BLISS, Bethia

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• _COLOR: 11

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Some records have her the daughter of Jonathan and Marion Harmon Bliss.

FindaGrave:
GRID=21484507

Bethia married CARPENTER, Daniel on 15 Apr 1695 in Rehoboth, MA. Daniel (son of CARPENTER, William Jr and SAILE, Miriam) was born on 8 Oct 1669 in Rehoboth, MA; died on 14 Sep 1721 in Rehoboth, MA; was buried in East Providence, RI. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. CARPENTER, Daniel Charles Jr. was born on 8 Nov 1695 in Rehoboth, MA; died on 26 Jan 1763 in Rehoboth, MA; was buried in East Providence, RI.

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• Name: Jonathan Timothy Bliss
• _COLOR: 11

Notes:

In February, 2002 Eugene Cole Zubrinsky posted the following on the Bliss board of GenForum:

Given the ease with which genealogical inaccuracies take on a life of their own, robustly surviving in the face of corrections, I hope that by posting this online, it might have a chance of supplanting the error with which it competes.

JONATHAN2 BLISS (1626-1687) was the son of Thomas1 and Dorothy (Wheatlie) Bliss of Braintree and Rehoboth, Mass. The oft-repeated claim that h is wife was MIRIAM HARMON is false. She was, in fact, neither a Miriam nor a Harmon; there is no record of a Miriam Harmon in New England during this period. Jonathan2 Bliss's wife was almost certainly a daughter of George PUFFER of Braintree, Mass., probably named RACHEL. For a complete discussion of the factors that led to this misidentification and the evidence supporting its correction, see NEHGR 151(1997):32-37.

Eugene is a respected and reliable genealogist and his article in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register presents a pretty thorough look at this matter.

Florence Thurber Gargaro

FindaGrave:
GRID=34283384

Name:
Some trees show "Timothy" as his middle name, this is unproven.

Jonathan married PUFFER, Rachel in CA 1648 in Rehoboth, MA. Rachel (daughter of PUFFER, George and Elizabeth, daughter of PUFFER, George) was born before 1634 in England; died before 1734. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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(Ed. Note: It is supposed she is a daughter of George, but no proof exists)

"JONATHAN BLISS (1626-1687) was the son of Thomas and Dorothy (Wheatlie) Bliss of Braintree and Rehoboth, Mass. The oft-repeated claim that his wife was MIRIAM HARMON is false. She was, in fact, neither a Miriam nor a Harmon; there is no record of a Miriam Harmon in New England during this period. Jonathan Bliss's wife was almost certainly a daughter of George PUFFER of Braintree, Mass., probably named RACHEL. For a complete discussion of the factors that led to this misidentification and the evidence supporting its correction, see NEHGR 151(1997):32-37."

FindaGrave:
GRID=34283390

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Married:
It is assumed that she came over from England with her family ca 1635-1639. Some trees have her married in England to Jonathan Bliss, ca 1648, however she was in MA, by that time.

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• _COLOR: 3

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A blacksmith

FindaGrave:
GRID=34066224

Thomas married HULINS (HULINGES), Margaret on 18 Oct 1621 in St. Nicholas, Gloucester, England. Margaret (daughter of HULINGS (HULINS), John and LAWRENCE, Margaret) was born on 15 Jul 1595 in Rodborough, Gloucestershire, England; was christened on 15 Jul 1595 in Olueskirk, Lancashire, England; died on 28 Aug 1684 in Springfield, MA; was buried in Springfield, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _COLOR: 3
• Arrival: 1646, Springfield, MA

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FindaGrave:
GRID=111672507

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• Ref#: 1
• _COLOR: 3
• Arrival: 1639, MA

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The first of the family in this country, and the pioneer ancestor, lived but a few years after coming to New England, and we know very little about him. He was one of the residents of Boston to whom land was granted at Mount Wollaston, which was afterwards the town of Braintree, now the city of Quincy. The record shows that he was granted twenty acres and that there were five in his family, indicating that he had three children. February 24, 1639. His homestead was located about two miles east of the railroad station of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (formerly the Old Colony Railroad) at Quincy. It is the site of the present Fore River shipyards. In the early records the name is often spelled Poffer. The Widow Puffer died at Braintree, February 18, 1676. He was born as early as 1600, died at Braintree, Sept. 27, 1639, (See Pother in records.) (J.W. Porter, Bangor, Me., 1882.)

(ED NOTE: I can find no listing of him or his supposed wife (Elizabeth Sedley) or her family on any manifests of ships arriving in the general area of Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1620-1640. Since he was married in the Massachusetts Colony and his son Matthias was born in 1635 there, it is assumed he arrived before that time. One possibility is that he came over in the "Higginson Fleet" so called, ca 1629. Some 350 men, women and children arrived in that fleet, but I am unable to find lists of passengers at this date 5/6/13.)

(Ed. Note: A cousin has, supposedly, found the ship that George and his family came over on. "The Recovery" of London, 1633/34. It sailed from London and arrived in Dorchester, MA. Captain Gabriel Cornish. There is a "George Puffer" listed in the The Topographical Dictionary of 2885 English Emigrants to New England, 1620-1650 on page 233. However, there is no further information about him. 12/21/17 DMC)

There is no evidence whatsoever that George was married to Elizabeth Sedley. I include her here as a possibility, not a certainty.

He had sons James and Matthias. The records show that Matthias married Rachel Farnsworth. According to the Farnsworth genealogy and public records, Ruth Farnsworth, born June 3, 1642, married William Puffer. In his account of the Puffer family, Mr. Appleton, finds no further trace of William Puffer, and the compiler of this work has also failed. A Thomas Puttne of R.I. died in Wrentham, July 11, 1702. This name was printed "Puffer" in the Register, owning to an error in transcribing. Mary Puffer, who died at Braintree, July 22, 1700, was probably the widow of James. It may still be questioned whether George had a son William.

George married Elizabeth. Elizabeth (daughter of SEDLEY, James and Sarah) was born in CA 1620 in Weymouth, MA; died on 18 Feb 1676 in Braintree, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• Name: Elizabeth Sedley
• _COLOR: 6

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It is unproven if Elizabeth Sedley was the wife of George Puffer. Some modern genealogies put her here and I have included her just on that possibility. There is some speculation that her husband George may have been an indentured servant of her father, James Sedley. Again, there is no historical proof that this is so. In fact, there are no records at all of any Sedley's arriving in the colonies from 1620-1640.
We do know that the wife of George Puffer "died at Braintree, February 18, 1676". DMC

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• _COLOR: 3

John married Anne before 1614. Anne was born in 1571 in Daventry, Northamptonshire, England; died before 1614 in Preston Capes, Northamptonshire, England; was buried in Preston Capes, Northamptonshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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John married LAWRENCE, Margaret in 1588 in Rodborough, Gloucestershire, England. Margaret (daughter of LAWRENCE, William and BEAUMONT, Katherine) was born in 1559 in Rodborough, Gloucestershire, England; died on 6 Apr 1621 in Springfield, MA; was buried on 6 Apr 1621 in Springfield, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _COLOR: 3
• Arrival: 1646, Springfield, MA

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James married Sarah about 1604. Sarah was born in 1583 in Weymouth, MA; died in Weymouth, MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _COLOR: 3