Rehoboth & MA

The Bliss Family in Rehoboth, Massachusetts 1790 Architecture in Rehoboth: the Jonathan Wheaton house

Thomas Bliss, brother of George and cousin of Thomas, was born about 1588 probably in Preston Parva, Northamptonshire. He married Dorothy Wheatlie on November 22, 1614 at Holy Cross Church in Daventry by Thomas Mariott, minister. Thomas Bliss, blacksmith, and his wife, emigrated to Massachusetts about 1638. They landed first in Boston, settling ten miles south of Boston at Braintree. According to the first book of the Boston Town Records, Thomas Bliss was granted 36 acres of land in Braintree in 1639. He took the freeman's oath May 18, 1642 at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He relocated to Rehoboth in 1643. [See Hurd's chapter on Rehoboth - contains errors]

One of the original proprietors of Rehoboth, Thomas received a home lot of eight acres in the northwest end of town. By the time of his death in 1647, he owned 45 acres. Of seven children born to Dorothy Wheatlie and Thomas Bliss, "fouer" are referred to in his will:

	Elizabeth was baptized Sept. 19, 1615 in England. She married Sept. 18, 1640 in Rehoboth and died in 1676. Her husband, Thomas Wilmarth, is referred to as Willmore in the will.
	Mary was baptized March 16, 1616 in England. She married Nathaniel Harmon of Braintree about 1638, and died ?
	Martha was baptized Dec. 8, 1622 in England. She married Nicholas Ide May 16, 1647 and died Nov. 3, 1676 in Rehoboth.
	Jonathan was baptized April 2, 1626 at Daventry, England. He married Miriam Harmon in 1648 and died June 11, 1687 at Rehoboth.

[Source above: Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America by Aaron Tyler Bliss]

[Source below: Bliss - the Magazine of the Bliss Family History Society, June 1999]