Born about 1626 to Thomas & Dorothy (Wheatley) Bliss in either Daventry, Northamptonshire or Belston, Devonshire, England. The parish register of Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, records his baptism as having occurred on 2 April 1626 (birth records were not kept). Married before 1649, probably to a daughter of George Puffer named Rachel. Rehoboth vital records contain no entry for Jonathan2's death, only his burial (two separate records), on __ June 1687. One of their children was our ancestor: Experience (Bliss) Chaffee. See Eugene Cole Zubrinsky,'To Say it Doesn't Make It So': Clues to the Probable Identity of the Wife of Jonathan Bliss of Rehoboth MA," New England Historical Genealogical Register, 151, Jan. 1997
A recent article confirms the conclusion in 1997 Register article that Jonathan2 Bliss's wife was probably Rachel Puffer (see Randy A. West, "The English Origin of George1 Puffer of Braintree, Massachusetts," NEHGR 171[2017]:315–17). Rachel was baptized in the parish of Earl Shilton, Leicestershire, England, 12 September 1630, the third and last child of George Puffer (b. say 1599) and his wife, Martha Hoare (b. say 1604, d. Braintree 18 Feb. 1676[/7] [not 1675]). George and Martha married in Earl Shilton 15 November 1624; their other two children were James (bp. Earl Shilton 17 Aug. 1625) and Matthias (bp. there 25 Feb. 1626/7). There was never any serious consideration that George's wife was Elizabeth Sedley; it would be desirable if all references to her were deleted.

Note: His father Thomas Bliss had a
brother George Bliss (1591-1667),
who settled in Newport, Rhode Island
("The Newport Line"),
and a possible cousin named Thomas Bliss
(about 1590 - 1650-51), who settled in
Hartford, Connecticut
("The Hartford Line").
--------------------------
Jonathan Sr. was the sixth,
of seven known children.
-----------------------------
Jonathan Bliss Sr., blacksmith and farmer,
of Rehoboth, Massachusetts.

Jonathan was born March 11, 1626,
and he was baptized April 2, 1626,
at Daventry, Northamptonshire, England
(the son of Thomas Bliss and Dorothy
Wheatlie, of Preston Parva, and Daventry,
Northamptonshire, England).

He was admitted as a freeman of Plymouth Colony in 1655,
and of Rehoboth, Massachusetts in 1658.
On May 24, 1652, he was appointed way-warden (surveyor) in a town meeting at Rehoboth.
On May 17, 1655, and again on June 3, 1668, and May 26, 1681, he was appointed grand-juryman.
On Feb. 22, 1658, he reasserted his freeman's oath of fidelity.
On June 22, 1658, he drew a lot in the meadows on the north side of the town.
On May 26, 1668, he was one of eighty who received land in the Rehoboth North Purchase, and drew a lot for additional land in the North Purchase on March 18, 1668-69.
Jonathan was appointed, after the Great Indian War, Sergeant in the town's militia.
On 5/16/1682, he was chosen a constable of the town.
On 5/1684, "Sarjant" Bliss was made a member of the committee "to seate the meeting house", or determine the assignment of pews to Rehoboth's families.
-------------------------------------
The "Genealogy Of The Bliss Family In America", Volume 1, page 44, states:
"Jonathan Bliss Sr. was married in about 1648, to Miriam Harmon, a sister of the husband of his sister Mary, and possibly the daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Harmon".
---
Note: "The Harmon Genealogy, Comprising All Branches In New England", by Artemas Camfield Harmon, Washington, D.C., 1920, states on pages 251-252, that Jonathan's wife Miriam (Harmon) Bliss died on May 21, 1706 [this date is incorrect], and that her brother Nathaniel Harmon was married to Jonathan's sister Mary Bliss.
Note: May 21, 1706, is the date that Miriam (Carpenter) Bliss died (according to her headstone), NOT the date of death for Miriam (Harmon) Bliss.
---
Note: Eugene Cole Zubrinsky states that the wife of Jonathan Bliss Sr. was not Miriam Harmon, as stated in several Bliss genealogies, and in the Harmon genealogy, but was actually a daughter of George Puffer, of Braintree, Massachusetts ("possibly" named Rachel).
See his articles published in the "New England Historical and Genealogical Register", 1997, titled "To Say It Doesn't Make It So", Volume 151, pages 31-37, and also "Additions and Corrections", 2005, Volume 159, pages 361-362.
------------------------------------
Jonathan Sr. died and was buried in June of 1687 at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, age 61.
His estate was inventoried at 99 pounds, 15 shillings, and 9 pence, sworn to by his son Jonathan, before Sir Edmund Andros at Boston, Massachusetts (who was the unpopular Governor of the Dominion of New England, from 1686 to 1689).
-----------------------------------
Children of Jonathan Bliss Sr.
and his wife are:
---
1. Experience Bliss.
b. Feb. 5, 1649, at Rehoboth, Mass.
m. Nathaniel Chaffee, on March 8, 1669.
d. Sept. 21, 1721.

