HOLCOMB & BLISS LINES continued

INDEX

FOURTEENTH GENERATION

9860. Thomas Bliss

"BLISS, ...(9860) 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. [[vol. 1, p. 202]] of Boston call. the mount, afterwards Braintree, now Quincy. In 1639 or 40 he is first ment. in Conn. at the same time with (9860[1]a) 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. (9861) Margaret was very resolute and capable, and after two or three yrs. rem. with all her ch. exc. Thomas, and (9860[1]c) 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, (9860[1]c[1]) Robert Chapman of Saybrook; (9861ii) Mary m. 26 Nov. 1646, (9861ii[1]) Joseph Parsons; Thomas; (4930) Nathaniel; (9861iii) Lawrence; and perhaps (9861v) Samuel; were b. in Eng. but our side of the water may claim, prob. (9860[1]b) Sarah, m. 20 July 1659, (9860[1]b[1]) John Scott; (9861vii) Elizabeth m. 15 Feb. 1670, as his sec. w. (9861vii[2]) Miles Morgan; possib. (9861iv) Hannah, wh. d. 25 Jan. 1662, unm. and certain. (9861v) John."

-- James Savage, op. cit.

9861. Margaret Hulins

SRC: 'Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America, Vol. 1, Compiled by Aaron Tyler Bliss, Midland, Michigan, and John Homer Bliss of Norwich and Plainfield Ct. Published by the author, 1982 and is an update of J.H. Bliss' book published in 1881.'

"The Bliss FHS recommends all American Bliss family history researchers to consult the above publication if possible. We are willing to do look ups for anyone unable to locate 'The Genealogy'."

  • -- http://members.aol.com/blissfhstestsite/pioneers.htm#new

    Page 27. "Second Generation.
    "`Thomas, farmer, of Hartford, Connecticut, was born most probably in County Gloucester, England in the approximate year of 1590. The particular location of his birth within Gloucestershire is not known, however numerous Bliss records are traced to the Painswick area which has been termed "Bliss Country" by other researchers. He resided in Rodborough, Gloucestershire at one time, and a son, Nathaniel, was born there and baptized December 28, 1622. It should be noted that there were very few Blisses resident at Rodborough at that time and in fact no Bliss testators lived there during Thomas' stay. It was not the place of his birth nor the place of his ancestors. The reason for his presence was one Margaret Hulins (or Hulings) of Rodborough. She was born in about 1595, and they were married in about 1617.'"

    -- http://genforum.genealogy.com/bliss/messages/644.html 12 May 2000 c/o Michael E. Dobson dobfam4@juno.com


     
    "(9861) Margaret Hulins was an intelligent and adept business woman. By the time of her death, she had managed to triple the amount of the estate of her late husband, Thomas.

    (9861v) Mary Bliss was said to possess great beauty and talents but was not very amiable. When Mary was accused of witchcraft by her neighbors and sent to Boston for trial. Her mother..., Margaret, vigorously defended her and a jury gave her full acquittal.

    Mary was one of the most celebrated of those accused of witchcraft. An account of the case is found in Drake's Annals of Witchcraft, 1869, and in Trumbull's History of Northampton, who transcribes the original Boston records. There were several suits at law. The first trial was the result of an action for slander brought by her husband Joseph, in 1656 (the first year in Northampton, when Joseph refused to act as selectman), against Sarah, wife of James Bridgman. It seems that Margaret Bliss..., hearing rumors against her daughter that seemed to come from Sarah Bridgman, went to see Mrs. Bridgman and was told to her face that her daughter was suspected of being a witch. In the trial the Bridgmans brought as evidence the alleged fact that after every difference they had with Mrs. Parsons, their stock was sure to suffer; that one of their children died; that their eleven-year-old boy, whose fractured knee had been badly set, cried out that Mary Parsons was pulling his toe off; that he saw her sitting on a shelf; that when she went away a black mouse followed her.

    Another neighbor, Wm. Hannum, also gave testimony. He too, after a dispute with Mrs. Parsons, had lost stock, a lusty cow and a lusty swine; and an ox bit by a rattlesnake. Mrs. Hannum, who had a dispute over some yarn she had spun for Mrs. Parsons, refused to let her daughter go to Mrs. Parsons. The girl took sick and died.

    The court obliged Bridgman to pay the costs and damages to the amount of (10). Twenty years later, in 1674, it was rumored that Mary (Bliss) Parsons had caused the death of Mary, wife of Samuel Bartlett. Without waiting for a summons to trial Mary appeared in person before the court in Northampton: "She did assert her own innocency, after maintaining how clear she was of such a crime, and that the righteous God knew her innocency, and she left the cause in his hands." The court appointed a committee of "soberized chaste women" to search her for witch marks. The evidence was sent to Boston, whither the accused was also ordered, her husband being bound in the amount of (50) for her appearance. March 2, 1675, she was indicted and sent to prison. May 13th of the same year she was acquitted by the jury. Her son John had also been accused but no indictment was found.

    Trial of the case in Boston was perhaps in her favor; for John Leverett, the governor, and two of the assistants, General Gookin and General Denison, were three of the most enlightened men of the time and perhaps had an influence with the jury. Her enemies, however, were not satisfied and when on September 8, 1675, her son, Ebenezer, the first white child born in Northampton in 1655, was killed fighting against the Indians at Northfield, they cried out: "Behold, though human judges may be bought off, God's vengeance neither turns aside nor slumbers."
    -- http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/b/a/n/Norb--Bankert/BOOK-0001/0006-
     

    9862. Deacon Samuel Chapin

    9863. Cicely Penny

    REF: http://www.penrose.org/ged/d0091/I2783.html

    (9863ix[1]) Deacon John Hitchcock received a Lieutenant's commission for gallant conduct after being wounded at Turners Falls on May 19, 1676.

    INDEX

    = siblings

    HOLCOMBE & BLISS LINES continued

    Return to Generation Four