USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Rehoboth > History of Rehoboth, Massachusetts; its history for 275 years, 1643-1918, in which is incorporated the vital parts of the original history of the town > Part 29
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BICKNELL, AMELIA D., youngest of five children of Chris- topher and Chloe (Carpenter) Blanding, was born at the Blanding homestead in Rehoboth, Oct. 3, 1830. Her home education was that of a farmer's daughter. Her school education was primarily in the district school of the neighborhood, supplemented by aca- demic studies at Attleboro Academy and Norton Female Seminary, all of which, coupled with excellent natural abilities, fitted her for teaching, to which she devoted herself very successfully for at least five years in the district schools of Rehoboth and Norton. She joined the Congregational Church of Rehoboth in 1855.
Miss Blanding married Thomas W. Bicknell, Principal of the High School at Rehoboth Village, Sept. 5, 1860. They resided four years at Bristol, R.I., where Mr. Bicknell was Principal of the High School and where their daughter Martha Elizabeth was born. After residing for some years at Providence and West Barrington, R.I., the home of the family was at Harvard St., Dorchester, Mass., from 1875 to 1894.
Mrs. Bicknell died at the family summer home at Linekin, Maine, Aug. 13, 1896. Her life was fruitful in good works; gen- erous by nature, she gave herself and her possessions to help all in her power. As a teacher she was faithful and thorough. As a Bible teacher she was a winning instructor, having large classes at Bristol, Barrington and Dochester. She was deeply interested in Foreign Missions and was President of the Dorchester Branch of the W. B. F. M. She instructed classes of young ladies in mission studies and cheered the hearts of missionaries in China and Africa by sending them letters and boxes of useful articles. At home no needy cause or person went from her door unaided. In the founding of the Harvard Congregational Church at Dor- chester she gave generously of time, labor and money, and her home was the center of many charitable undertakings.
A memorial rose window in the Harvard Street Meeting-house was her contribution in honor of her daughter Martha, dying at the age of five years. The Blanding Public Library in Rehoboth was founded by Mrs. Bicknell in honor and memory of her par-
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ents. She was buried in the Bicknell family ground at Princes Hill, Barrington, R.I.
BICKNELL, THOMAS WILLIAMS, LL.D., distinguished au- thor, educator and master of assemblies, was born in Barrington, R.I., Sept. 6, 1834, son of Allin and Harriet Byron (Kinnicutt) Bicknell; studied in Barrington schools till 1850; Thetford Acad- emy, Vt., to July, 1853; Amherst College, Freshman year, 1853-4, graduated at Brown University, 1860, with degree of A.M.
Mr. Bicknell is a born teacher. At the age of nineteen he dis- tinguished himself in the public schools of Rehoboth, teaching three winters in the "Old Red Schoolhouse," 1853-4-6, and three terms in the Village High School, closing in December, 1857. Also at the High School, Bristol, R.I., and later three years in the Arnold Street Grammar School in Providence, the two covering the period from May, 1860, to May, 1869. He was for six years (1869-1875) Commissioner of Public Schools in Rhode Island, during which time he brought about vast improvements in the schools throughout the state, extending the term of office of School Committees from one to three years, establishing evening schools and school libraries, creating a State Board of Education, and re- establishing the State Normal School at Providence on a perma- nent basis, together with many other helpful changes.
Mr. Bicknell is a prolific author. Born in Old Wannamoiset, within the Sowams limits, he early caught the historic spirit of the place, associated with the names of Massassoit, King Philip, Miles Standish, Winslow and Hampden, and having as his neighbors, descendants of John Brown and Thomas Willett. No man is better informed than he of the localities and doings of the Plym- outh and Rhode Island colonies from the beginning until now.
Three monumental historical works have sprung from his pen: "The History of Barrington," 1898; "Sowams," 1903; and "The Story of Dr. John Clarke," 1915, besides, the "Bicknell Genealogy" in 1913. These, with other volumes from his pen, will fill one- half of Dr. Eliot's five-foot shelf, and if all his printed pages were bound in books they would fill a ten-foot shelf.
