Staggs Family History

My ancestors in the United States

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      John Keen (1578-1649)

      BIRTH: 1578, England
      DEATH: 14 Nov 1649, Boston, USA
      FATHER: Unknown
      MOTHER: Unknown
      SPOUSE: Martha —- (1588–1638)1

      John Keen was born in 1578 in England. He had three sons and three daughters with Martha. He died on November 14, 1649, at the age of 71.

      Keen Coat of Arms

      The life of John Keen

      A Life from London Bridge to New England

      In the final decades of the sixteenth century, when the River Thames carried the commerce of England and London Bridge stood crowded with shops and dwellings, John Keen2 was born. The year was 1578, and the bridge was more than a crossing — it was a world unto itself. Merchants, mariners, craftsmen, and innkeepers lived above their storefronts, their families tucked into narrow rooms overlooking the river’s ceaseless tide. John grew up in this bustling environment, a place where the rhythms of trade shaped daily life and where the river carried news, goods, and opportunity.

      By the early 1600s, John had married Martha, a woman whose maiden name remains unknown but whose presence shaped the first half of his life. Together they raised a family on London Bridge, welcoming children in the years when England was changing — expanding its maritime reach, debating faith and governance, and sending colonists across the Atlantic. Their children included Elizabeth, Martha, Josias, and Sarah, and at least two older sons who remained in England. The Keens lived in close quarters above the shops, part of a community of tradespeople who relied on the river and the bridge for their livelihood.

      By the late 1630s, England’s political and religious tensions were rising, and opportunities in New England drew thousands of families westward. John, now sixty years old, made the momentous decision to leave London. In April 1638, he boarded the ship Confidence at Southampton with his wife and four of their children. The passenger list recorded them plainly:

      • John Keene, age 60
      • Martha Keene, age 50
      • Elizabeth, age 13
      • Martha, age 11
      • Josias, age 9
      • Sarah, age 7

      Two older sons remained behind, their names lost to time.

      The voyage was long and difficult. The Atlantic crossing was notorious for sickness, storms, and cramped conditions. During the journey, tragedy struck: Martha died at sea, leaving John a widower responsible for four young children. It was a devastating loss, one that shaped the family’s arrival in New England.

      Landing first in Boston, John began the work of rebuilding his household. He was listed in early records as a mariner and innholder, occupations that suited a man accustomed to the river’s commerce and the bustle of London Bridge. From Boston he moved to Hingham, and later to Marshfield, where his son Josias (Josiah) would eventually marry into the Little–Warren family and establish the Keen line that would endure for generations.

      John never remarried. Instead, he devoted himself to raising his children and establishing a foothold in the new colony. His life in Massachusetts was quieter than his years in London, but it was marked by steady work, community involvement, and the resilience required of early settlers. He lived long enough to see his children grow into adulthood and begin families of their own.

      On 14 November 1649, John Keen died in Boston, closing a life that had spanned two continents, two worlds, and the early decades of English settlement in New England. His death was recorded in the New England Historical & Genealogical Register, preserving his name among the colony’s earliest inhabitants.

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

      Grandfather Josia Keen was born (1620) in London on London Bridge which, at that time, was lined on both sides with shops with living quarters above them. He, his father John (1578), mother Martha, one brother and three sisters came to America on the “Confidence” in 1638, eighteen years after the Mayflower. His mother died during the voyage. They finally settled in Boston.

      The following is an excerpt from The John Keen(e) (1578-1649) and Associated Families, by Mr. and Mrs. Archie Timothy Keene, 1971

      John Keen, immigrant, Mariner and inn Holder, settled in Hingham, earliest name recorded in America, was born in England in 1578, died 1649, wife Martha 1578-1638. They came to America with five children in 1638, aboard the “Confidence” on which Martha died in 1638. Were the parents of Josiah, Elizabeth, Martha, John and Sarah.

      Legacy of John Keen

      John Keen’s legacy is carried not through wealth or public office but through the family he brought across the Atlantic. His son Josiah Keen (1620–1710) became the patriarch of the Duxbury and Pembroke Keen families, marrying Abigail Little, granddaughter of Richard Warren of the Mayflower, and later Hannah Dingley of Marshfield. Through Josiah’s children, John’s descendants spread across Plymouth County, marrying into families such as Baker, Winslow, Soule, Bisbee, Thomas, and Barker.

      John’s decision to leave London in 1638 placed the Keen family at the heart of early New England history. His descendants would become farmers, soldiers, town officers, and lineage‑society ancestors, preserving the Keen name in town records, family Bibles, and genealogical manuscripts. From the crowded shops of London Bridge to the quiet farms of Marshfield, John Keen’s life bridged two worlds — and his legacy endures in the generations that followed.

      Parents

      FATHER: Unknown
      MOTHER: Unknown

      Married

      Martha —- (1588–1638)1

      Children

      • Son, unknown name (?–?)
      • Son, unknown name (?–?)
      • Josiah Keen (1620–1710) married Abigail Little (1634–1657)
      • Elizabeth Keen (1625–?)
      • Martha Keen (1627–?)
      • Sarah Keen (1631–1669) married Joseph Woodworth

      Documents

      • Marriage records
        • U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 > Name: John Keen; Gender: Male; Birth Year: 1578; Spouse Name: Martha; Spouse Birth Year: 1578; Number Pages: 1
      • Death records
      • Other

      Footnote

      1. The Confidence passenger list of 1638 records Martha Keen as age 50, placing her birth about 1588. No English parish record has been found for her, and the commonly repeated birth year of 1578 is an editorial assumption based on her husband’s birth year rather than a documented fact.
      2. In seventeenth‑century records, the surname of this family appears as both Keen and Keene. Spelling was not standardized at the time, and clerks typically wrote names phonetically, resulting in multiple forms for the same individual. The earliest American record—the 1638 passenger list of the ship Confidence—spells the name Keene, while many later colonial records in Hingham, Marshfield, and Duxbury use Keen. The family’s own eighteenth‑century record book, kept by Hezekiah Keen, also uses Keen, which is the spelling adopted in this work. Both forms refer to the same family, and the variation reflects the fluid spelling practices of the period rather than a difference in lineage.

      Relation of John Keen to Steven Barry Staggs: 10th great-grandfather

      Page last updated June 30, 2026

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