THE JOURNEY



     Around the year 1638 Thomas Bliss immigrated to the United States and took up residence in Norwich, Connecticut. Thomas and his wife Elizabeth Brichard had six children. One of these was Samuel Bliss, born 12/9/1657 in Saybrook, Connecticut. Samuel married Anne Elderkin in 1681 and it is said that he purchased land located in the town of Lebanon, Connecticut about one mile east or northeast of the village, near the old burial ground from the Indian chief, Oweneco in 1704-1707. Samuel and Anne had five children.
     One of their children was Thomas Bliss, born 9/5/1682 in Norwich, Connecticut. Thomas married Mary Loomer on 5/27/1709 in Norwich. It is said that he was bitten by a rattlesnake in June of 1719 and died. Thomas and Mary had four children. Of these there was Elijah Bliss born 3/30/1715 in Norwich, Connecticut.
     In November of 1737 Elijah married Martha Markum in Norwich. To this family there were five children born. One of the sons was Elijah Bliss Jr. who married Sarah Hatch. Sarah and Elijah Jr. had four children.
     Nathaniel Bliss, son of Elijah Jr., was born 1/25/1770 in Norwich, Connecticut and married Hanna Williams. He migrated first to the Wyoming Valley area of Pennsylvania stopping in Wilkes Barre and Wyoming having children in both of these places probably during the years of 1800 and 1810. He then continued his migration on to Darke County Ohio. One of his children that ended up in this new location was Hannah Bliss.
     Around 1725 William Shepherd immigrated to Massachusetts or New York and 
finally settled in Old town, Allegheny County Maryland. At this point in time very little is known of William except he had at least seven children. One of his sons was David born between 1760 and 1765 in Old town Maryland. David married Rebecca Clark in 1792. Rebecca was the daughter of John Clark and his wife Alice. David and his family settled in the Deerfield Township area of Ohio near Rebecca's father. The first Methodist Society of Twin Township, Darke County Ohio was organized in the year 1836. Among the founders were the families of the Albrights, James and Abihail Houk, William Shepherd and Rev. Joseph Clark Shepherd. In July 1841 the members built a log cabin church and among the list of members attending this church was Rebecca Shepherd. David and Rebecca had ten children.
     John S. Shepherd, son of David and Rebecca, was born in 1798 in Old town, 
Maryland. On 6/25/1818 he married Hannah Bliss, above, in Warren County, Ohio. John had moved to Darke County, Ohio between 1802 and 1805 along with the other members of the Shepherd and Clark families. He appears in the records as John S. Shepherd, J.P. and his name was on the marriages of several members of the family. John and Hannah had seven children.
     David C. Shepherd son of John S. was born in Warren County, Ohio in 1811. On 2/11/1855 he married Sarah Ann Brock in Darke County, Ohio. Together David and Sarah had six children.
     Nathaniel Isaac Shepherd, son of David C. was born on 8/12/1866 in Darke County, Ohio and married Virginia Mae Colson in Darke County, Ohio. Virginia Mae was the daughter of James Colson and Mary Pitsenbarger. Nathaniel and Virginia had four children.
     Cary Franklin Shepherd and Jesse Shepherd, both sons of Nathaniel, were born in North Star, Ohio. Jesse was born in 1891 and Cary was born in 1893. They met and eventually married Gracey Mae Chambers and Nora Kathrine Chambers. The girls were daughters of Jeremiah Chambers and Alice Brown of Fort Loramie, Ohio.
     Cary and his wife Nora left and eventually settled in Lima, Ohio where they remained the rest of their lives. They had four children.
     Delmar Jeremiah Shepherd, son of Cary and Nora was born 1/15/1917 in Lima, Ohio and married Helen Louise McMullen on 11/21/1938. To this union there were three children.
     Michael LeRoy Shepherd, son of Delmar and Helen was born in Lima, Ohio on 
4/2/1943. In 1972 Michael Shepherd married Bonnie Belle Swanek in Pittston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. This is part of the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania, which is the same location as Nathaniel Bliss had migrated to in 1800. During their stay here Michael and Bonnie had their son Michael LeRoy Shepherd II in Kingston, Pennsylvania on 1/28/1973. In 1978 the family continued east and located in New Milford, Connecticut. Bonnie Shepherd and the Rev. Wayne Lavender founded the first United Methodist contemporary worship service in Connecticut in New Milford in 1998.
     In 1997, while attending the University of Connecticut, Michael LeRoy II decided he wanted to settle in the Woodstock area of Connecticut. In 1999 he and his future wife Kimberly Ferreira purchased a house there and were wed in Canterbury, Connecticut on October 7, 2000.
     If you follow the Journey, you see Nathaniel Bliss and his family (one of which is his daughter Hannah) leaving Norwich, Connecticut in the late 1700's or early 1800's stopping for a while in the Wyoming Valley area of Pennsylvania then continuing on to Darke County, Ohio. In this new location, Hannah marries John S. Shepherd and the Shepherd families help found the first Methodist Society and resided in Darke County for three more generations through Nathaniel. Then Cary Franklin Shepherd moved on to Lima, Ohio where the family stays for two more generations. Michael LeRoy begins his trek eastward stopping in the same Wyoming Valley area of Pennsylvania where Nathaniel Bliss and his family had stopped on their way westward, his son Michael LeRoy II is born there. This migration continues on to New Milford, Connecticut where his wife Bonnie helps start the first United Methodist contemporary worship service in the area and finally in 1999, approximately 360 years after Thomas Bliss had immigrated from England, Michael LeRoy II purchases land in Woodstock, Connecticut 39 miles from where Thomas had settled. And now the 12th. generation (Kadin Michael Shepherd) of this family has been born in this same 
location.



                                                  Mike Shepherd