Note: Some records "incorrectly" lists the eldest child as "Ephraim" Bliss, when it should be "Experience" Bliss.
See: "New England Historical and Genealogical Register" Volume 62, page 203.
Also see: "The Berkshire, Vermont, Chaffees, and Their Descendants, 1801-1911", page 128.
---
2. Rachel Bliss.
b. Dec. 1, 1651.
m. Thomas Mann, on Oct. 28, 1674,
in Swansey, Bristol County Mass.
(His first wife).
d. She and an infant daughter were brutally murdered early in (June) 1676, during the Great Indian War, age 24.
---
3. Jonathan Bliss. (1653-1653).
---
4. Mary Bliss.
b. Sept. 30, 1655.
d. 1655.
---
5. Elizabeth Bliss.
b. Jan. 29, 1657.
m. June 25, 1684, to James Thurber Sr.
d. July 25, 1723.
---
6. Samuel Bliss.
b. June 24, 1660, at Rehoboth, Mass.
m. # 1. Mary Kendrick, on April 15, 1685.
m. # 2. Rebeckah Polley, on Sept. 1, 1711.
d. Aug. 28, 1720, at Rehoboth, Mass.
---
7. Martha Bliss.
b. April 16, 1663.
m. # 1. Nathaniel Toogood.
m. # 2. Benjamin CARPENTER,
on Nov. 27, 1706, at Swansea, Mass.,
the son of Joseph Carpenter and
Margaret Sutton.
d. March 22, 1735, at Swansea, Mass.
---
8. Jonathan Bliss Jr.
(Sometimes recorded as Timothy).
b. Sept. 17, 1666, at Rehoboth, Mass.
m. June 3, 1691, at Rehoboth, Mass. to
Miriam CARPENTER (the daughter of
William Carpenter and his 2nd
wife Miriam Searles/Sale).
They had eight children.
Miriam is buried in the Newman Cemetery,
in Providence County Rhode Island,
near her parents, and at least seven
of her siblings.
(Jonathan later married Mary French,
and they had four daughters).
d. Oct. 16, 1719, at Rehoboth, Mass.
Buried: Palmer River Churchyard Cemetery
(with second wife Mary).
---
9. Dorothy Bliss.
b. Jan. 27, 1668.
m. June of 1690, to James CARPENTER Sr.,
the son of Samuel Carpenter
and Sarah Redway.
d. Oct. 28, 1694, age 26.
---
10.(?) Bethia/Bethiah/Bithiah Bliss.
(Headstone appears to read "Bithiah").
b. Aug. 1671.
m. April 15, 1695, to Daniel CARPENTER
(the son of William Carpenter and his
2nd wife Miriam Searles/Sale).
She was the "1st" of his four wives.
d. Feb. 27, 1702.
Buried: Newman Cemetery, Providence,
Providence County Rhode Island.
_________________________________

SOURCE:
"Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America",
Compiled by Aaron Tyler Bliss, 1982
(a three-volume set),
Volume One, page 44.
_________________________________

Also, see:
"The History of Rehoboth,
Bristol County Massachusetts",
by Leonard Bliss Jr.