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HIRAM BLISS, JR., son of Dr. Hiram and Folly (Hale) Bliss, was born in Waldoboro,
Me., September 11, 1835, and resides in Washington, Me., where he is a practicing lawyer, and where he married
Mrs. Viola C. Young, of that town, February 23, 1887. Mr. Bliss is descended from a long line of distinguished
ancestry, both on the paternal and maternal side, his mother, Polly Hale, being a direct descendant of Thomas Hale,
of Newbury, Mass., who was born in Walton, England, in i6o6, and emigrated to Newbury with his wife, Thomasine,
in 1637. The descendants and connections by marriage of Thomas Hale are many and varied and fill a large place
in the history of New England and the United States. Among the most prominent of the latter class are Governor
Winthrop, of Massachusetts, Whittier, the poet, General Prescott, the gallant commander of the American forces
at Bunker Hill, Prescott, the historian, and Samuel and Franklin I)exter, the celebrated lawyers of Massachusetts.
The stone house of Mr. Hale, in Newbury, built in 1661, is still standing and is quite commanding in size and appearance.
Mr. Bliss' mother, Polly Hale, was the daughter of Harry Hale, son of Nathan Hale 5, Moses 4, Thomas 3, Thomas
2, and Thomas 1. Harry held several important positions in the civil and military rolls of Vermont, and was an
early and constant adherent of the "Liberty Party" and its nominee of State Treasurer several times.
The late Hon. Robert Safford Hale, of Elizabethtown, N. Y., who was a distinguished lawyer and jurist and member
of the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses, was a brother of Mrs. Bliss, as is also the Hon. Matthew Hale, of
Albany, N. Y., who ranks as one of the leading lawyers of New York. The space at our disposal prevents us from
giving anything like an epitome of the distinguished names and the distinguished services rendered the State and
general Government by the members of the Hale family, of which Hon. Eugene Hale, senior Senator from this State
in the United States Senate, is a lineal descendant.
Dr. Hiram Bliss, Sr., was the son of Dr. Ezra Bliss, of Vershire, Vt.. where he was a practicing physician, and
raised a large family. He was an intimate friend and great admirer of Daniel Webster. He had a son, Ezra, a banker,
of New York, of the banking firm of Bliss, Williams & Co.
Mr. Bliss, when sixteen years of age, was employed by M. M. Rawson, of Waldoboro, as clerk in the largest and most
extensive dry goods store in that part of the State, which position he held until he was invited to go to Toledo,
Ohio, to take the assistant cashiership of the Bank of Toledo, of which the late Hon. Morrison R. Waite was I'resident,
and Mr. Bliss' uncle, Dr. Ezra Bliss, was Cashier. Mr. Waite was the late Chief Justice of the United States Supreme
Court.
Mr. Bliss remained in Toledo about four years. During his leisure time while there he had access to Judge Waite's
library and became familiar with the principles of the law. His father's health, becoming somewhat impaired, was
the cause of his return to Waldoboro, where he was urged to complete his studies of the law by Hon. Albion P. Oakes,
one of the most active and distinguished members of the legal profession in his day. He not only was a diligent
student in Mr. Oakes' office, early and late, but was called upon to take active part in the practice, which he
did with skill and ability. Upon the recommendation of Hon. A. P. Gould, of Thomaston, Mr. Bliss was admitted to
the Lincoln County Bar in 1857 and at once moved to Washington, where he has since remained in the successful practice
of his profession. His entries of cases in court have numbered as many as of any other lawyer in his section. Besides
his law practice, he has dealt largely in purchasing and selling real estate.
He has had no desire for town office and always would he unwilling to accept any, but did once accept the office
of town law agent, when the town was involved in eight suits, which were all disposed of during the year for which
he was elected. Mr. Bliss was a member of the popular branch of the State Legislature for six years, and each year
was a member of the Judiciary Committee and once its honored chairman.
In politics Mr. Bliss is a Republican and has been since the party was formed. He is always seen at the State,
Congressional, and County Conventions, and was a delegate at the National Philadelphia Convention which nominated
General Grant for President. He has been nominated to the State Senate, but declined.
He is liberal and generous to the poor and needy, as well as to all laudable and philanthropic measures. He has
been very successful in the accumulation of property. He retains good health. Mr. Bliss is regarded as a business
lawyer; prefers to settle rather than try cases, that his clients may avoid needless expense. He is as widely and
as favorably known as almost any lawyer in Maine. Being of a warm and genial nature, and gentle and agreeable in
manners, he is very popular and has many warm friends in various parts of the State.
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