Colonel Erastus Wolcott's regiment. During the re-organization of the Continental force before Boston, December, 1775, February, 1776, when the soldiers were coming and going Washington called for regiments from the New England States to guard the line at various points until the new army had been well established. Connecticut sent three regiments under Colonel James Wadsworth, Erastus Wolcott and John Douglass. They reached Boston toward the end of January, and remained about six weeks. It formed a part of the detachment from the army that occupied Boston after the enemy evacuated the town."

Child of first wife: 1. Percy. Children of second wife: 2. Fyler, born August 12, 1785; died March 21, 1797. 3. Amy, born May 21, 1791; died October 4, 1791. 4. Samuel Southmayd, mentioned below.

(VI) Samuel S. Thrall, son of Lemuel Thrall (5), born November 27, 1793, died at Milford, Pennsylvania, February 12, 1862. He resided on the bluff at Milford, Pennsylvania, and on the Thrall farm a mile below the village. He married June 11, 1817, Cynthia, daughter of Thomas and Cornelia (Randle) Newman. They had fifteen children, among whom are the following: 1. Lydia Cornelia, born June 25, 1818, married December 15, 1841, Amos Van Etten (see Van Etten family). 2. Sally Ann, born August 13, 1820; married Rev. William Burroughs. 3. Dorleska Elizabeth, born December 24, 1826; married Egbert Jansen. 4. John, born October 4, 1828; married S. Marietta Babcock. 5. Charles Fyler, born January 23, 1832; married Caroline E. Warner. 6. Frances, born September 21, 1837; married Alexander Henderson. 7. Radph B., born January 19, 1840; married Emily Bowhanan. 8. Samuel S., Jr., born February 11, 1841; married Martha C. Biddis.

The founder of the Van VAN ETTEN Etten family in America was Jacob Jansen, who came to this country from Etten, North Brabrant, Holland. He married Annatje Adrianse, of Amsterdam, December 28, 1664, at Kingston, New York. Children: 1. Jan, baptized January 3, 1666; mentioned below. 2. Sytie, baptized at Kingston, March 25, 1668; married (intentions published April 23, 1685) Jan Evertsen, born at Vienna, both residing at Marbletown. 3. Adriaen or Arie, baptized June 26, 1670; married Cartharina Crom. 4.

Petronella, born at Marbletown about 1675; married Albert, son of Arien Roosa, born at Hurley; both residing at Hurley. 5. Pieter, married Eva de Hooges, October 12, 1696; both born and resided at Hurley; he settled in Dutchess county, New York, about 1720. 6. Heiltje, born at Marbletown, baptized April 21, 1679; married November 12, 1699, while living at Hurley, William Van Vredenburg, born in New York and living at Kingston. 7. Emanuel, born at Marbletown; baptized December 29, 1681; married Antje, daughter of Johannes de Hooges, born at Hurley. 8. Tietje, baptized February 24, 1684; married May 10, 1702, Evert Roosa, born in Hurley; resided at Hurley. 9. Jacobus (James) baptized May 2, 1686; married, 1711, Rebekka Roosa; settled in Dutchess county, New York, about 1720. 10. Geesje, born at Hurley, baptized December 25, 1688; married, 1704, Jacob, son of Jacob Decker, born at Marbletown.

(II) Jan Van Etten, son of Jacob Jansen Van Etten (1), baptized January 3, 1666; married, about 1692, Jannatje, daughter of Arien Roosa, granddaughter of Albert Heymanse Roosa and Wyntje Allard. He resided until his death in Hurley and Rochester, Ulster county, New York. Children: 1. Arien, baptized August 15, 1693. 2. Aeltje, born at Hurley, baptized November 11, 1694; married April 30, 1714, Anthony Westbrock, born at Kingston, son of Johannes Westbrock and Magdalena Decker. 3. Jacob, baptized December 25, 1696; mentioned below. 4. Marytje, born at Hurley, baptized January 8, 1699; married Cornelius Ennis, born at Marbletown, son of William Ennis and Cornelia Viervant. 5. Annetje, born at Nysviel (Knightsfield) baptized September 21, 1701; married November 20, 1724, Broer Dekker. The patent of Knightsfield is in the present town of Warwarsing, Ulster county, New York. 6. Ariaantje, baptized November 7, 1703; married Aard, son of the immigrant Joris Middag. 7. Rebecca, born at Nysviel, baptized March 17, 1706; married November 6, 1733, Hendrik Bont. 8. Rachel, born at Nysviel, baptized June 20, 1708; married December 23, 1724, Ritsert (Richard) Kittel. 9. Lea, baptized April 29, 1711; married, April 20, 1729, Thomas Keeter. 10. Catrina, baptized August 28, 1715; married probably Franz Kool.

