Thomas Bliss

Personpeople/thomas-bliss-d1649.md

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As written

name
Thomas Bliss
sex
male
access
public
summary
Of Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony, made a freeman at Cambridge in 1642 and in Plymouth Colony in 1645, who drew a lot on the Great Plain at Seekonk and served the town as fence viewer and surveyor of highways. His will of 1649 left his house to his son Jonathan. Very probably the father of Martha Ide, wife of Nicholas Ide; not the Thomas Bliss of Hartford and Springfield.
died
date
June 1649
place
Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony
basis
compiled
confidence
probable
sources
[book-bliss-1881-bliss-family, will-thomas-bliss-rehoboth]
note
His will is dated 8 June 1649; inventory £117 16s 4d (Bliss Genealogy pp. 33-34, citing NEHGR 4:282).
residences
date
1645
place
Rehoboth, Massachusetts
basis
documented
confidence
proven
note
Made a freeman of Plymouth Colony on 4 Jan 1645 and drew lot no. 30 on the Great Plain at Seekonk on 9 June 1645.

Of Rehoboth. Made a freeman at Cambridge on 18 May 1642 and in Plymouth Colony on 4 Jan 1645. On 9 June 1645 he drew lot no. 30 on the Great Plain at Seekonk; in 1646 he was appointed "to view the fence of the town lots," and in 1647 surveyor of highways (Bliss Genealogy, 1881).

His will (MD 8:85-86; Bliss Genealogy) left his house to his son Jonathan and also named a daughter married to Thomas Williams; "my Daughter Mary and her husband Nathaneell harmon," of Braintree, who had "my three two yeare ould steers"; his son Nathaniel; and Nicholas Ide: "It I give unto Nathaneell the sonn of my sonninlaw Nicolas Ide my browne heifer." The will does not name Nicholas Ide's wife. Savage takes her to have been a Bliss daughter, and she was very probably Martha Ide (buried 1676), so Thomas Bliss was very probably Martha's father (inference). In 1649 "son-in-law" could also mean a stepson, and the Bliss Genealogy suggested Nicholas might be a son of Bliss's wife by an earlier husband; the will alone does not settle it.

He is not the Thomas Bliss of Hartford and Springfield from whom Ralph Waldo Emerson descends, so Mollie Pfeiffer's claim of Emerson as a cousin through this family is wrong. The Bliss Genealogy's suggestion that the two Thomases were cousins from Belstone, Devon, is unproven.

Open questions

  • His wife and his English origin are not in the research.
  • The 1648 Plymouth Colony petition said (WikiTree, unsourced) to show Nicholas Ide claiming a child's share of his estate, or his estate papers, would settle whether Nicholas's wife was his daughter.
  1. ---
  2. name: Thomas Bliss
  3. sex: male
  4. access: public
  5. summary: >-
  6. Of Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony, made a freeman at Cambridge in 1642 and in Plymouth Colony in 1645,
  7. who drew a lot on the Great Plain at Seekonk and served the town as fence viewer and surveyor of
  8. highways. His will of 1649 left his house to his son Jonathan. Very probably the father of Martha
  9. Ide, wife of Nicholas Ide; not the Thomas Bliss of Hartford and Springfield.
  10. died:
  11. date: June 1649
  12. place: Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony
  13. basis: compiled
  14. confidence: probable
  15. sources: [book-bliss-1881-bliss-family, will-thomas-bliss-rehoboth]
  16. note: His will is dated 8 June 1649; inventory £117 16s 4d (Bliss Genealogy pp. 33-34, citing NEHGR 4:282).
  17. residences:
  18. - date: "1645"
  19. place: Rehoboth, Massachusetts
  20. basis: documented
  21. confidence: proven
  22. note: "Made a freeman of Plymouth Colony on 4 Jan 1645 and drew lot no. 30 on the Great Plain at Seekonk on 9 June 1645."
  23. ---
  25. Of Rehoboth. Made a freeman at Cambridge on 18 May 1642 and in Plymouth Colony on
  26. 4 Jan 1645. On 9 June 1645 he drew lot no. 30 on the Great Plain at Seekonk; in 1646 he
  27. was appointed "to view the fence of the town lots," and in 1647 surveyor of highways
  28. (Bliss Genealogy, 1881).
  30. His will (MD 8:85-86; Bliss Genealogy) left his house to his son Jonathan and also
  31. named a daughter married to Thomas Williams; "my Daughter Mary and her husband Nathaneell
  32. harmon," of Braintree, who had "my three two yeare ould steers"; his son Nathaniel; and
  33. Nicholas Ide: "It I give unto Nathaneell the sonn of my sonninlaw Nicolas Ide my browne heifer."
  34. The will does not name Nicholas Ide's wife. Savage takes her to have been a Bliss
  35. daughter, and she was very probably Martha Ide (buried 1676), so Thomas Bliss was very
  36. probably Martha's father (inference). In 1649 "son-in-law" could also mean a stepson,
  37. and the Bliss Genealogy suggested Nicholas might be a son of Bliss's wife by an earlier
  38. husband; the will alone does not settle it.
  40. He is not the Thomas Bliss of Hartford and Springfield from whom Ralph Waldo Emerson
  41. descends, so Mollie Pfeiffer's claim of Emerson as a cousin through this family is
  42. wrong. The Bliss Genealogy's suggestion that the two Thomases were cousins from Belstone,
  43. Devon, is unproven.
  45. ## Open questions
  47. - His wife and his English origin are not in the research.
  48. - The 1648 Plymouth Colony petition said (WikiTree, unsourced) to show Nicholas Ide
  49. claiming a child's share of his estate, or his estate papers, would settle whether
  50. Nicholas's wife was his daughter.
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