Sarah (Bliss) Terry (1638 - 1705)

Born 1638 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut

Ancestors

Wife of John Scott — married 20 Jul 1659 in Springfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts

Wife of Samuel Terry Sr. — married 19 Nov 1690 in Springfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 27 Sep 1705 at about age 67 in Springfield, Hampshire, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Henry Chadwick [send private message], John Putnam [send private message], and Myrna Daza [send private message]

Biography

Sarah Bliss born in America on 1642. Sarah married John Scott and had 8 children. Sarah married Samuel Terry. She passed away on 27 September 1705 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Marriage: 20th of the 5th month 1659 John Scot to Sarah Bliss at Springfield, MA. ^[1]

SAMMUEL TERREY(E), who shall be numbered as #5, and referred to as Samuel Terry the Immigrant, was the American progenitor of your compiler's Terry ancestry, born in Barnet, near London, England in April of 1632.
Terry came on the "Pynchon" in 1650 and settled in Springfield, Mass. Savage and as recorded in the Pynchon book: "Sammuell Terrey joyned in marriage to An Lobdell the 3 day of ye 11 mon 1660."
Also as recorded in the Pynchon book: AN Terrey the wife of SamlTerrey senr. was sick and died May 1684."
An early researcher, Thomas B. Warren, in Vol. III of his Springfield Families as copied by the Mercy Warren Chapter, Springfield, Mass. in 1934-1935, wrote that An Lobdell was probably the sister of Elizabeth and Simon.

Children

1. John Scott 1634-1690
2. Elizabeth Scott 1683-1743
3. John Scott 1666-Unknown
4. Sarah Scott 1662-1751
5. Hannah Scott 1678-1711
6. Margaret Scott 1670-1693
7. William Scott 1681-1773
8. Mary Scott 1686-1747
9. Samuel Terry 1635-1730

Common Errors to Avoid

Who did Sarah Marry?

There is some disagreement in the records regarding who Sarah Bliss married. Some say she married John Scott while others say she married John Foot.

A check of Torrey's New England Marriages before 1700 reveal both marriages (see Foot and Scott). However, it is clear they are referring to the same marriage and the same Sarah Bliss as they both use the same date of 20 July 1659. One is almost certainly a misreading of the primary record.

Checking the sources Torrey uses for the John Foot-Sarah Bliss marriage, the were Dawes-Gates 2:340, and Longmeadow 6. It turns out that Dawes-Gates 2:340 does not give this marriage at all, but does give the correct marriage on page 126. Longmeadow 6 is the appendix to the 1884 "Proceedings at the centennial celebration of the incorporation of the town of Longmeadow, October 17th, 1883" - it is not a source which inspires confidence in its genealogical scholarship.

For the John Scott-Sarah Bliss marriage we have many more sources (Hale (1952) 480, 684, 728; TAG 24:109; Cook-Cooper 26; Stevens-Miller 347; Blake-Glidden 50; Warner-Harrington 66; Booth (1910) 96; Coe-Ward) and most importantly the primary record, "John Scott joyned in marriage to Sarah Bliss the 20th 5th mon. 1659." This is conclusively proven by the will of Thomas Bliss who left inheritance to his "daughter Scot."^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ MA Town and Vital Records - B.M. D. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2495/images/40143_268137__0007-00121?pId=7673601&backurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ancestry.com%2Ffamily-tree%2Fperson%2Ftree%2F32139387%2Fperson%2F132013686542%2Ffacts
2. ↑ Holman. Ancestry of Col. John Harrington Stevens..., 2 vols. (1948–52): vol. 1 page 346.

• http://records.ancestry.ca/sarah_bliss_records.ashx?pid=2422169

• Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700, 2 volumes. (Boston, Mass.: NEHGS, 2011): vol. 1 page 558; vol. 2 page 1340.

• Longmeadow: Proceedings at the Centennial Celebration of Incorporation of Town of Longmeadow (Secretary of the Centennial Committee, Longmeadow, 1884): Appendix page 6. Caution: source in error.

• Ferris, Mary Walton, Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines: A Memorial Volume, 2 vols. (Milwaukee: privately printed, 1931–43): 2:340. and [2:126

• Holman, Mary (Lovering), Ancestry of Col. John Harrington Stevens and His Wife Frances Helen Miller, 2 vols. (Concord, N.H.: Rumford Press, 1948–52): vol. 1 page 346.