Staggs Family History

My ancestors in the United States

recent posts

      Hannah Jane Webster (1816–1889)

      BIRTH: 15 Sep 1816, Eaton, Madison, New York, USA
      DEATH: 13 Feb 1889, Valparaiso, Porter, Indiana, USA
      FATHER: Asher Webster (1793–1879)
      MOTHER: Achsah Graves (1798–1889)
      SPOUSE: Zebulon Keen (1811–1897)

      When Hannah Jane Webster was born on September 15, 1816, in Eaton, New York, her father, Asher, was 23, and her mother, Achsah, was 18. She had one son and eight daughters with Zebulon Keen between 1834 and 1856. She died on February 13, 1889, in Valparaiso, Indiana, at the age of 72, and was buried there.

      The life of Hannah Jane Webster

      A New England Daughter on the New York Frontier and Matriarch of an Indiana Family

      Hannah Jane Webster was born on 15 September 1816 in Cortland County, New York, the eldest daughter of Asher Webster (1793–1879) and Achsah (Graves) Webster (1798–1889). Through her father she descended from Gov. John Webster, one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut, and through her mother she inherited the steady New England character of the Graves family. Her childhood unfolded in the small but growing communities of Homer, McGrawville, and Cortlandville, where the Webster and Graves families were among the early settlers shaping the region’s farms, schools, and churches.

      Hannah grew up in a household marked by the rhythms of rural New York life — the sound of mills along the Tioughnioga River, the bustle of wagon roads connecting Cortland County to the wider world, and the steady presence of extended family. Her parents were part of the great migration of Connecticut families who moved into central New York after the Revolution, bringing with them their traditions of literacy, religious devotion, and civic responsibility. Hannah inherited all of these traits, and they would define her life as a wife, mother, and community member. On 4 December 1833, at just seventeen years old, Hannah married Zebulon Keen, a young carpenter from Homer whose family traced its roots to early Plymouth Colony and Mayflower passengers Richard Warren and Stephen Hopkins. Their marriage united two of the oldest colonial lineages in America — the Websters of Connecticut and the Keens of Massachusetts — but their life together would be lived far from the centers of their ancestors’ histories. They began married life in McGrawville, where Zebulon worked as a carpenter and wagonmaker and Hannah managed a growing household.

      Between 1834 and 1856, Hannah gave birth to twelve children, a span of twenty‑two years that saw the family move among several towns in Cortland County. Their home was full, lively, and often demanding, with infants and teenagers under the same roof. Hannah buried several children in New York — Chloe, Caroline, and infant Asher — losses that were heartbreakingly common in the nineteenth century but no less deeply felt.

      In the mid‑1850s, Hannah and Zebulon made a life‑changing decision: they left New York and joined the westward movement into the Midwest. By 1860, the Keen family was firmly established in Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana, where Zebulon continued his trade as a carpenter. Hannah’s life in Indiana was shaped by the same qualities that had sustained her in New York — resilience, faith, and devotion to family. She raised her younger children in a new community, watched her older children marry into local families, and became part of the social fabric of Valparaiso.

      Hannah appears in the 1882 Methodist Episcopal Church membership records of Valparaiso, a sign of her active participation in the religious life of her adopted town. The Methodist church was a center of community life in Porter County, and Hannah’s membership there reflects her values and the continuity of her New England upbringing.

      She spent her final years surrounded by children and grandchildren, moving between the homes of her daughters as families often did in the nineteenth century. Hannah died on 13 February 1889 at the home of her daughter Emma (Keen) Miller, and she was laid to rest in the old Valparaiso Cemetery beside the family she had nurtured across two states and more than five decades of marriage.

      The following is an excerpt from Staggs Genealogy – Harold Wareham Staggs – His Book

      Their second son was Grandfather Zebulon (1811) who married Hanna Jane Webster. Hanna was a descendent of the Governor of the Massachusetts Colony in 1656, Grandfather John Webster. He was one of ten out of the 153 original settlers accorded the honor of being addressed as Mr. One of his ancestors was John Webster, who held the Manor of Lockington, Yorkshire in the time of Richard II, was a progenitor of Noah Webster the lexicographer.

      Grandfather Zebulon and Hanna had twelve children. He was a wagon maker and lived most of his life on a farm near Valparaíso, Indiana.

      The following is an excerpt from The John Keen(e) (1578-1649) and Associated Families, by Mr. and Mrs. Archie Timothy Keene, 19711

      Hanna, Born Sept. 15, 1816, Died Feb. 13, 1889

      Zebulon. Keene second son of Sprague and Chloe (Higgins) Keene was born 6-16-1811 at Homer, Cortland County, N.Y. and died in Ft. Wayne, Ind. 5-25-1897. He was a carpenter and wagonmaker. On 12-4-1833 he married Hannah Jane Webster who was born 9-15-1816 and who died at the home of her daughter Emma Miller, 2-13-1889. She was the daughter of Ashbel and Avis (Burton) Webster2 and was born at Eaton, Madison County, N.Y. Her mother died in Susquehanna Co., Pa. 4-19-1819, her father died 3-7-1823 at Cazenovia, N.Y. She was raised by Asher Graves who married Achsah Webster who was born 10-31-1798 and was the daughter of Abel and Lydia (Keeney) Webster. They had twelve children. Zebulon and his son Asher moved to Beloit, Wisconsin in May 1856 and his wife joined them in the fall with their eight daughters, the eldest 19 years of age and the youngest six months old. From Wisconsin they moved to Valparaiso, Ind, in 1858 where they lived until 1862 when they located in South Bend. In 1865 they moved to Laporte and from there to Valparaiso in 1876 where they lived the rest of their lives. Both are buried in the old Valparaiso Cemetery and were members of the Baptist Church.

      Legacy of Hannah Jane Webster

      The legacy of Hannah Jane (Webster) Keen is woven into the history of both New York and Indiana. As the daughter of the Webster and Graves families, she carried forward one of New England’s oldest lineages into the American Midwest. As the wife of Zebulon Keen, she helped establish a large and influential family whose descendants became farmers, railroad workers, teachers, merchants, and community leaders across Indiana, Michigan, and beyond. Through her daughters — Elnora, Emma, Martha, Mary Jane, Flora, and others — Hannah’s line spread into the Crowe, Polhamus, Hickok, Perry, and LeMar families, shaping the social fabric of Porter County for generations. Her life, marked by migration, faith, perseverance, and devotion to family, stands as a testament to the quiet strength of the women who built communities on the American frontier.

      Parents

      FATHER: Asher Webster (1793–1879)
      MOTHER: Achsah Graves (1798–1889)

      Married

      Zebulon Keen (1811–1897). Married December 4, 1833, in McGrawville, New York.

      Children

      • Asher Graves Keen (1834-1907) married Mary E. Bunting (1840–1890)
      • Achsah Webster Keen (1837-1913) married Myron Perry (1832-1903)
      • Lydia Ann Keen (1839-1859)
      • Mary Jane Keen (1841-1924) married Albert H. Polhamus (1837-1899)
      • Elnora Adelaide Keen (1846-1880) married Wharton Massillon Crowe (1846-1886)
      • Martha Eliza Keen (1850-1915) married Almeron Crowe (1838-1925)
      • Flora Keen (1852-1929) married Stephen Olin Hickok (1853-1934)
      • Ella Keen (1855-1917) married Joseph P. LeMar (1842-1925)
      • Emma Keen (1856-1940) married 1st Wharton Massillon Crowe (1846-1886) on 24 Aug 1880, 2nd Sylvester L. Miller (1842-1904)

      Documents

      • Birth Records
        • Find A Grave > Hannah Jane Webster Keene, Birth: 15 Sep 1816, Eaton, Madison County, New York, USA
        • Gravestone: Hanna, Born Sept. 15, 1816, Died Feb. 13, 1889
      • Marriage records
      • Death records
        • Find A Grave > Hannah Jane Webster Keene, Birth: 15 Sep 1816, Eaton, Madison County, New York, USA; Death: 13 Feb 1889 (aged 72), Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana, USA
        • Gravestone: Hanna, Born Sept. 15, 1816, Died Feb. 13, 1889
        • Burial: Old City Cemetery, Valparaiso, Indiana, USA
      • Census Records
        • 1840 United States Federal Census > New York > Cortland > Truxton > Zebulon Keen, Free White Persons – Under 20: 3, Free White Persons – 20 thru 49: 2. Total Free White Persons: 5
        • 1850 United States Federal Census Page 1, Page 2, New York > Cortland > Cortlandville > Name: Hannah Keen; Gender: Female; Race: White; Residence Age: 34; Birth Date: abt 1816; Birthplace: New York; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Cortlandville, Cortland, New York, USA; Line Number: 42; Dwelling Number: 721; Family; Number: 741; Inferred Spouse: Zebulon Keen; Inferred Child: Asher Keen; Achsah Keen; Lydia Keen; Mary Keen; Elnora Keen; Martha Keen
          Household members: Asher Keen (15), Achsah Keen (13), Lydia Keen (11), Mary Keen (8), Elnora Keen (4), Martha Keen (0), Zebulon Keen (39), Hannah Keen (34)
        • New York, U.S., State Census, 1855 > Cortland > Cortlandville > E.d. 1 > Name: Hannah Keen; Gender: Female; Age: 39; Birth Date: abt 1816; Residence Date: 1855; Residence Place: Cortlandville, New York, USA; District: E.d. 1; Relation to Head: Wife; Line Number: 2; Sheet Number: 23; Household members: Zebulan Keen (44), Hannah Keen (39), Asher Keen (20), Achsah Keen, (18), Lydia A Keen (16), Mary J Keen (13), Alunora Keen (8), Martha Keen (5), Flora Keen (2), Elen Keen (0)
        • 1860 United States Federal Census > Indiana > Porter > Valparaiso > Name: Hannah Keen; Age: 44; Birth Year: abt 1816; Gender: Female; Race: White; Birthplace: New York; Home in 1860: Valparaiso, Porter, Indiana; Post Office: 0; Dwelling Number: 303; Family Number: 292; Inferred Spouse: Zebulon Keen; Inferred Child: Elnora Keen; Martha Keen; Flora Keen; Ellen Keen; Emma Keen
          Household members: Zebulon Keen (49), Hannah Keen (44), Elnora Keen (13), Martha Keen (10), Flora Keen (7), Ellen Keen (5), Emma Keen (4)
        • 1880 United States Federal Census > Indiana > Porter > Valparaiso > 140 > Name: Hannah Keen; Age: 64; Birth Date: Abt 1816; Birthplace: New York; Home in 1880: Valparaiso, Porter, Indiana, USA; Dwelling Number: 250; Race: White; Gender: Female; Relation to Head of House: Wife; Marital Status: Married; Spouse’s Name: Zebulon Keen; Occupation: Housekeeper; Household members: Zebulon Keen (69), Hannah Keen (64), Ellen Keen (25), Emma Keen (24)
      • Other

      Footnotes

      1. The statement that Hannah Jane Webster (1816–1889) was the daughter of Ashbel Webster (1783–1823) and Avis (Burton) Webster (1791–1820) is disproven by every primary and authoritative secondary source on the Webster family. Ashbel and Avis had only three documented children—Asher (1813), Achsah (1815), and Burton (1818)—as shown in Connecticut church records, probate files, and the Webster Genealogy (1915). No daughter named Hannah appears in their household in any record. In contrast, Hannah is consistently documented in Cortland County, New York, where she appears in the 1850, 1855, 1860, and 1880 censuses with a birth year of 1816 and a birthplace of New York—matching the family of Asher Webster (1793–1879) and Achsah (Graves) Webster (1798–1889), who lived in the exact towns (Homer, McGrawville, Cortlandville) where Hannah is found. The Webster Genealogy explicitly identifies Hannah as their daughter, and the 1935 Boston Transcript genealogical column confirms the same parentage. No primary source ever places Hannah in the Ashbel‑and‑Avis household, and all reliable sources place her unequivocally in the Asher Webster + Achsah Graves family. Therefore, the 1971 Keene genealogy’s claim is incorrect.
      2. Ashbel Webster III and Avis (Burton) Webster cannot be the parents of Hannah Jane Webster because every documented record of their family—probate filings, Connecticut church records, the Webster Genealogy, and the Boston Transcript genealogical columns—lists only three children: Asher (1813), Achsah (1815), and Burton (1818), with no daughter named Hannah. Their family remained in Middlesex County, Connecticut, while Hannah was born and raised in Cortland County, New York, where the family of Asher Webster (1793–1879) and Achsah Graves is well documented in census, church, and local records. Hannah’s consistent birth year of 1816, her New York birthplace, and the naming of her own children—Asher Graves Keen and Achsah Webster Keen—align precisely with the Asher‑and‑Achsah Graves household and not with the Connecticut‑based Ashbel‑and‑Avis family. No primary or secondary source ever places Hannah in the Ashbel III household, and all authoritative sources place her unequivocally as the daughter of Asher Webster and Achsah (Graves) Webster.

      Relation of Hannah Jane Webster to Steven Barry Staggs: 3rd great-grandmother

      Page last updated June 26, 2026

      Search the Staggs Family History site