In 1875 the various monthly educational journals of New Eng- land were united in The New England Journal of Education, of which Mr. Bicknell became editor as well as owner and publisher. He also established The Primary Teacher in 1878, The Bureau of Education in 1876, and the magazine Education, in 1880.
Mr. Bicknell has been president of various state and national institutions and conventions; of the American Institute of In- struction in 1876-8, of the International S. S. Convention at Louisville in 1884, and was a Massachusetts delegate to the Raikes Centennial in 1880, etc., etc. He represented the 24th Suffolk district, Boston, in the State Legislature in 1888-9, serving two years. His executive ability appears in the founding of the Har-
DEA. JOHNSTONE BLACK
DEA. GUSTAVUS A. REED
MRS. ELECTA ANN (MILLER) REED
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vard Congregational Church, Boston; also the town of New Eng- land in North Dakota with its Congregational Church. By the gift of a library of one thousand volumes, a town in Utah has been named Bicknell, and another has been named Blanding for a sim- ilar gift. He has traveled extensively both in this country and abroad.
On Sept. 5, 1860, he married Miss Amelia D. Blanding, daughter of Christopher and Chloe (Carpenter) Blanding, who in 1886 gave $500 for the foundation of the Blanding Library in her native town, to be named in honor of her parents.
Mr. Bicknell resides in Providence, R.I. He is now en- gaged, in his eighty-fourth year, in writing the "History of the State of Rhode Island." He stands six feet three and one-half inches tall, straight as an arrow, neither is his eye dim nor his natural force abated. "The only doctor I employ," he says, "is Nature; my only nurse is righteous living; I worship the All- Good. The sun shines on my horizon three hundred and sixty- five days and six hours every year."
BLACK, JOHNSTONE, merchant, was a son of Ralph and Elizabeth (Erwin) Black and grandson of William and Rebecca (Hamilton) Black. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1832, and came to America in 1851. Mr. Black resided for several years at Lowell, and later at Nashua, N.H. He came to Rehoboth in 1866 to set up machinery at the Orleans Mill, and liking the place, he soon returned and opened a variety store, distributing goods in a wagon to the people round-about, in which enterprise he was successful. On the establishment of the new postal route he was appointed postmaster at Harris. After twenty-five years he sold out his business in Rehoboth and removed to Warren, R.I., where he established a grocery business in company with his two sons, Robert and David.
Mr. Black was a man of irreproachable character, a constant attendant with his household at church, and highly respected by all who knew him. On Jan. 23, 1891, he was ordained deacon of the Congregational Church at Rehoboth. He died at Warren, R.I., Nov. 27, 1908, and lies buried in the family lot at Rehoboth Village.
Mr. Black married Isabella MacIntosh in 1856. A daughter was born to them who died at the age of four. They had three sons :
William Alexander, born Nov. 19, 1857, who married Emma Chaffee of Seekonk, Nov. 6, 1889. They had two children:
(1) Isabella Johnson, born June 2, 1891, and (2) Jennie Chaffee, born Nov. 29, 1893. He died Jan. 20, 1913, aged 55 years.
Robert, born Jan. 12, 1860, died Sept. 25, 1912, in his 53d year. David, born Dec. 18, 1867, married Mary M .. Allen of Warren,
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R.I., Aug. 18, 1897. They have two children: (1) Florence Allen, born July 6, 1898, and (2) Gertrude Johnstone, born May 7, 1902.
Mr. Black's wife, Isabella, died July 10, 1883, aged 51 years. His second wife was Ada Aldrich, to whom he was married Nov. 20, 1884. She died Nov. 1, 1906.
BLANDING, COL. ABRAHAM, LL.D., son of William and Lydia (Ormsbee) Blanding, was born at Rehoboth, Nov. 18, 1775, grad- uated at Brown University and studied law with Judge Brevord of Camden, S.C., where he commenced the practice of law; re- moved to Columbia, S.C., and became eminent in his profession. He married (1) Betsy Martin of Camden, who died in 1812; (2) Mary Caroline Desaussure of Columbia, S.C.
