An American Family History

Henry (Heinrich) Bloss was born about 1754 in Heidelberg Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. His parents were Johann Conrad Bloss and Anna Magdalena Reber.

His wife was named Maria Elizabeth.

Elizabeth and Henry's children were Margaret Bloss Straub (1780, married Theodore Straub), Peter Bloss (1785), Nicholas Bloss (1787), Elizabeth Bloss (1789), Henry Bloss (1789), Catharina Bloss Mehrkam (May 5, 1791- February 19, 1870, married Jacob Mehrkam), Daniel Bloss (1795, married Elizabeth Beltz), and Charles Bloss (1809).

He settled in Towamensing township, Carbon county, about 1778.

In 1785 his Federal tax was ten shillings on 160 acres of land, two horses, and two head of cattle.

The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on May 5, 1788, granted to Henry Bloss 217 acres of which 117 acres were in Towamensing township and the remaining 100 acres were in Westmoreland county and were taken out in pursuance of a warrant dated January 20, 1786.

On March 19, 1793, he obtained another warrant for fifty acres.

from "Bloss Family" from History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania compiled by Clinton J. Bloss.

Henry Bloss, son of Conrad, was born in Washington township, this county. He settled in Towamensing township, Carbon county, about 1778. The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on May 5, 1788, granted to Henry Bloss 217 3/4 acres of land; 117 3/4acres of this land was located in Towamensing township, Carbon county, the remaining 100 acres were located in Westmoreland county and were taken out in pursuance of a warrant bearing date Jan. 20, 1786. On March 19, 1793, he obtained another warrant for fifty acres. In 1785 he was assessed Federal tax amounting to ten shillings on 160 acres of land, two horses, and two head of cattle.

Henry Bloss married Elizabeth ( ?) In the Federal Census of 1790 there were in his family two sons and two daughters. At this time we know the name of only one of his children, namely, Catharina, born May 5, 1791; died Feb. 19, 1870. She married Jacob Mehrkam, born Oct. 16, 1796; died Dec. 21, 1870. Both are buried in the old cemetery adjoining Towamensing Church, Carbon county.

His grandfather, Theodore Straub (Dewalt or Theobald), was born in what is known as Dry Land, a little hamlet located between Easton and Bethlehem. He was an extensive distiller, and a man of considerable force of character and local influence in his day, being widely known as an industrious, upright and worthy citizen. 

[He married Margaret Bloss] His family numbered five sons: Emanuel, Daniel, John, David and Thomas, and three daughters.(from Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, John W. Jordan, Edgar Moore Green, & George T. Ettinger, eds., 1905)

History of the Counties of Lehigh and Carbon

Leonard Beltz, a native of Franklin [Township], married Miss E[lizabeth] Boyer, daughter of Frederick Boyer, and settled on land near Parryville, where he kept a hotel, and finally died. His wife died at the age of one hundered and five years in 1867. Their children were, Nicholas, Peter, Jacob, John Eli, Frank, Thomas, Susan, Mary, Molly, and Elizaeth. The old farm is now Parryville. Nicholas settled there and his daughters, Mrs. Lenoyer and Mrs. Mowry, now live in the village.

Peter, now ninety years of age, is living with Jacob Hoyt his son-in-law. He owned a farm above Maria Furnance. Jacob settled in Northampton County near Lockport. John settled in Mahoning township. A daughter, Mrs. A. Arner, lives on the farm he owned. Frank settled in this township and a son John F. now lives there. Elizabeth moved to Schuylkill County. Thomas lives in Mahoning township. Squire H. A. Beltz, of Lehighton, is his son. Susan (Mrs. Samuel Nunemacher), and Mary (Mrs. Jonathan Haines) lives in Parryville, and Elizabeth [Beltz] (Mrs. Daniel Bloss) near the town, where Molly (Mrs. Joseph Beck) resides in Illinois.