906. He then became sor of history in Smith college, and served in that chair until his death, which occurred in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 27, 1928. An active student of American history, he edited many historical documents including correspondence, and wrote numerous books on historical and biographical subjects. His earlier writings deal chiefly with the history of North Carolina. Among his works are The Federalist System (19o5) , Life of Andrew Jackson (I 91 I) , The Plain Story of American History (1915), The Middle Group of American Historians (1917), The Lost Fruits of Waterloo (1918) , Our War With Germany (1919) , Expansion and Reform (1926), The Writing of History, with J. J. Jusserand, W. C. Abbott and C. W. Colby (1926) and The League of Nations (1928).