Which Bliss? Same Name, Different Loyalties!

Three pairs of Bliss men, each with the same given name, played very different roles in the war between England and her colonies.  What do you know about Jonathan, Samuel, and Daniel, the Loyalists, and Jonathan, Samuel, and Daniel, the Patriots? 

Loyalist: The Honorable Jonathan Bliss (#274) is associated with Springfield, Massachusetts and New Brunswick, Canada.  Born in 1742, the son of Captain Luke Bliss and Mercy Ely, Jonathan graduated from Harvard in 1763, practiced law in Boston, and was elected a member of the General Court of Massachusetts.  In September 1768, the Massachusetts Assembly refused by a vote of 92-17 to withdraw Samuel Adams’ “circular letter” that protested taxation without representation. Jonathan was one of the “17 Rescinders”.  Later, Jonathan accompanied Lord Percy and his troops on their march to Concord and was banished under the Massachusetts Proscription Act of 1778 as an enemy of the state.  After a short time in England, he removed to New Brunswick where he was appointed Attorney General of the Province and later became Chief Justice and President of His Majesty’s Council.

Patriot: Captain Jonathan Bliss (#512) is associated with Rehoboth, Massachusetts.  Born in 1738/39, the son of Ephraim Bliss and Rachel Carpenter, Jonathan was a farmer who served on the Continental Congress’s first ship, the Alfred, under John Paul Jones. Captain Bliss’s name appears on the list of men entitled to prize shares in the ship “Mellish” and the brig “Active.”  He is listed in the DAR’s Patriot Index, Centennial Edition, page 284.

Loyalist: Captain Samuel Bliss (#416) is associated with Greenfield and Concord, Massachusetts and St. Andrew, New Brunswick, Canada.  Born in 1750, the son of Daniel Bliss and Phebe Walker, Daniel was a merchant who favored the cause of Great Britain and was charged with pointing out contraband of war to the British on April 19, 1775.  He was arrested and later released due to testimony of witnesses.  Samuel was banished under the Massachusetts Proscription Act of 1778 as an enemy of the state. He joined the British Army and served with distinction in New York and New Jersey during the war.  He later removed to New Brunswick where he was rewarded with an island in the Bay of Fundy for his military service.

Patriot: Captain Samuel Bliss (#473) is associated with Rehoboth, Massachusetts.  Born in 1730, the son of Nathaniel Bliss and Mehitable Whittaker, Samuel was a farmer who commanded a company of 43 Minute Men that marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775 to April 27, 1775. He also served as Captain in Colonel Timothy Walker’s (Bristol County) Regiment for eight months and served three years under Captain Slade.  Captain Samuel served as General George Washington’s steward at Morristown in 1777.  He is listed in the DAR’s Patriot Index, Centennial Edition, page 284.

Loyalist: The Honorable Daniel Bliss (#410) is associated with Concord, Massachusetts and Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Born in 1739/40, the son of Daniel Bliss and Phebe Walker and brother of Loyalist Samuel. Daniel graduated from Yale College in 1760 and began practicing law in Rutland, Massachusetts.  In his attorney’s oath, Daniel had sworn allegiance to King George and thought it would be perjury to oppose the King’s authority.  In March 1775, he entertained British officers in his home and was accused of harboring spies.  Daniel was proscribed by the Act of Massachusetts of 1778 and joined the British Army.  He held the rank of Colonel and was stationed at Quebec.  After the war, he removed to Fredericton, New Brunswick where he later became Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. Following the war, Daniel visited the United States repeatedly, wanting to return to his native land, but the government prohibited his doing so.

Patriot: Deacon Daniel Bliss, Jr. (#515) is associated with Rehoboth and Leyden, Massachusetts.  Born in 1726, the son of Daniel Bliss and Dorothy Fuller, Daniel was the father of eleven children, five of whom died in October 1774 of smallpox.   He enlisted in Captain Gideon Burt's Co., Colonel David Leonard's Regiment, Massachusetts Line on March 2, 1777. Part of his service included marching to help reinforce the Northern army at Ticonderoga.  Daniel was discharged April 10, 1777 for service of one month, ten days. He is listed in the DAR’s Patriot Index, Centennial Edition, page 283.

The brothers of Loyalists Daniel and Samuel Bliss, Captain Joseph of Haverhill, New Hampshire and Captain Thomas Theodore of Brimfield, Massachusetts, both fought on the American side in the Revolutionary War.

More information about these men may be found at the Bliss Family in America site at http://www.usgennet.org/family/bliss/index.html

Additional resources include: The United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada at  http://www.uelac.org/and The Online Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies at http://www.royalprovincial.com/index.htm

Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution with an Historical Essay by Lorenzo Sabine, published by Little, Brown and Company in 1864 is available in many libraries or through NEHGS.

Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America by Aaron Tyler Bliss is available in many libraries or through NEHGS. The numbers in the parentheses after each Bliss name in this article correspond with the numbering system used in the Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America.

More information about the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) and its lending library is available at http://www.newenglandancestors.org/