It has been alleged that Mrs. Martha Ide is identical with the Martha Bliss who was born to Thomas and Dorothy Wheatley/Wheatlie Bliss before December 8, 1622. That was the date she was baptized at the Church of the Holy Cross in Daventry, England. Martha Bliss is frequently identified online and in print as the wife of Nicholas Ide. However, this has not been proven satisfactorily.
I am indebted to Find A Grave Contributor Gene Zubrinsky (47226970), a highly respected genealogist and a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, for providing this insightful interpretation of the surviving evidence regarding Nicholas Ide and the identity of his wife, Martha.
"The oft-repeated marriage date and place of Nicholas Ide and Mary Bliss—Springfield, Mass., 16 May 1647— is fictitious. There is no record to support it, and neither Ide nor the Blisses of Rehoboth had any connection to Springfield. The Blisses of Springfield were children of Thomas Bliss of Hartford, who, like Thomas Bliss of Braintree and Rehoboth, immigrated in 1639 and with whom inexperienced researchers often confuse him; Thomas Bliss of Springfield had no daughter Martha.
It is not certain, moreover, that Nicholas Ide's wife Martha (bur. Rehoboth 3 Nov. 1676) was a Bliss by birth. The repeated assertions that she was the daughter of Thomas Bliss of Rehoboth is based on a passage in Bliss's will, in which he refers to Nicholas Ide as "my sonninlaw." With his first wife, Bliss had seven known children, baptized between 1615 and 1626 (Daventry, Northamptonshire, parish register, 1560–1630, baptisms, 34, 36, 39, 44, 47, 50, 52; the baptismal record of a long-supposed son Nathaniel is actually that of a daughter "Marthah" [ibid., 47]). Bliss's will names only a son and two daughters but nevertheless refers to "my fouer Children"; daughter Martha is not mentioned (Plymouth Colony Wills, 1:67–68, will dated "the seventh day of the eighth month [Oct.] 1647"; estate inventory dated "the 21 of the eighth month [Oct.] 1647"). The will mentions Bliss's daughters' husbands in relation to their respective wives: "my eldest Daughter [Elizabeth] and her husband Thomas Willmore [i.e., Wilmarth]" and "my Daughter Mary and her husband Nathaneell harmon." By contrast, so-called son-in-law Nicholas Ide—whose wife, Martha, was then living—is mentioned only in relation to Ide's son "Nathaneell," whose relationship to the testator is not stated.
While these facts are significant in their own right, they become all the more so when it is understood that the term _son-in-law_ was often used at this time to mean _stepson_. It is therefore possible that, of Thomas Bliss's "fouer Children," Nicholas Ide was the fourth —a stepson, by way of Bliss's marriage to Ide's widowed mother—and not the husband of Bliss's daughter Martha. This interpretation is consistent with the petition of "Nicolas Hyde" to the Plymouth Colony General Court on 7 June 1648 "for a childs portion of the estat[e] of Thomas Blisse, desseased" (_Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England_, ed. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, 12 vols. in 10 [Boston, 1855–1861], 2:126). For further discussion of this unresolved issue, see GenForum's Ide Family Genealogy Forum beginning with this writer's posting "Martha (-----) Ide WAS NOT Thomas Bliss's Daughter," dated 7 Feb. 2002 (https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/ide/275/), and ending with the eighth follow-up message, dated 13 Aug. 2007. (The thread continues, but it is unnecessary to follow it further.)"
Find A Grave Contributor: Gene Zubrinsky (47226970)
I am indebted to Find A Grave Contributor Gene Zubrinsky (47226970), a highly respected genealogist and a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, for providing this insightful interpretation of the surviving evidence regarding Nicholas Ide and the identity of his wife, Martha.
"The oft-repeated marriage date and place of Nicholas Ide and Mary Bliss—Springfield, Mass., 16 May 1647— is fictitious. There is no record to support it, and neither Ide nor the Blisses of Rehoboth had any connection to Springfield. The Blisses of Springfield were children of Thomas Bliss of Hartford, who, like Thomas Bliss of Braintree and Rehoboth, immigrated in 1639 and with whom inexperienced researchers often confuse him; Thomas Bliss of Springfield had no daughter Martha.