BLANDING, ABRAM, M.D., son of James Blanding, Esq., and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Blanding, was born in Rehoboth, April 28, 1823; graduated from the Homeopathic Medical College in Philadelphia, 1850. Began the practice of his profession in the West in 1856; surgeon in the 22d Iowa Infantry, 1861-65; went to Florida and resided at Palmer until his death, July 31, 1892, in his 70th year. He joined the Congregational Church in Reho- both in 1843, in the pastorate of Rev. John C. Paine.
Dr. Blanding was twice married: (1) to Ellen Cressy of Newark, N.J., Feb. 21, 1855; (2) to Sarah A., daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Alter) Nattinger, Jan. 20, 1876. They had issue: Albert Hazen, Elizabeth Nattinger, and John William. Albert Hazen is a Brigadier-General in the new National Army, and John Wil- liam is major in a Florida regiment.
BLANDING, WILLIAM, M.D., fifth generation from William, the New England ancestor, and son of Willian and Lydia (Orms- bee) Blanding, was born in Rehoboth, Feb. 7, 1773 ("Vital Rec- ord"). Graduated at Brown University 1801; studied medicine and practiced at Attleborough, Mass., and Camden, S.C. Mar- ried Susan Carpenter, daughter of Capt. Caleb Carpenter of Re- hoboth, who died in 1809; afterwards, Rachel Willett of Phila- delphia. He made a large collection of natural history specimens which are now in Brown University. Died Oct. 12, 1857, in his 85th year.
BLANDING, WILLIAM WILLETT, William Blanding, the New England ancestor, came from Upton, County of Worcester, England, in 1640, and settled in Boston. The lineage is traced as follows: -
William,1 married Bethia Wheaton, Sept. 4, 1674. William,2 married Elizabeth Perry, October, 1708. William,3 married Sarah Chaffee, Dec. 25, 1740.
William,4 married Lydia Ormsbee, July 5, 1772.
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James,5 married Elizabeth Carpenter, April 24, 1811. William Willett,6 the subject of our sketch, unmarried.
William Blanding the first owned a section of land south of what is now Summer Street, Boston, Mass., in the vicinity of Hovey's dry-goods store. William the second came to Rehoboth about 1660 and settled on Rocky Hill. The farm seems to have remained in the family for several generations, for William Wil- lett was born here Nov. 1, 1820, but when he was about two and a half years old his parents moved to the farm since associated with the Blanding name, where William grew up and which he cultivated until past seventy years of age, making it one of the finest farms in town.
Mr. Blanding was educated in the common schools, with a few terms at private school. His ambition was to be a first-class farmer, and his active membership in the Rehoboth Farmer's Club was a great advantage to that organization. He was no office-seeker, yet his fellow citizens have honored him with the public trusts of selectman, assessor, and town and church treasurer. He was deeply interested in the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society and its treasurer for many years. He is an active member and liberal supporter of the Congregational Church, and although now in his ninety-eighth year, he keeps pace with the progressive movements of the time, while his fellow citizens hold him in the highest esteem.
BLISS, ABIAH, Jr., is descended from Thomas, of Devonshire, England, whose son Thomas emigrated to this country in 1636, and became one of the pioneers who settled in Rehoboth in 1643. Thomas1 (Rehoboth ancestor), Jonathan,2 Jonathan,3 Ephraim,4 Abiah,5 Col. Abiah,6 Abiah, Jr.7
He was born March 6, 1800, at Rehoboth. His mother was Rebecca Kent, daughter of Ezekiel Kent. Abiah, Jr., married Nov. 11, 1834, Julia A. Sturtevant, daughter of Francis Sturtevant of Pawtucket. Mr. Bliss took his bride to the ancestral homestead where he was born and where he resided until his death, March 31, 1887. Mrs. Bliss died four days later in her 81st year. They celebrated their Golden Wedding Nov. 11, 1884.
