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→In Pensacola
| date_of_death =[[July 24]], [[1907]]
| place_of_death =Pensacola
| occupation =Politician[[Mayor of Pensacola]]<br/>Journalist, publisher
| religion =
| spouse =Matilda Wilcox Bliss<br/>Sara Gertrude Herman Bliss
| parents =Christian Henry and Caroline Fowler Bliss
| children =Edwin S. Bliss<br/>Maud Allen Bliss<br/>Walter Henry Bliss<br/>Charles Herman Bliss<br/>Herbert Bryl Bliss<br/>Bessie Leeds Bliss<br/>Carlyse Genevieve Bliss<br/>Ruby Lee Bliss
| signature =Chbliss-sig.PNG
| signaturesize =200px
}}
'''Charles Henry Bliss''' was [[Mayor of Pensacola]] from [[1905]] to [[1907]]. He was also a publisher of a [[Bliss magazines|quarterly magazine]] called at various times ''Bliss' Magazine'', ''The Bliss Magazine'', and ''Bliss' Quarterly''.
At birth, Bliss was given the name Abraham Lincoln Bliss. He was called by the nickname "Link", which he detested. Accordingly, upon entering school, Bliss began calling himself Charles. Once, when he missed school due to an illness, a schoolteacher came to the Bliss home and asked to see Charles; Bliss' mother replied that she had no son by the name. Thereafter, Bliss convinced his mother to consent to the name change.
At the age of fourteen, Bliss left home and headed west, first to Illinois, and then to Iowa. In Iowa he was acquainted with Mormon elders and converted to that faith. He later moved with the Mormon Williams family to [[Wikipedia:Nauvoo, Illinois|Nauvoo, Illinois]], where he lived with them as a member of their family. Near the age of eighteen he set out west again. By the time he arrived at Ogden, Utah, he had worn out the two pairs of shoes he owned; he had walked most of the trip, and all of it from Omaha, Nebraska onward. For a time he herded sheep in Morgan County, before heading to Salt Lake City, where he got a job with an agency which enlarged photographs.<ref>Allen, Maud Bliss. ''Biography of My Father, Charles Henry Bliss''. Unpublished manuscript.</ref>
Bliss married Matilda Sophia Wilcox on [[April 17]], [[1879]] in Salt Lake City. Soon after, the Mormon church called him on a mission to the Southern states.<ref>Allen, Maud Bliss. ''Biography of My Father, Charles Henry Bliss''. Unpublished manuscript.</ref> Upon returning to Utah, he attended the University of Utah, and there became disillusioned with Mormonism. Bliss and his wife, who remained a devout follower, later divorced, and Bliss returned to his home state of Indiana.<ref>Information provided by E. C. Bliss, Bliss' grandson.</ref>
Bliss settled in Kokomo, Indiana, where he taught school and edited a local newspaper. He remarried, on [[February 20]], [[1892]], to Sara Gertrude Herman.<ref>Information provided by C. Bozeman, a descendant of C. H. Bliss.</ref>
==In Pensacola==
In December [[1895]],<ref>"Mayor is Dead", ''Pensacola Journal'', July 24, 1907.</reF> Bliss and his second wife moved to Pensacola. Bliss worked as a reporter and newspaper editor, also publishing the [[Bliss magazines]]. He later was engaged in the concrete business, as well as in the design and manufacture of metallic [[Wikipedia:Launch (boat)|launches]].<ref>[http://brokert10.fcla.edu/DLData/WF/WF00000029/file30.pdf ''Bliss' Magazine'', January 1899, p.90]</ref>
Wrote a book about Pensacola around 1904 entitled: "Pensacola harbor, beautiful views and pertinent facts regarding the deep water city of the Gulf of Mexico, Pensacola navy yards, Pensacola shipping and Pensacola fortifications"
===Mayoral tenure===
Bliss was elected [[Mayor of Pensacola]] in [[1905]], and was re-elected to a second term shortly before his death in [[1907]].
Although Bliss was elected in 1905 on the "White Democratic" ticket (a faction of the Democratic party which advocated [[Wikipedia:White supremacy|white supremacy]]), he notably took a stand in vetoing Pensacola's 1905 [[Wikipedia:Jim Crow laws|"Jim Crow"]] ordinance, which provided for segregation on Pensacola's [[Pensacola streetcar system|streetcars]], calling the ordinance unconstitutional. The veto was overridden by a unanimous vote of the City Council.<ref>"The Mayor's Veto of Jim Crow Law", ''Pensacola Journal'', September 28, 1905.</ref>
According to a political ad which Bliss ran in the ''[[Pensacola Journal]]'' on May 1, 1907, he accomplished much during his mayoral administration. Bliss claimed to have done much to beautify and improve the City's streets, parks, and other public works:
====Scuffle with W. C. Jones====
In [[1905]], during Bliss' tenure as Mayor of Pensacola, a former city clerk named [[W. C. Jones]] , the former secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, accused Bliss of being corrupt and physically accosted him.
A Georgia newspaper published an account of the altercation:
==Other images==
<gallery>
Image:Bliss-1907.png|Circa [[19071905]]
</gallery>
==Electoral history==
===[[Mayor of Pensacola]], [[1907]] (Democratic primary)===
''This election was held [[May 2]], [[1907]].''
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Charles Henry Bliss'''
|'''797'''
|'''51.3%'''
|-
|[[Walker Ingraham]]
|757
|48.7%
|}
===[[Mayor of Pensacola]], [[1905]] (General election)===
''This election was held [[June 6]], [[1905]].''
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Charles Henry Bliss'''
|'''1,229'''
|'''58.1%'''
|-
|[[Cheever L. Shine|C. L. Shine]]
|801
|37.9%
|-
|[[Rix M. Robinson]]
|68
|0.3%
|-
|[[C. H. Wells]]
|17
|0.08%
|}
===[[Mayor of Pensacola]], [[1905]] (Democratic primary)===
''This election was held [[April 4]], [[1905]].''
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Charles Henry Bliss'''
|'''526'''
|'''57.2%'''
|-
|[[Frank Reilly]]
|393
|42.8%
|}
==References==