It is not certain, moreover, that Nicholas Ide's wife Martha (bur. Rehoboth 3 Nov. 1676) was a Bliss by birth. The repeated assertions that she was the daughter of Thomas Bliss of Rehoboth is based on a passage in Bliss's will, in which he refers to Nicholas Ide as "my sonninlaw." With his first wife, Bliss had seven known children, baptized between 1615 and 1626 (Daventry, Northamptonshire, parish register, 1560–1630, baptisms, 34, 36, 39, 44, 47, 50, 52; the baptismal record of a long-supposed son Nathaniel is actually that of a daughter "Marthah" [ibid., 47]). Bliss's will names only a son and two daughters but nevertheless refers to "my fouer Children"; daughter Martha is not mentioned (Plymouth Colony Wills, 1:67–68, will dated "the seventh day of the eighth month [Oct.] 1647"; estate inventory dated "the 21 of the eighth month [Oct.] 1647"). The will mentions Bliss's daughters' husbands in relation to their respective wives: "my eldest Daughter [Elizabeth] and her husband Thomas Willmore [i.e., Wilmarth]" and "my Daughter Mary and her husband Nathaneell harmon." By contrast, so-called son-in-law Nicholas Ide—whose wife, Martha, was then living—is mentioned only in relation to Ide's son "Nathaneell," whose relationship to the testator is not stated.
While these facts are significant in their own right, they become all the more so when it is understood that the term _son-in-law_ was often used at this time to mean _stepson_. It is therefore possible that, of Thomas Bliss's "fouer Children," Nicholas Ide was the fourth —a stepson, by way of Bliss's marriage to Ide's widowed mother—and not the husband of Bliss's daughter Martha. This interpretation is consistent with the petition of "Nicolas Hyde" to the Plymouth Colony General Court on 7 June 1648 "for a childs portion of the estat[e] of Thomas Blisse, desseased" (_Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England_, ed. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, 12 vols. in 10 [Boston, 1855–1861], 2:126). For further discussion of this unresolved issue, see GenForum's Ide Family Genealogy Forum beginning with this writer's posting "Martha (-----) Ide WAS NOT Thomas Bliss's Daughter," dated 7 Feb. 2002 (https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/ide/275/), and ending with the eighth follow-up message, dated 13 Aug. 2007. (The thread continues, but it is unnecessary to follow it further.)"
Find A Grave Contributor: Gene Zubrinsky (47226970)
It has been alleged that Mrs. Martha Ide is identical with the Martha Bliss who was born to Thomas and Dorothy Wheatley/Wheatlie Bliss before December 8, 1622. That was the date she was baptized at the Church of the Holy Cross in Daventry, England. Martha Bliss is frequently identified online and in print as the wife of Nicholas Ide. However, this has not been proven satisfactorily.
I am indebted to Find A Grave Contributor Gene Zubrinsky (47226970), a highly respected genealogist and a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, for providing this insightful interpretation of the surviving evidence regarding Nicholas Ide and the identity of his wife, Martha.
"The oft-repeated marriage date and place of Nicholas Ide and Mary Bliss—Springfield, Mass., 16 May 1647— is fictitious. There is no record to support it, and neither Ide nor the Blisses of Rehoboth had any connection to Springfield. The Blisses of Springfield were children of Thomas Bliss of Hartford, who, like Thomas Bliss of Braintree and Rehoboth, immigrated in 1639 and with whom inexperienced researchers often confuse him; Thomas Bliss of Springfield had no daughter Martha.
It is not certain, moreover, that Nicholas Ide's wife Martha (bur. Rehoboth 3 Nov. 1676) was a Bliss by birth. The repeated assertions that she was the daughter of Thomas Bliss of Rehoboth is based on a passage in Bliss's will, in which he refers to Nicholas Ide as "my sonninlaw." With his first wife, Bliss had seven known children, baptized between 1615 and 1626 (Daventry, Northamptonshire, parish register, 1560–1630, baptisms, 34, 36, 39, 44, 47, 50, 52; the baptismal record of a long-supposed son Nathaniel is actually that of a daughter "Marthah" [ibid., 47]). Bliss's will names only a son and two daughters but nevertheless refers to "my fouer Children"; daughter Martha is not mentioned (Plymouth Colony Wills, 1:67–68, will dated "the seventh day of the eighth month [Oct.] 1647"; estate inventory dated "the 21 of the eighth month [Oct.] 1647"). The will mentions Bliss's daughters' husbands in relation to their respective wives: "my eldest Daughter [Elizabeth] and her husband Thomas Willmore [i.e., Wilmarth]" and "my Daughter Mary and her husband Nathaneell harmon." By contrast, so-called son-in-law Nicholas Ide—whose wife, Martha, was then living—is mentioned only in relation to Ide's son "Nathaneell," whose relationship to the testator is not stated.
