Week 32 - Wide Open Spaces - Prince / Bliss

Uriah Bliss was the son of Jacob and Bethiah (Brown) Bliss, Jr. He was number seven in birth order of 11 children and one of seven that lived to adulthood. He was born 4 May 1803 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. When he was a young boy his parents and his siblings traveled from Massachusetts to Huron County, Ohio. The trip would have been by wagon and taken 4-6 weeks over rugged terrain only to arrive in an area full of dense forests that would have to be cleared, and a log home built. The Bliss family settled in the Firelands of Ohio. The Firelands make up over 500,000 acres of land in northernmost Ohio and was land given by the government to those who had been burned out by the British during the Revolutionary War.

March 10, 1836, Uriah married Sarah Inscho in Greenfield, Huron County, Ohio. After the birth of their children: Pardon, Miles, Asa, Uriah, Jr, Caroline, Lucinda, Charles and Sarah the family pulled up roots and headed to Jefferson County, Kansas around 1854. They left behind their parents and siblings and all that was familiar.


In the mid-1850's, persons traveling from Huron County, Ohio headed to Jefferson County, Kansas would navigate slow, swampy roads in Ohio, voyage by river to a Missouri trailhead, then set off in a wagon train across eastern Kansas. Though the Kansas portion alone might be under a month, the journey required careful planning, was exposed to disease and weather, and was made better—and safer—by traveling in large groups. Occasional friendly interactions with Native Americans were possible, but real combat was rare. Most risks came from the elements, the terrain, and illness.

The lands were not opened for settlement until 1854 - when the Kansas - Nebraska Act was enacted. The Jefferson County area at that time was untamed and dangerous.  For settlers arriving that year, the promise of land and freedom came with the risk of violence, isolation, and political upheaval. The land was rich, the people determined, and the times historic. The pull of wide-open spaces seemed to call those that were full of hope, determination and the excitement of new beginnings. 

Uriah and Sarah (Inscho) Bliss
Picture via Melissa Irving, 3rd great granddaughter of Charlotte J Bliss Morgan. 
Charlotte was a granddaughter of Charles Peck Bliss of Topeka, Kansas.


Uriah died 26 July 1882, and Sarah died 14 Sept 1894, and both are buried in Pleasant View Cemetery in Oskaloosa, Jefferson County, Kansas.

Uriah was my 4th great-uncle. He was my grandma Sheridan's 2nd great-uncle through her mother. Uriah's mother Bethiah (Brown) Bliss is our link to the Mayflower.

Barbie

Comments

  1. JudyAugust 11, 2025 at 8:51 AM

    Very interesting story. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SheilaAugust 13, 2025 at 2:38 PM

    Lots of detailed investigation. May I suggest that Exa is actually Esa. The S was in older scripts written as a curve with a diagonal slash.

    ReplyDelete

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