John [Rev.] BLISS

                   He graduated in 1710 from Yale College(then located at Saybrook, Conn.) and was
ordained as the first settled pastor of the Congregational Churcxh at Hebron in
October of 1717.  Previously, in 1715, he had labored with this church on a
salary of fifty pounds per year.  The members agreed to convey to him and his
heirs one hundred acres of land on the east side of the road, sixty on the west
side of the plain, and also the meadow called the minister's meadow (south of
Godfrey Hill).  Rev. Bliss was dismissed in 1734, and with others, was fined by
the county court at Hartford, Connecticut in June of 1735 on account of
"dissenting" views entertained by him.  After his dismissal he declared for
Episcopacy with a number of warm adherents, and thus began the Episcopal
Church on the plain now known as Godfrey Hill, where the first Episcopal Church
edifice was erected in 1735.  Rev. Bliss did not take holy orders in the
Episcopal Church, but officiated as a Lay Reader more or less regularly from
1734 until 1741, the date of his death.  He was the "first dissenting minister"
of Hebron, was much esteened as a pious and devoted Christian, and his death
was universally regretted.(See Hebron, Connectictu Bicentenial 1708-1906 for a
detailed account of Rev. Bliss' career.)
Rev. Bliss afterwards married Hannah Post, Dec. 14, 1732.  She was previously
married to Hon. David Barber, who died.

SOURCES:  1. Ancestral File
            2. 1997 Ordinance Index
            3. Family Records