Mr. Bliss was a wide-awake, progressive farmer, a pioneer in agricultural improvements. He was an enthusiastic member of the Farmers' Club and participated freely in the discussions. In his prime he spent a part of each year in collecting cattle from various New England states, particularly Vermont and New Hampshire, and driving them into the Boston markets. In this way he came to know these states quite thoroughly, as it was be- fore railroads were common. He was a man of genial temperament and thoroughly reliable. For many years he was a trustee of the Congregational Society and was prominent in the building of the
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Village Church in 1839-40. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bliss :
Rebecca, born Oct. 27, 1835.
Francis A., born Nov. 18, 1837; died Oct. 17, 1914; Civil War veteran.
Albert Henry, born Feb. 27, 1840; died Aug. 31, 1842.
Thomas, born May 21, 1842; died in the army, May 20, 1862.
William, born Jan. 23, 1844.
Adaline, born Aug. 28, 1846; died July 11, 1856.
BLISS, DEACON ASAHEL, born Sept. 6, 1771, was the son of Jonathan Bliss and Lydia Wheeler, both of Rehoboth. He be- came a devout Christian in early life, and was a prompt and reg- ular attendant at church on the Sabbath. For more than fifty years he was an honored member of the Congregational Church at Rehoboth Village; was chosen deacon in 1808 and re-elected in 1827. Deacon Bliss lived on a farm beside the Taunton turn- pike, erecting the house in 1794, which is still standing (1918). On his land was the famous Annawan Rock at the border of the great Sqannakonk Swamp, where King Philip's last chieftain was captured. It was his pleasure to point out this historic spot to visitors who came from far and near to see it. The farm since his day has been in the Noah Fuller family, except a piece of land including the famous rock, now the property of the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society, a gift from three of the daughters of Dea. Bliss during their lifetime.
During the long and trying controversy between the church and Rev. Otis Thompson, Dea. Bliss was chairman of the church com- mittee, which position he sustained with much patience and dis- cretion. When the church was re-dedicated after a thorough re- novation, Dec. 5, 1906, two of Dea. Bliss's great-great-grand- children were present, and his grandson, Rev. William J. Batt, preached the sermon. A memorial window had been placed in the church in honor of Dea. Bliss by another grandson, Cornelius N. Bliss, Sr., of New York.
On the 16th of October, 1794, Mr. Bliss married Deborah, daughter of Edward Martin of Rehoboth. She was born Jan. 30, 1774, and died June 8, 1858. He died May 22, 1855. Eleven children were born to them, two of whom died in infancy.
Lois Martin, born Dec. 23, 1795, married George Bliss of Reho- both, son of Dr. James Bliss, Jan 14, 1816. She died Nov. 24, 1838, leaving six children, three having died in infancy.
Edward, born June 24, 1799, married Lemira, daughter of Peter Carpenter of Rehoboth, March 19, 1820. He was a builder of cars and locomotives and resided in Taunton. He and Mrs. Bliss celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage March 19, 1880. They had four children.
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Mary, born July 17, 1803, died Dec. 11, 1838.
Laura, born Nov. 5, 1805, married May 28, 1833, Richard W.
Batt, a native of Bristol, R.I., but a resident of Fall River, Mass. She died Jan. 1, 1895. Of their five children two died in infancy. William J. Batt is a Congregational clergyman and resides at Concord Junction, Mass. He has held pas- torates in Stoneham, 1859; Bedford, 1861-65; Leominster, 1865-74; Stoneham again, 1875-86; then chaplain at the Massachusetts Reformatory, Concord Junction. Charles R. Batt was President of the National Security Bank of Boston. Henry B. Batt, a New York merchant, died at sea, Nov. 12, 1874.
Asahel Newton, born Feb. 29, 1808, married Irene B. Luther of Fall River, Thanksgiving day, 1831. He died at Rehoboth July 24, 1833, of consumption. Of this union was born Cornelius N. Bliss, Jan. 26, 1833, who was a merchant in New York, and Secretary of the Interior under President McKinley, and who, it is said, refused to be a candidate for Vice-President at Mckinley's second nomination. Had he been nominated, he would have been President instead of Theodore Roosevelt.
