BIRTH: 1750 • Kentucky, USA
DEATH: 1845 • Kentucky, USA
FATHER: Edward Mills (1719-?)
MOTHER: ?
SPOUSE: Joseph Stagg (1750-1816)
When Mary Mills1 was born in 1750 in Kentucky, her father, Edward, was 31. She had five sons and one daughter with Joseph Stagg between 1774 and 1790. She died in 1845 in Kentucky, at the impressive age of 95.
Legacy of Mary Mills
Born in the mid-18th century, Mary Mills1 entered the world around 1750. Her early years unfolded in a colonial America still under British rule, where families lived by the rhythms of the land and the uncertainties of frontier life.
By the 1770s, Mary had partnered with Joseph Stagg, a man of similar age and spirit. Together, they began a family that would grow to include sons James, Daniel, John, Samuel, and Joseph Jr., and a daughter, Mary Sarah. Though their formal marriage was recorded in Mason County, Kentucky, on 20 September 1797, their union had already produced children—suggesting they migrated together and formalized their bond after settling in the new territory.2
Mary’s life was one of endurance and transformation. She witnessed the birth of a nation, the westward push into Kentucky, and the carving of homesteads from wilderness. By the time she and Joseph arrived in Fleming County, the land was still raw—thick with forest, rich with promise, and fraught with danger. They built a home, raised livestock, and planted crops, contributing to the growth of a community that would become Flemingsburg.
Joseph died in 1816, leaving Mary a widow in her mid-sixties. Yet she remained a pillar of the family, living nearly three more decades and likely residing with one of her children. Her grandchildren would have known her as a woman of quiet strength, a keeper of stories from the Revolution and the early days of Kentucky statehood.
Mary died around 1845, having lived through the birth of thirteen states, the War of 1812, and the presidency of ten U.S. presidents. Though no gravestone marks her final resting place, her legacy endures in the generations that followed—farmers, teachers, soldiers, and settlers who carried the name Stagg into the fabric of American history.
Parents
Father: Edward Mills (1719-?)
Mother: Unknown
Married
Joseph Stagg (1750-1816) September 20, 1797, in Mason County, Kentucky.
Children
- James Staggs (1774-1850).
- Daniel Staggs (b. 1776)
- John Staggs (b. 1778)
- Samuel Staggs (b. 1780)
- Joseph Staggs Jr. (1782–1860)
- Mary Sarah Staggs (1790–1833)
Documents
- Marriage record
- Mason County Marriage Abstracts (1795–1892) > Groom: Joseph Stagg (b. 1750); Bride: Mary Mills: Marriage Date: 20 September 1797: Location: Mason County, Kentucky, USA2
- Census
- 1840 United States Federal Census > Kentucky > Fleming > Division 3 > Mary Mills
- Other
Footnotes
- Mary Mills was also known as Mary Mills Drennon in some records, suggesting she may have been previously married to a man named Drennon before marrying Joseph Stagg.
- This record likely comes from early minister returns or county marriage abstracts, as formal bonds or licenses from that period are often missing or incomplete. The marriage was probably recorded after the couple had already been together for many years, as their children were born well before 1797.
Relation of Mary Mills to Steven Barry Staggs: 4th great-grandmother
Page last updated November 8, 2025
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