Jonathan Bliss was baptized on 11 March 1626 in Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, the son of Thomas Bliss and Dorothy Wheatley.
Before delving into this family sketch, it is important to point out a well researched article published in The Register 151:31-37 by Eugene Cole Zubrinsky – “To Say It doesn’t Make It So”: Clues to the Probable Identity of the Wife of Jonathan Bliss of Rehoboth, Massachusetts.
Mr. Zubrinsky makes an excellent case for debunking the wife of Jonathan Bliss as Miriam Harmon and instead posits the theory that his wife’s given name was likely Rachel and given the FAN club associations between Mathias Puffer and the Bliss family, she may well have been the sister of Mathias Puffer.
Therefore, this family sketch will tentatively identify her as one Rachel Puffer.
Jonathan Bliss settled in Rehoboth with the rest of his family by 1643. As mentioned, no marriage record has been found for Jonathan, but he married c1648 and it seems quite likely that his wife was Rachel Puffer, sister of Matthias Puffer, who posted bond in the estate of Jonathan.
Jonathan and, presumably, Rachel (Puffer) Bliss were the parents of ten children (All events in Rehoboth unless otherwise noted):
- Ephraim, born 5 February 1649; died September 1721; married Margaret Lawrence, 5 December 1671
- Rachel, born 1 December 1651; died 24 June 1675 as a victim in King Phillip’s War; married Thomas Mann, 28 October 1674, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island
- Jonathan, born 4 March 1653; died young
- Mary, born 30 September 1655; no further record
- Elizabeth, 29 January 1657; died 19 December 1723; married James Thurber, 25 June 1683
- Samuel, born 24 June 1660; died 28 August 1720; married Mary Kendrick, 15 April 1685
- Martha, born 16 April 1663; died 22 March 1735, Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts; married Nathaniel Toogood, c1690
- Jonathan, born 17 September 1666; died 16 October 1719; married Miriam Carpenter, 23 June 1691
- Dorothy, born 27 January 1668; died 28 October 1694; married James Carpenter, 26 June 1690
- Bethiah, born 9 August 1671; died 27 February 1703; married Daniel Carpenter, 15 April 1695
There is no evidence as to when Jonathan’s wife died, other than after 9 August 1671, when she gave birth to their youngest child.
Jonathan Bliss was died on 11 June 1676 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts.