Staggs Family History

My ancestors in the United States

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      Adam Stone (1770-1849)

      BIRTH: Abt 1770, Maryland, USA
      DEATH: July 1849 • Beaver County, Pennsylvania, USA
      FATHER: Unknown
      MOTHER: Unknown
      SPOUSE: Unknown

      Adam Stone was born in 1770 in Maryland. He had at least six children including one son born in 1822. He died in July 1849 in Moon, Pennsylvania, having lived a long life of 79 years.

      The life of Adam Stone

      Farmer, Militiaman, Patriarch of the Beaver County Stone Family

      Adam Stone entered the world around 1770, born somewhere in Maryland, a colony still feeling the aftershocks of the American Revolution. His early years are largely unrecorded, but the fragments that survive paint the outline of a man shaped by the frontier — a man who worked with his hands, raised a large family, and carried the quiet resilience of the early republic.

      By the turn of the 19th century, Adam was a married man with children already arriving. He lived in Maryland, likely in the rural counties north of Baltimore, where farmland, timber, and stonecutting trades supported families like his. His wife’s name is lost to time, but the censuses show she was born between 1770 and 1780, a steady presence in the household until her death sometime before 1850.

      When war broke out between the United States and Great Britain in 1812, Adam was in his early forties — older than many of the young men who volunteered, but still within the age range for militia service. He enlisted as a Private in the 4th Detachment of Rush’s Pennsylvania Militia, a unit raised from the western counties of the state.

      Militia service in this region was not glamorous. These men guarded supply lines, patrolled frontier roads, and protected the approaches to Pittsburgh and the Ohio River Valley. They were the shield behind the shield — the men who ensured that the war did not spill into the farms and towns of western Pennsylvania.

      Adam served honorably and returned home to his family. His service record is brief, but it is enough to place him among the thousands of ordinary men whose quiet contributions secured the young nation’s borders.

      Sometime between 1818 and 1823, Adam moved his family from Maryland to Moon Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. This was a period of heavy migration into the region, as new roads opened and farmland became available.

      By 1820, Adam appears in the Beaver County census with a large household:

      • A wife
      • An older son
      • Several daughters
      • Younger children
      • A farm large enough to require multiple hands

      This was the beginning of the Stone family’s long presence in Beaver County.

      For the next three decades, Adam worked the land. The 1842 tax list shows him owning:

      • 200 acres of land
      • 5 horses
      • 2 cows
      • A farm valued at a level typical of a stable, established household

      His children grew, married, and moved into their own homes. His youngest son, Jacob Stone, born in 1822, remained with him through the 1840s, appearing in the census as a young man working in agriculture.

      Adam’s wife died sometime before 1850. By the end of the decade, Adam was an elderly widower living with adult children and grandchildren under his roof — a multigenerational farm family typical of the era.

      Adam Stone died in July 1849 at the age of 79, according to the 1850 U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedule. His cause of death was listed as ague, a feverish illness similar to malaria that was common in the river valleys of western Pennsylvania.

      He died in Moon Township, the same place he had farmed for nearly thirty years.

      His death closed the chapter on one of the earliest Stone settlers of Beaver County.

      Legacy of Adam Stone

      Adam Stone left no will, no written memoir, and no headstone that survives. But his legacy is unmistakable:

      • He raised at least six children, including Jacob Stone (1822–1888), whose descendants carried the family name into the 20th century.
      • He served his country during the War of 1812, helping defend the frontier.
      • He established the Stone family in Beaver County, where they remained for generations.
      • His life is preserved not in monuments, but in the census pages, tax lists, and the lives of his children and grandchildren.

      Adam Stone’s story is the story of early America itself — ordinary men and women carving out a life on the frontier, serving when called, and leaving behind a legacy measured not in wealth or fame, but in family, land, and endurance.

      Parents

      FATHER: Unknown
      MOTHER: Unknown

      Married

      Unknown (born ca. 1781–1790, died before 1850)

      Children

      • Son (Name unknown, Born: 1795–1804 in Maryland, Died: After 1840)
      • Daughter (Name unknown, Born: 1795–1804 in Maryland, likely married before 1830)
      • Daughter (Name unknown, Born: 1805–1810 likely married 1825–1835)
      • Daughter (Name unknown, Born: 1811–1815)
      • Daughter (Name unknown, Born: 1816–1820)
      • Jacob Stone (1822-1888) married Eliza Ann Ayers (1832–1920)

      Documents

      • Death
        • U.S., Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 > 1850 > Pennsylvania > Beaver > Name: Adam Stone; Gender: Male; Marital Status: Widowed; Estimated Birth Year: abt 1770; Birth Place: Maryland; Age: 79; Death Date: Jul 1849; Cause of Death: Ague; Census year: 1850; Census Place: Moon, Beaver, Pennsylvania, USA; Line: 1
      • Military
        • U.S., War of 1812 Service Records, 1812-1815 > Name: Adam Stone; Company: 4 DETACHMENT (RUSH’S) PENNSYLVANIA MIL.; Rank – Induction: PRIVATE; Rank – Discharge: PRIVATE; Roll Box: 200; Microfilm Publication: M602
      • Census
        • 1820 United States Federal Census > Pennsylvania > Beaver > Borough > Name: Adam Stone; Enumeration Date: 7 Aug 1820; Home in 1820 (City, County, State): Moon, Beaver, Pennsylvania, USA; Free White Persons – Males – 16 thru 25: 1; Free White Persons – Males – 45 and over: 1; Free White Persons – Females – Under 10: 3; Free White Persons – Females – 10 thru 15: 1; Free White Persons – Females – 16 thru 25: 1; Free White Persons – Females – 45 and over: 1; Number of Persons – Engaged in Agriculture: 1; Free White Persons – Under 16: 4; Free White Persons – Over 25: 2; Total Free White Persons: 8; Total All Persons – White, Slaves, Colored, Other: 8
        • 1830 United States Federal Census > Pennsylvania > Beaver > Moon > Name: Adam Stone; Home in 1830 (City, County, State): Moon, Beaver, Pennsylvania; Free White Persons – Males – 5 thru 9: 2; Free White Persons – Males – 20 thru 29: 2; Free White Persons – Males – 30 thru 39: 1; Free White Persons – Females – 10 thru 14: 2; Free White Persons – Females – 15 thru 19: 1; Free White Persons – Females – 20 thru 29: 1; Free White Persons – Females – 50 thru 59: 1; Free White Persons – Under 20: 5; Free White Persons – 20 thru 49: 4; Total Free White Persons: 10; Total – All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): 10
        • 1840 United States Federal Census > Pennsylvania > Beaver > Moon > Name: Adam Stone; Residence Date: 1840; Home in 1840 (City, County, State): Moon, Beaver, Pennsylvania; Free White Persons – Males – 5 thru 9: 1; Free White Persons – Males – 15 thru 19: 1; Free White Persons – Males – 30 thru 39: 1; Free White Persons – Males – 60 thru 69: 1; Free White Persons – Females – Under 5: 1; Free White Persons – Females – 20 thru 29: 1; Free White Persons – Females – 30 thru 39: 1; Free White Persons – Females – 50 thru 59: 1; Persons Employed in Agriculture: 2; Free White Persons – Under 20: 3; Free White Persons – 20 thru 49: 3; Total Free White Persons: 8; Total All Persons – Free White, Free Colored, Slaves: 8
      • Other

      Relation of Adam Stone to Steven Barry Staggs: 3rd great-grandfather

      Page last updated June 18, 2025

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