Thomas Bliss, an early settler of Rehoboth, Massachusetts originally hailed from Daventry, Northamptonshire, England.

While some of Daventry’s earliest church records have survived, no baptismal record has been found for Thomas, who was born c1589. It is possible that he was born in a nearby town for which those church books are not extant.

Thomas Bliss married Dorothy Wheatley on 22 November 1614 in Daventry and her baptismal record is found in the parish register. Dorothy was baptized on 22 August 1591, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (MNU) Wheatley.

No further information has been found about her family or Thomas’s origins. Although online trees give names to Thomas’s parents, I’ve found absolutely no primary evidence to support those names. Until proof appears, Thomas’s parents shall remain unknown in my family tree.

Thomas and Dorothy were the parents of seven children, all baptized in Daventry:

1. Elizabeth, baptized 19 September 1615; died 15 February 1676, Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts; married Thomas Willmore, 8 June 1645, Braintree, Massachusetts
2. Mary, baptized 16 March 1617; died 9 September 690, Braintree, Massachusetts; married Nathaniel Harmon, c1638
3. Jane, baptized 14 January 1618; buried 16 September 1621, Daventry, Northamptonshire, England
4. John, baptized 12 November 1620; died before 1635
5. Martha, baptized 8 December 1622; died before 3 November 1676; married Nicholas Ide, c1647, probably Rehoboth, Massachusetts
6. Thomas, baptized 19 September 1624; buried 3 October 1628, Daventry, Northamptonshire, England
7. Jonathan, baptized 11 March 1626; died 11 June 1687, Rehoboth, Massachusetts; married [possibly] Rachel Puffer, c1652

Dorothy (Wheatley) Bliss was buried on 10 May 1631 in Daventry, Northamptonshire, England.

Sometime between Dorothy’s death and the early 1640s, Thomas Bliss made the decision to leave England for a new life in Massachusetts. His children were still young and unmarried and the four surviving children emigrated with their father.

Thomas Bliss was made a freeman in 1642 and his name appears on the list of the first purchasers of lots in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Thomas was busy during the last few years of his life, as he married (2) Unknown Ide, likely related to Nicholas Ide, who married his daughter Martha.

Either there was a prenuptial agreement or else his second wife died soon, as she is not mentioned in his will:

The last Will and Testament of Thomas Blise being sick in body but in perfect memory made the seventh Day of the eighth month; 1647 the said will allso Exhibbited unto the Court holden at new Plymouth the eighth of June 1649, upon the oathes of Steven Payne Edward Smith

Imprimus I give in the name of the father sonn and holy Goste my soule into the hands of god yt gave it and my body to the earth

It I give unto my soon Jonathan my house and home lot Conditionally yt hee shall give unto my sonninlaw Thomas Willmore his lot wh hee now hath and allso the one half of my broken up ground for two yeares and shall healp him to build him an house and let him peacably and quietly live in the house with him untell they shall bee able to set up a house for him

It I give unto Jonathan two of my oxen Called Spark and Swad and my heifer wh is Called traveler and my heifer Calfe at the Iland and all my beding and all my tooles Conditionly yt hee shall use them in my trade or els they shalbee Devided to my fouer Children

It I give unto my eldest Daughter and her husband Thomas Willmore my other two oxen Called quick and benbo an my broad headed heifer and my Cow Called Damson and all my wearing aparrell

It I give to my Daughter Mary and her husband Nathaneill harmon my three two yeare ould steers and ten bushells of wheat

It I give unto Nathaneell the sonn of my sonninlaw Nicolas Ide my browne heifer and my two steere Calves wh are at the Iland

It I give unto Nicolas Ide ten bushells of Rye

It I give unto my sonn Jonathan and my sonninlaw Thomas Willmore the Resedew of my Corn and allso the Rye now sowne on the ground and my Coult and all my tackling and Implements as plowes Cart and Chaines all these to be equally Devided between them allso my pot and ketell; and I Doe make them exequters Joyntly of this my will and Testament; and I Doe Intreat my trusty and wellbeloved frends Richard Wright and Steven Payne to bee overseers of this my Will yt it bee Dewly and Justly performed in Wittness heerof I have set to my hand the Day and yeare first above written; I give unto my fouer Children my hide of leather which is in William ffeilds hand to be equalli Devided between them; and if any of my Children shall seeck to Defraude the others of any pt of theire Right or shall bee any wayes troublesom and it bee Justly proved hee shall forfeite all his part heer menssioned to be equally Devided between the Rest

In the prsence of Thomas Blise
Steven Payne
Edward Smithe

Thomas Bliss died between 7 October 1647 and 21 October 1647, the dates his will was written and proved in court.

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):

1. Ephraim, born 5 February 1649; died September 1721; married Margaret Lawrence, 5 December 1671
2. 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
3. Jonathan, born 4 March 1653; died young
4. Mary, born 30 September 1655; no further record
5. Elizabeth, 29 January 1657; died 19 December 1723; married James Thurber, 25 June 1683
6. Samuel, born 24 June 1660; died 28 August 1720; married Mary Kendrick, 15 April 1685
7. Martha, born 16 April 1663; died 22 March 1735, Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts; married Nathaniel Toogood, c1690
8. Jonathan, born 17 September 1666; died 16 October 1719; married Miriam Carpenter, 23 June 1691
9. Dorothy, born 27 January 1668; died 28 October 1694; married James Carpenter, 26 June 1690
10. 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.