(III) Jacob Van Etten, son of Jan Van Etten (2), born at Hurley, baptized December 25, 1696; married, April 22, 1719, Antjen Westbroek, born at Kingston. They resided

at Rochester. Children: 1. Jan, born at Nytsfield; baptized April 17, 1720; married April 13, 1738, Maritje Westfael; settled near Easton, Pennsylvania, about 1760. 2. Helena or Magdalena, baptized December 24, 1721; married July 23, 1742, Rev. Johannes Casparus Fryenmuth, first pastor of the four Menissinck Valley churches. 3. Cornelis, baptized January 19, 1724; married March 26, 1746, Heyltje, daughter of Johannes Westbroek and Antje Roosa. 4. Anthony, born at Napanoch, Ulster county, baptized June 12, 1726; married August 3, 1750, Annatje (Hannah) Decker. 5. Jannetjen, baptized April 20, 1729; married at Namanoch, New Jersey, March 23, 1750, Emanuel Gonsales, second wife; resided near Bushkill, Pennsylvania. 6. Johannes, born about 1730; mentioned below. 7. Sarah, born 1736. 8. Dirk, (Richard) baptized May 29, 1739; married Rusje Westfael. (IV) Johannes Van Etten, son of Jacob Van Etten (3), born at Namanoch about 1730; married first, about 1750, Maria Gonsales; married second, Rachel Williams, widow of Daniel Decker. He was a captain in the Pennsylvania militia in the revolution, and in a fight between his company and the Indians near Raymondskill, Pike county, Pennsylvania, in 1780, his son-in-law, Benjamin Ennis, was killed. About 1760 Johannes Van Etten settled in the present town of Delaware, Pike county, Pennsylvania, and died February 15, 1814, aged eighty-two

years.

(V) Cornelius Van Etten, second son of Johannes Van Etten (4), born in Delaware township, Pike county, Pennsylvania, December 8, 1782; married, about 1803, Anna Smith.

(VI) Amos Van Etten, son of Cornelius Van Etten (5), born September 25, 1808, died in Port Jervis, New York, October 15, 1889. He married Lydia Cornelia Thrall, born June 15, 1818, in Milford, Pennsylvania, daughter of Samuel S. and Cynthia (Newman) Thrall. (See Thrall family). Until her marriage she lived in her native town. They removed in 1861 to Port Jervis from Hainesville, New Jersey, and in 1861 she became a member of the Reformed Dutch Church of Deerpark, Port Jervis. "She was one who ennobled all who came in contact with her, and made people who knew her, welcome advancing years, if they would bring a life like hers." She died at her home in Port Jervis, December 11, 1898. Children: 1. Edgar, born April 15, 1843; mentioned below. 2. John, born July 1, 1846; merchant at Port Jervis, New

York. 3. Samuel Southmayd, born June 10, 1848, at Hainesville, Sussex county, New York; was educated in the public schools of Port Jervis, graduating from the high school, and in a private school for two years afterward; removed with the family to Port Jervis in 1861, and in 1868, at the age of twenty, began railroading at Beardstown, Illinois, as clerk in construction work for the division engineer, on what is now part of Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad; after two years returned to Port Jervis to enter the employ of the Erie railroad at Hancock, New York; after two years and a half as clerk there he was appointed ticket agent at Port Jervis and remained there until 1874, when he became superintendent of Hoyt Brothers' tannery until 1884, when he was transferred to Hoytville, Pennsylvania, in a similar position; in 1890 he returned to Port Jervis and entered the firm of Swinton, Van Etten & Company, hardware and foundry, from which he retired in 1901;; from July, 1902, to June, 1906, he was city ticket agent for the Boston & Albany railroad at Worcester, Massachusetts; from that time to December, 1907, freight agent of that city and, since then, the agent at Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Mr. Van Etten was a Republican until the election of Cleveland, since then an independent; was postmaster at Hoytville, 1884 to 1890; member of board of village trustees of Port Jervis, 1896-97-98-99; village clerk, 1902; past noble grand in the Odd Fellows Order. 4. Anna C., born May 5, 1850, died April 11, 1873. 5. Amos, born August 31, 1852; a prominent lawyer, residing at Kingston, New York. 6. Emma, married Charles F. Van Inwegen of Port Jervis.