Deborah Ardelia, born Jan. 11, 1810; died July 22, 1837.
Lydia, born Jan. 15, 1812, married Nathan Pratt, a farmer of Taunton, Mass., Nov. 27, 1831; died Jan. 1, 1907. Five children.
Martha Washington, born Jan. 6, 1814; married Dea. Samuel Jones of Raynham, Mass., April 3, 1838; died May 6, 1901. Seven children.
Harriet, born Feb. 9, 1817; married Dea. Josephus B. Smith of Rehoboth, May, 1837; died March 7, 1848. They moved to Illinois. She left four children.
BLISS, CYRUS WHEATON, son of Cyrus Bliss and Sukey Jarvis (Harding) Bliss of Rehoboth, Mass., was born in Rehoboth, April 14, 1823, and died in Rehoboth, April 4, 1883. He was sixth in descent from Thomas Bliss, one of the proprietors and founders of Rehoboth. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was highly esteemed for his industry and for uprightness in all his re- lations in life, of sturdy and upright character and purpose. De- voted to his home, his family and his business, he led a successful life, beloved and respected.
He married Jan. 1, 1851, Hannah T. Munroe of Rehoboth, whose parents lived on the adjoining estate. She was born in Rehoboth, Feb. 1, 1828, and died in Boston, Mass., Nov. 9, 1910. She was seventh in descent from Richard Warren who came over in the Mayflower, and fifth in descent from Captain Benjamin Church and Alice Southworth. She was a prominent and active
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member of the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants. She was educated in the public and private schools of her native town and in the Friends' School of New Bedford, Mass., and throughout her long and happy life of usefulness she took a lively interest in public, religious and social matters. A woman of re- markable intellectual endowments and character, strong in am- bition and purpose, full of hope and courage, ever seeking the higher attainments in life, a loving, devoted wife and mother, beloved and admired, whose life furnished a brilliant example of a noble woman. Two children were born of this wedlock. Frederic W. Bliss, a lawyer of Boston, and Dr. George D. Bliss, a physician of Boston.
BLISS, ELMER JARED, son of Leonard C. and Eliza C. (Fisher) Bliss, was born in Wrentham, Mass., Aug. 11, 1867. He prepared for college at the Edgartown High School and at once entered the employ of the Brown-Durrell Co. of Boston, going on the road as a salesman. In 1893, Mr. Bliss with Charles J. Cross opened a retail shoe-store on Summer Street, Boston, under the name of the Regal Shoe Company. It was Mr. Bliss's aim to do away with the independent middleman in trade and sell directly to the consumer, thus creating a business of international scope. His motto, "Sell directly from factory to foot" was applied with energy and skill. In 1894 his firm was consolidated with that of L. C. Bliss & Co., retaining the name Regal Shoe Company, and making the elder Mr. Bliss its President. The younger Mr. Bliss was known among his associates as "the human dynamo," and largely through his energy and enthusiasm the firm opened a chain of stores extending throughout the larger cities of America and other countries. This immense trade is supplied from four large factories owned and controlled by the company of which Mr. Bliss is the managing director, whose conspicuous ability is seen and felt in every branch of the vast enterprise.
Mr. Bliss has effectively served the Boston Chamber of Com- merce as its president and also the Massachusetts Society of In- dustrial Education. He is a prominent member of several well- known clubs, an enthusiastic horseman and yachtsman, and in his taste for out-of-door sports his wife and children fully share. When asked what has given him his greatest personal gratification, he replied, "To live to see my father and mother enjoy the sunset of their lives traveling over the world in ease and comfort."
In 1901, Mr. Bliss married Lena Harding, daughter of Phil- ander and Lena (Tinker) Harding, a lineal descendant of Abraham and Elizabeth Harding, who landed at Salem on the ship "Aba- gail" in 1635. They have two children, Elmer Jared, Jr., and Muriel Harding.
