Staggs Family History

My ancestors in the United States

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      Juliaette Hawthorne (1832-1889)

      BIRTH: 17 Nov 1832, Pennsylvania, USA
      DEATH: 31 Aug 1889 • Irwin, Venango, Pennsylvania, USA
      FATHER: John Delaney Hawthorne (1795–1872)
      MOTHER: Sarah Cousins (1802–1870)
      SPOUSE: Stephen Marion Wareham (1824–1864)

      When Juliaette Julia Hawthorne was born in 1832, in Pennsylvania, her father, John, was 37, and her mother, Sarah, was 30. She had two children with Stephen Marion Wareham. After Stephen’s death she married Peter Hovis and had two more children. She died on August 31, 1889, in Irwin, Pennsylvania, at the age of 56, and was buried in Pennsylvania.

      The Life of Juliaette Hawthorne

      Juliaette “Julia” Hawthorne was born in 1832 in Pennsylvania, the daughter of John Delaney Hawthorne and Sarah Cousins, early settlers of Sugarcreek Township in Venango County. She grew up in a bustling household of siblings—James, Samuel, A.M., and J.B.—surrounded by the rhythms of rural life and the steady presence of her parents, who had carved out a home in the wooded hills of western Pennsylvania. The 1850 census captures her at seventeen, living with her family, helping maintain the household, and preparing for the adult life that lay ahead.

      Sometime in the mid‑1850s, Julia married Stephen Marion Wareham, a young man from nearby Irwin Township. Their marriage joined two long‑established local families and soon brought children of their own: William Hawthorne Wareham, born in 1856, and Sarah Elizabeth Wareham, born in 1859. Julia’s early married life was typical of rural Pennsylvania women of her era—managing a household, raising children, and supporting a husband whose work kept him tied to the land and the community.

      The Civil War changed everything. Stephen enlisted in the Union Army and, like so many soldiers, never returned home. His death in 1864 left Julia a widow at just thirty‑two, responsible for two young children and without the security of a husband’s income. Yet the records show her resilience. She remained in Irwin Township, close to her Hawthorne kin, and built a new life for herself and her children.

      When Juliaette “Julia” Hawthorne remarried after the Civil War, she entered a household that had recently suffered its own loss. Peter Hovis’s first wife, Mary Bonner, died in 1870, leaving several older Hovis children in need of stability. Julia stepped into the role of stepmother, but she and Peter soon formed a new family together. The 1880 census shows two young children—Peter P Hovis, age eight, and Harry C. Hovis, age six—both born after Mary Bonner’s death and therefore Julia’s own sons with Peter. These boys grew up alongside Julia’s Wareham children, William and Sarah, creating a blended household that reflected both the hardships and the resilience of post‑war family life. Through this second marriage, Julia not only rebuilt her own life after widowhood but also expanded her family, weaving together the Wareham and Hovis lines in Irwin Township.

      Legacy of Juliaette Hawthorne

      Juliaette Hawthorne’s legacy lives on not in monuments or written memoirs, but in the families she held together and the generations that followed her. She bridged two households—first as a Wareham, then as a Hovis—and ensured that her children grew to adulthood despite the upheaval of war and widowhood. Her son William carried the Hawthorne name into Indiana, where his descendants would build new lives far from the Pennsylvania hills of his childhood. Her daughter Sarah remained close to home, a reminder of the family’s deep roots in Venango County. Julia’s life reflects the quiet strength of nineteenth‑century women whose stories rarely appear in history books but whose influence shaped the families and communities around them. Through her perseverance, adaptability, and devotion to her children, Julia left a legacy of resilience that endures in the lives of her descendants today.

      Parents

      FATHER: John Delaney Hawthorne (1795–1872)
      MOTHER: Sarah Cousins (1802–1870)

      Married

      1st: Stephen Marion Wareham (1824–1864)
      2nd: Peter Hovis (1818–1883)

      Children

      • With husband Stephen Wareham
      • With husband Peter Hovis
        • Peter P Hovis (1872–1937) married Frances H. David (1875–1953)
        • Harry C Hovis (1874–1927) married Maggie Myrtle Allen (1872–1961)

      Documents

      • Census records
        • 1850 United States Federal Census > Pennsylvania > Venango > Sugarcreek > Name: Julia Hawthorn; Gender: Female; Race: White; Residence Age: 17; Birth Date: abt 1833; Birthplace: Pennsylvania; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Sugarcreek, Venango, Pennsylvania, USA; Line Number: 28; Dwelling Number: 245; Family Number: 267; Inferred Father: J D Hawthorn; Inferred Mother: Sarah Hawthorn; Household members: J D Hawthorn (55), Sarah Hawthorn (49), James Hawthorn (21), Julia Hawthorn (17), Samuel Hawthorn (16), A M Hawthorn (13), J B Hawthorn (10), Boon M Hutchison (5)
        • 1860 United States Federal Census > Pennsylvania > Venango > Irwin > Name: Julia Wareham; Age: 29; Birth Year: abt 1831; Gender: Female; Race: White; Birthplace: Pennsylvania; Home in 1860: Irwin, Venango, Pennsylvania; Post Office: 0; Dwelling Number: 1011; Family Number: 985; Inferred Spouse: Stephen Wareham; Household members: Stephen Wareham (37), Julia Wareham (29), William Wareham (6), S E Wareham (10/12)
        • 1880 United States Federal Census > Pennsylvania > Venango > Irwin > 244 > Name: Julia Hovis; Age: 47; Birth Date: Abt 1833; Birthplace: Pennsylvania; Home in 1880: Irwin, Venango, Pennsylvania, USA; Dwelling Number: 80; Race: White; Gender: Female; Relation to Head of House: Wife; Marital Status: Married; Spouse’s Name: Peter Hovis; Father’s Birthplace: Tennessee; Mother’s Birthplace: Pennsylvania; Occupation: Housekeeper; Household members: Peter Hovis (62), Julia Hovis (47), F. B. Hovis (22), M. E. Hovis (20), P. P. Hovis (8), H. C. Hovis (6), W. H. Wareham (23), S. E. Wareham (20), S. C. Wareham (6)
      • Other

      Relation of Juliaette Hawthorne to Steven Barry Staggs: 2nd great grandmother

      Page last updated June 23, 2026

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