(VII) Captain Edgar Van Etten, son of Amos Van Etten (6), was born April 15, 1843, at Milford, Pennsylvania. He was educated in the public schools and at the Stillwater Academy, New Jersey, where he was graduated in 1858. He enlisted in the civil war as a private in the Second New Jersey Infantry in 1861, and rose to the rank of captain. He was in the service three years. He began in the railroad business at the foot of the ladder as a freight brakeman, and won his promotion from grade to grade by hard work and demonstrated value to his employers. In 1893 he became a general superintendent of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company, and when that road leased the Boston & Albany road he was made vicepresident of the New York Central, in charge of this leased road, serving in that important

office from 1901 to 1907. Since January, 1908, he has been president of the Cuba Eastern Railroad Company, a line of great and growing importance. His home is in South Framingham, Massachusetts. He is a member of the Holland Society of New York; the Beacon Society of Boston; the Sons of the American Revolution; the Grand Army of the Republic; and the Loyal Legion. He is a director of the Bagdad Chase Gold-mining Company; the Beacon Trust Company; the Harvard Gas and Electric Company; the Ludlow and Southern Railroad Company; the Skanateales Railroad Company and trustee of the Massachusetts Lighting Corpora

He belongs to the following clubs: The Railroad and Transportation Clubs of New York; Fort Orange Club of Albany; Commercial, Merchants, and New Algonquin of Boston.

He married first, Emma Laurance, and by whom were two daughters. Married second, Lilian Frances Cramblett.

The Bliss family seems to be deBLISS scended from the Norman family

of Blois, gradually modified to Bloys, Blyse, Blysse, Blisse, and in America finally to Bliss, dating back to the time of the Norman Conquest. The name is not common in England. The coat-of-arms borne by the Bliss and Bloys families is the same: Sable, a bend vaire, between two fleurs de lis or. The crest is a hand holding a bundle of arrows. The motto: "Semper Sursum." The ancient traditions of the Bliss family represent them as living in the south of England, and belonging to that staunch class known as English yeomanry, or farmers, though at various times some of the family were knights or gentry. They owned the houses and lands they occupied, were freeholders, and entitled to vote for members of parliament. early days they were faithful Roman Catholics, but later, after England had become Protestant, they became Puritans, and became. involved in the contentions between Charles I and Parliament.

In the

(I) Thomas Bliss, the progenitor, lived in Belstone parish, Devonshire, England. Very little is known of him except that he was a wealthy landowner, that he belonged to the class who were stigmatized as Puritans on account of the purity and simplicity of their forms of worship, that he was persecuted by the civil and religious authorities under the direction of Archbishop Laud, and that he

was maltreated, impoverished and imprisoned and finally ruined in health (as well as financially) by the many indignities and hardships forced upon him by the intolerant church party in power. He is supposed to have been born about 1550 or 1560. The date of his death was about 1635. When the Parliament of 1628 assembled, Puritans, or Roundheads, as the Cavaliers called them, accompanied the members to London. Two of the sons of Thomas Bliss, Jonathan and Thomas, rode from Devonshire on their iron grey horses and remained for some time in the city, long enough at least for the king's officers and spies to learn their names and condition, and whence they came; and from that time forth they with others who had gone to London on the same errand were marked for destruction. They were fined a thousand pounds for nonconformity, and thrown into prison, where they lay many weeks. Even old Mr. Thomas Bliss, their father, was dragged through the streets with the greatest indignity. On another occasion the officers of the high commission seized all their horses and sheep except one poor ewe that in its fright ran into the house and took refuge under a bed. At another time the three brothers, with twelve other Puritans, were led through the marketplace in Okehampton with ropes around their necks, and fined heavily, and Jonathan and his father were thrown into prison, where the sufferings of the son eventually caused his death. At another time the king's officers seized the cattle of the Bliss family and most of their household goods, some of the articles of furniture being highly valued for their beauty and age, having been in the family for centuries. In fact, the family was so reduced in circumstances that it was unable to secure the release of both Jonathan and his father, so the younger man had to remain in prison, and at Exeter he suffered thirty-five lashes with a three-corded whip which tore his back in a cruel manner. Before Jonathan was released the estate itself had to be sold. The father and mother went to live with their daughter, who had married a man of the Established Church, Sir John Calcliffe. The remnant of the estate was divided among the three sons, who were advised to go to America where they might escape persecution. Thomas and George feared to wait for Jonathan, who was still very ill, and they left England in the fall of 1635 with their families. Thomas, son of Jonathan and grandson of Thomas (1), remained with his father, who finally died, and the son then came to join his

uncles and settled near Thomas. At various times their sister sent from England boxes of shoes, clothing and articles that could not be procured in the colonies, and it is through her letters long preserved but now lost, that knowledge of the Devonshire family was preserved. Children: 1. Jonathan, died in England, 1635-6. 2. Thomas, born in England; mentioned below. 3. Elizabeth, married Sir John Calcliffe, of Belstone. 4. George, born 1591; died August 31, 1667; settled at Lynn and Sandwich, Massachusetts, and Newport, Rhode Island; left one son John. 5. Mary or Polly.

