Mary Bliss

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1625, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
• Alternate birth: Abt 1626

Notes:

From the Find a Grave entry for "Cornet" Joseph Parsons:

In Dorchester, in 1656, almost 40 years before the witchcraft travesty in Salem, MA, Joseph Parsons filed a lawsuit for slander, seeking damages against Sarah Bridgman, wife of James Bridgman. The suit accused Sarah Bridgeman of calling Mary Bliss Parsons a witch. Sarah Bridgman's child had died and she accused Mary Parsons of causing the child's death. Other neighbors came forward with similar accusations. The quality of the evidence produced against Mary Bliss Parsons is indicated by testimony of Mrs Bridgeman on behalf of an older son, whose knee, being fractured and it being set, the child screamed in great pain that Mary Parsons was pulling his leg off and that he saw her on the shelf; when she went away, a black mouse followed her. Trial resulted in a verdict for Mary Parsons, which prompted the suit for slander, which was won by Joseph and Mary Bliss Parsons. The defendants were order to make a public apology and to pay the plaintiffs' costs: "seaven pounds, one shilling and eight pence."

But the matter did not end there.

Nineteen years later, in 1675, Mary Parsons was again accused of witchcraft when Sarah Bridgman herself died. These accusations, made by the father and the husband of the deceased, prompted the prosecution of Mary Bliss Parsons. Mary was indicted by a grand jury and imprisoned in Boston for several months and then put on trial. Her ordeal included the examination of her person by "Soberdized, Chast women to make Diligent Search upon ye body of Mary Parsons, whether any marks of witch craft might appear." She was acquitted.

Such allegations as were made against Mary Bliss Parsons, by neighbors of long standing, living within minutes of one another's homes, treating with one another virtually every day, parents of families, whose children would have know one another in every aspect of small town life--such life-threatening denunciations must surely have sundered many friendships and provoked the deepest of bitter feelings. Dorchester, after 1656, like Salem after 1691, could not have been a happy place. In this, the first American generation, the Puritan experiment had turned toxic within itself.

Mary married "Cornet" Joseph Parsons on 26 Nov 1646 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut. "Cornet" (son of William Parsons and Margaret Hoskins) was born before 25 Jun 1620 in Beaminster, Dorset, England; was christened on 25 Jun 1620 in St. Mary's, Beaminster, Dorset, England; died on 9 Oct 1683 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Joseph Parsons was born about 1647 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts; died on 21 Nov 1729 in Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts; was buried in Bridge Street Cemetery, Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts.
2. Mary Parsons was born on 27 Jun 1661 in Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts; died on 23 Aug 1711 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1649

Notes:

First appears in Hartford around 1639. Not to be confused with the Thomas Bliss of Braintree and Rehoboth. His name is on the Founders Monument in downtown Hartford.

From Michel L. Call and Gary Boyd Roberts, "Mormon Pioneer Genealogy Library Acquired by NEHGS," 1985:

"According to [Mormon Pioneer Genealogy Library] projections, the largest family in America today is the posterity of Robert White (b. ca. 1560) & Bridget Allgar, with a Mormon posterity of 430,000 and an American posterity of 29 million. The next five families are Edward Griswold and Margaret, Joseph Loomis and Mary White (daughter of Robert and Bridget above), Gerard Spencer and Alice Whitbread, Thomas Ford and Elizabeth Charde, and Thomas Bliss and Margaret Hulins, each with a Mormon posterity of 270,000 and an American posterity of 18 million."

Thomas married Margaret Hulins on 18 Oct 1621 in St. Nicholas, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. Margaret (daughter of John Hulins and Margaret) was born about 1600 in of Rodborough, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England; died on 28 Aug 1684 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1595, of Rodborough, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England

Notes:

Or Hulings.

John married Margaret. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Johan. Johan died after 11 Mar 1613 in Rodborough, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]