Person:Thomas Bliss (5)

Origins

The American Bliss families can trace their roots mainly to two counties in England, Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire. Contrary to the information erroneously reported by many, the Bliss lines are NOT from Belstone, Devonshire. Belstone, Devonshire was never the home of Thomas Bliss or any other Bliss. Genealogies based on Blisses from Belstone are incorrect.

The (George Bliss) Newport and (Thomas Bliss) Rehoboth lines link back to their father, John Blisse of Daventry, and later, Preston Capes and Preston Parva.

The (Thomas Bliss) Hartford line is traced to County Gloucester, probably to Painswick, an old Cotswold wool town. We know that Thomas Bliss resided in Rodborough, Gloucestershire for a time, and that his wife, Margaret was born there. Thomas's father is unknown. According to the research of Aaron Tyler Bliss, Thomas is undoubtedly a descendant of John Blisse of Tyringham, a feudal serf. [1]

FROM "ENTERTAINING SATAN" BY PUTNAM DEMOS

HOLMES VOL 1 201 FROM ENGLAND, QUINCY, THEN HARTFORD INF. FROM THELMA HIGH SHE HAS DEATH DATE AS ABT. 1639

GEN OF THE BLISS FAMILY IN AMERICA (J. H. Bliss, 1881)p. 29-30 shows m Maragaret _______ then footnotes 'possibly LAWRENCE' SAVAGE I, 201-2: 'an early but not orig. sett. of whose coming from Eng nothing is kn .. first at Boston .. d. early heard of , tho. exact date is not gain.' TORREY p 78: shows a m1 ________; m2 Margaret _______; his death in 1651 CD102: shows m Margaret HULINS [reasonable this was m1? except the death date is 1684, the d date for Margaret _______ is a stretch; possibly LAWRENCE, who survived him. HULINS surname not found in any of my refs - HULINGS?] TAG 52:193 - "Thomas and Margaret Hulins Bliss of Hartford CT" (M S Hyde,1976) English research incl baptisim and HULIN's will support her surname as HULINS. TAG 60:203 - "Marriage of TB and MH" (M S Hyde, 1984): marriage record found. St Nicholas , Gloucester, Eng, Oct 18 1621. [CAUTION: there was also an early Thomas BLISS, w Dorothy WHEATLEY, at Rehoboth MA that is not this one.] NEXUS, VIII,:215: "Thomas died so suddenly that he did not leave a will; left all to his wife Margaret, per his dau Mary". Maragret HULIS is correct, died 1684..

had land in Hartford as early as 1640 - died in Hartford, leaving 9 children. Family moved to Springfield. Estate of Thomas Bliss at death - 182 Pounds Source: Gail Wellwood genealogy chart

1.   Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   1:201-202.

   "THOMAS, Hartford, was an early, but not orig. sett. of whose com. from Eng. nothing is kn. but his first resid. was in that pt.of Boston call. the mount, afterwards Braintree, now Quincy. In 1639 or 40 he is first ment. in Conn. at the same time with Thomas, jr. wh. may be the freem. of 18 May 1642 in Mass., there left by his f. whose d. is early heard of, tho. exact date is not gain. His wid. Margaret was very resolute and capable, and after two or three yrs. rem. with all her ch. exc. Thomas, and Ann, to Springfield, there d. 28 Aug. 1684. She had nine ch. and it has been absurd. said, that all were brot. from Eng. Of most, this is true. Ann, wh. m. 29 Apr. 1642, Robert Chapman of Saybrook; Mary m. 26 Nov. 1646, Joseph Parsons; Thomas; Nathaniel; Lawrence; and perhaps Samuel; were b. in Eng. but our side of the water may claim, prob. Sarah, m. 20 July 1659, John Scott; Elizabeth m. 15 Feb. 1670, as his sec. w. Miles Morgan; possib. Hannah, wh. d. 25 Jan. 1662, unm. and certain. John."

2.   Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America by Aaron Tyler Bliss.
3. ↑ John Home Bliss. Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America from about the year 1550 to 1880. (Printed by the Author, 1881)
   p. 29-31.
4. ↑ Bliss, Aaron Tyler, Writer Role: compiler. Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America, Volumes: 2. (published by the author, Midland, Michigan, 1982)
   vol 1, page 27.
5.   A DIGEST OF THE EARLY CONNECTICUT PROBATE RECORDS. 1650 to 1663
   pg. 28.

   Name: Thomas Bliss Location: Hartford
   
   Invt. œ86-12-08. Taken 14 February, 1650, by Nathaniel Ward, Joseph Mygatt. Nuncupative Will. Testimony of John Pinchon & Hen: Smith gives property to his wife. Mary Parsons, a daughter, of Springfield, doth Testify to the same.
   
   Court Record, Page 17--20 February, 1650-1: Adms. to the Relict, She to keep the whole Estate in her Hands for her Use and the Education of the Children during her life, then to be divided among the Children, viz: to Lawrence, to John, to Samuel, to Hester, to Elizabeth, to Hannah, and to Sarah Bliss.

6.   Documentary evidence supports no known ancestry for Thomas, but GEDCOM uploads have proposed Family:John Bliss and Alice Smith (1) and
   Family:Thomas Bliss and Unknown (3) as alternatives.