(II) Thomas Bliss, son of Thomas Bliss (1), was born at Belstone, Devonshire, England, about 1585. He married, in England, about 1612-5, Margaret It is believed that her name was Margaret Lawrence, and that she was born about 1594. She was a goodlooking woman, with a square chin that indicated strength of character. After the death of her husband, which took place about the close of 1639, she managed the affairs of the family with great prudence and judgment. Her eldest daughter Ann married Robert Chapman, of Saybrook, Connecticut, April 29, 1642, and settled in Saybrook, where Thomas Bliss, Jr., also settled, removing in 1659 to Norwich. In 1643 Margaret and her other children removed to Springfield, Massachusetts, fearing the malarial fevers prevalent in Connecticut. She sold her property in Hartford, and purchased a tract of land in Springfield a mile square, situated in the south part of the town on what is now Main street, on the Connecticut river. One of the streets laid out on this tract is called for her Margaret street; another is Bliss street, on which has been built a Congregational church. Margaret died August 28, 1684, forty years after the death of her husband and fifty after her emigration. She was an energetic, efficient woman, capable of transacting most kinds of business, and was long remembered in Springfield as a woman of great intellectual ability. Her will, dated September, 1683. Children: I. Ann, born in England; married, April 29, 1642, Robert Chapman, of Saybrook, Connecticut. 2. Mary, born in England; married, November 26, 1646, Joseph Parsons, one of the most prominent pioneers of the town; she was tried on a charge of witchcraft and acquitted. 3. Thomas, died April 15. 1688. 4. Nathaniel, died November 8, 1654. 5. Lawrence, died 1676. 6. Samuel, born 1624, in England; mentioned. below. 7. Sarah, born at Boston, about 1635;

married, at Springfield, July 20, 1659, John Scott. 8. Elizabeth, born about 1637, at Boston; married, February 15, 1669-70, Miles Morgan, one of the founders of Springfield. 9. Hannah, born at Hartford, 1639; died unmarried, January 25, 1662. 10. John, born in Hartford, 1640; died September 10, 1702.

2.

(III) Samuel Bliss, son of Thomas Bliss (2), was born in 1624, in England. He removed with his father to America in 1635; married November 10, 1664-5, Mary Leonard, daughter of John and Sarah (Heath) Leonard, of Springfield. She was born September 14, 1647, and died in 1724. He died March 23, 1720, aged ninety-six years. Children: 1. Hannah, born December 20, 1666; married John Haley and Simeon Smith. Thomas, born February 8, 1668; mentioned below. 3. Mary, born August 4, 1670; married, 1687, Philip Smith. 4. Jonathan, born January 5, 1672; died about 1740. 5. Martha, born June 1, 1674; married November 10, 1697, Samuel Ely. 6. Sarah, born April 1, 1679; died April 7, 1717. 7. Mercy, born July 18, 1680; married John Ely. 8. Ebenezer, born July 29, 1683, died September 7, 1717. 9. Margaret, born September II, 1684; married January 16, 1707, Samuel Colton. 10. Esther, born April 2, 1688; married May 10, 1716, Henry Chapin.

2.

(IV) Thomas Bliss, son of Samuel Bliss (3), was born in Springfield, February 8, 1668; married Hannah Cadwell. He died November 10, 1733. Children, born at Springfield: 1. Hannah, born August 12, 1699; married December 1, 1724, Samuel Hubbard. Samuel, born March 5. 1701; died February 21, 1771. 3. Martha, born January 8, 1703; married Benjamin Parsons. 4. Thomas, born April 20, 1704, died September 10, 1750. 5. Ichabod, born December 19, 1705; mentioned below. 6. Rachel, born September 8, 1707; married Nathan Sikes. 7. Abel, born February 18, 1707-8; died April 30, 1862. 8. Mary, born October 21, 1710; 21, 1710; married Jonathan Sikes. 9. Timothy, born March 2, 1713; died August 18, 1769. 10. Daniel, born January or June 21, 1715. 11. Aaron (?) born 1717. 12. Edward, born June 27, 1719. 13. Elizabeth, born November, 1722; married Nathan Flagg.

(V) Ichabod Bliss, son of Thomas Bliss (4), was born in Springfield, December 19, 1705; married January 15, 1734. Mehitable Stebbins, born 1709, died April 4, 1790, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Strong) Stebbins. He lived at Springfield and Brimfield, Massachusetts, where he died August 16, 1766.