BLISS, FRANCIS A., son of Abiah and Julia Ann (Sturtevant) Bliss, was born in Rehoboth, Nov. 18, 1837, on the Bliss home-
MRS. HANNAH T. (MUNROE) BLISS
24.8 .P.E.U.
FREDERIC WRIGHT BLISS
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stead on Agricultural Avenue, where several generations of the family have lived. He died Oct. 17, 1914, in his 77th year. He attended the district school and later the select school in the Vil- lage taught by Thomas W. Bicknell, through whose influence he was induced to study for a year at the Thetford Academy in Ver- mont. He also attended the Providence Seminary at East Green- wich, R.I. He then taught in the Hornbine and the Annawan districts in Rehoboth. This was in 1860 and '61. In October, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, First Massachusetts Cavalry, under Col. Robert Williams. His regiment was stationed at Hil- ton's Head and the adjoining island of Beaufort, S.C., where he spent the greater part of three years. He was in several small en- gagements, but saw his first hard fighting at the battle of Poco- taligo, S.C. In this battle, while attempting to cut the railway between Charleston and Savannah, Mr. Bliss was severely wounded in his right arm and was off duty for two months. After three years of service he re-enlisted with many of his comrades and they were ordered to Florida, where they fought under Gen. Seymour in the disastrous battle of Olustee. In describing this battle Mr. Bliss writes: "We had 6,000 men against 15,000 of the enemy. They were entrenched behind breastworks and we in the open. For more than an hour I had to ride back and forth in rear of the line of battle, with a revolver in my hand to keep the men in the ranks. A cannon-ball struck the ground just in front and covered me over with dirt. The next instant a cannon-ball tore through the branches of a tree over my head and the branches of the tree fell on the horse; then the recall sounded." Then came the fierce battle of Palatka, Fla., after which his battalion was ordered to Virginia, where they arrived in time to participate in the battle of the Wilderness and witness the surrender of Lee.
Mr. Bliss was appointed quartermaster sergeant, and served until his discharge in December, 1865, his regiment having been kept at Petersburg, Va., several months after the close of the war. Here he contracted malarial fever which troubled him for many years. On his return home he arranged for the purchase of his father's farm, which was greatly improved under his careful super- vision. He was one of the founders and first. president of the Farmer's Club, which was organized Feb. 11, 1874. He was recognized as one of the most progressive farmers in the state, keeping abreast with modern improvements in agriculture. He was a strong advocate of temperance, the principles of which he rigidly practiced. For a number of years he was an efficient mem- ber of the school committee of the town.
He joined the Congregational Church in Rehoboth Village, July 4, 1858 and was ordained one of its deacons in 1877, which office he adorned for thirty-seven years. At the time of his death he had been treasurer of the Church for thirty-two years, and for eighteen years he was superintendent of the Sunday-school.
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Mr. Bliss married Frances M., daughter of Ira and Mary Ann Carpenter of Rehoboth, Dec. 25, 1867. She was born Nov. 16, 1840; died Aug. 27, 1914. Six children were born to them: Albert Abiah, born Nov. 4, 1868; Martha Bird, born Aug. 28, 1871; Adaline Hall, born Oct. 26, 1874; died July 4, 1909; Mary Car- penter, born Sept. 26, 1879; died Oct. 16, 1899; Thomas Kent, born Nov. 2, 1881; and Charles Sturtevant, born Dec. 6, 1884.
BLISS, FREDERIC WRIGHT, lawyer and legislator, born in Rehoboth, Mass., Oct. 14, 1852; son of Cyrus W. and Hannah T. (Munroe) Bliss; seventh in descent from Thomas Bliss, one of the proprietors and founders of Rehoboth; sixth in descent from Capt. Benjamin Church and Alice Southworth; eighth in descent from Richard Warren who came over in the Mayflower in 1620.
Educated in the public schools of Rehoboth, East Greenwich Academy, Rhode Island; Ph.B. Brown University 1878; Ph.B. Boston University 1878; LL.B. Boston University 1881. Un- married.
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