While these facts are significant in their own right, they become all the more so when it is understood that the term _son-in-law_ was often used at this time to mean _stepson_. It is therefore possible that, of Thomas Bliss's "fouer Children," Nicholas Ide was the fourth —a stepson, by way of Bliss's marriage to Ide's widowed mother—and not the husband of Bliss's daughter Martha. This interpretation is consistent with the petition of "Nicolas Hyde" to the Plymouth Colony General Court on 7 June 1648 "for a childs portion of the estat[e] of Thomas Blisse, desseased" (_Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England_, ed. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, 12 vols. in 10 [Boston, 1855–1861], 2:126). For further discussion of this unresolved issue, see GenForum's Ide Family Genealogy Forum beginning with this writer's posting "Martha (-----) Ide WAS NOT Thomas Bliss's Daughter," dated 7 Feb. 2002 (https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/ide/275/), and ending with the eighth follow-up message, dated 13 Aug. 2007. (The thread continues, but it is unnecessary to follow it further.)"
Find A Grave Contributor: Gene Zubrinsky (47226970)
I am indebted to Find A Grave Contributor Gene Zubrinsky (47226970), a highly respected genealogist and a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, for providing this insightful interpretation of the surviving evidence regarding Nicholas Ide and the identity of his wife, Martha.
"The oft-repeated marriage date and place of Nicholas Ide and Mary Bliss—Springfield, Mass., 16 May 1647— is fictitious. There is no record to support it, and neither Ide nor the Blisses of Rehoboth had any connection to Springfield. The Blisses of Springfield were children of Thomas Bliss of Hartford, who, like Thomas Bliss of Braintree and Rehoboth, immigrated in 1639 and with whom inexperienced researchers often confuse him; Thomas Bliss of Springfield had no daughter Martha.
It is not certain, moreover, that Nicholas Ide's wife Martha (bur. Rehoboth 3 Nov. 1676) was a Bliss by birth. The repeated assertions that she was the daughter of Thomas Bliss of Rehoboth is based on a passage in Bliss's will, in which he refers to Nicholas Ide as "my sonninlaw." With his first wife, Bliss had seven known children, baptized between 1615 and 1626 (Daventry, Northamptonshire, parish register, 1560–1630, baptisms, 34, 36, 39, 44, 47, 50, 52; the baptismal record of a long-supposed son Nathaniel is actually that of a daughter "Marthah" [ibid., 47]). Bliss's will names only a son and two daughters but nevertheless refers to "my fouer Children"; daughter Martha is not mentioned (Plymouth Colony Wills, 1:67–68, will dated "the seventh day of the eighth month [Oct.] 1647"; estate inventory dated "the 21 of the eighth month [Oct.] 1647"). The will mentions Bliss's daughters' husbands in relation to their respective wives: "my eldest Daughter [Elizabeth] and her husband Thomas Willmore [i.e., Wilmarth]" and "my Daughter Mary and her husband Nathaneell harmon." By contrast, so-called son-in-law Nicholas Ide—whose wife, Martha, was then living—is mentioned only in relation to Ide's son "Nathaneell," whose relationship to the testator is not stated.
While these facts are significant in their own right, they become all the more so when it is understood that the term _son-in-law_ was often used at this time to mean _stepson_. It is therefore possible that, of Thomas Bliss's "fouer Children," Nicholas Ide was the fourth —a stepson, by way of Bliss's marriage to Ide's widowed mother—and not the husband of Bliss's daughter Martha. This interpretation is consistent with the petition of "Nicolas Hyde" to the Plymouth Colony General Court on 7 June 1648 "for a childs portion of the estat[e] of Thomas Blisse, desseased" (_Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England_, ed. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, 12 vols. in 10 [Boston, 1855–1861], 2:126). For further discussion of this unresolved issue, see GenForum's Ide Family Genealogy Forum beginning with this writer's posting "Martha (-----) Ide WAS NOT Thomas Bliss's Daughter," dated 7 Feb. 2002 (https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/ide/275/), and ending with the eighth follow-up message, dated 13 Aug. 2007. (The thread continues, but it is unnecessary to follow it further.)"
Find A Grave Contributor: Gene Zubrinsky (47226970)
Gravesite Details
No surviving tombstone.
