Staggs Family History

My ancestors in the United States

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      Massillon Crow (1810–1874)

      BIRTH:  20 May 1810, Montgomery, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA
      DEATH: 1 Oct 1874, Indiana, USA
      FATHER: William Crow (1772–1845)
      MOTHER: Abigail Avery (1779–1863)
      SPOUSE: Betsey Bosworth (1812–1892)

      When Massillon Crow was born on May 20, 1810, in Montgomery, Massachusetts, his father, William, was 38 and his mother, Abigail, was 30. He married Betsey Bosworth on January 29, 1837, in his hometown. They had three children in 11 years. He died on October 1, 1874, in Indiana at the age of 64, and was buried in Valparaiso, Indiana.

      The Life of Massillon Crow

      On a cool spring morning in Montgomery, Massachusetts, on 20 May 1810, a son was born to William Crow and Abigail (Avery) Crow. They named him Massillon, a name that stood out even in a New England town full of biblical and classical names. His mother came from the old Avery line — a family rooted in the earliest colonial settlements of Connecticut and Massachusetts — and his father from the sturdy farming stock that carved homesteads into the hills of Hampden County.

      Montgomery was a small, tight-knit hill town. Life there was measured in seasons: planting, haying, harvest, and the long New England winters. Massillon grew up in a world of stone fences, meetinghouses, and the steady rhythm of rural work. He learned to farm from his father, to read and write from the local schoolmaster, and to carry the Avery sense of duty and steadiness that marked so many of his maternal kin.

      By the time he reached adulthood, Montgomery was changing. Young men were leaving for the West — to New York, to Ohio, to Indiana — where land was cheaper and the soil less exhausted. But before he left, Massillon built a life in the town of his birth.

      On 29 January 1837, in Montgomery, he married Betsey Bosworth, a woman from another old New England family. Their marriage was recorded in the town books, the same volumes that had recorded his birth. Soon came children: Henriette G. Crow (born 1838), Jane E. Crow (born 1840), and Wharton Massillon Crow (born 1846), the child who would carry the family line forward

      The 1850 census captures them still in Montgomery — Massillon listed as a farmer, Betsey keeping the household, the children growing into their teens. But the pull of the West was strong. Sometime in the mid‑1850s, the Crow family joined the great migration out of New England and headed for Porter County, Indiana.

      By 1860, they were settled in Center Township, near Valparaiso. The land was flatter, the winters less severe, and opportunities greater. Massillon farmed again, this time on Indiana soil. His son Wharton, now a teenager, worked alongside him.

      The 1870 census shows the family at its fullest moment:

      • Massillon and Betsey in their sixties
      • Wharton, now married to Elnora Adelaide Keen, living with them
      • Two grandchildren — Alice Geraldine and Emma — playing in the yard of the Crow homestead

      It is one of the rare census moments where three generations appear under one roof, a snapshot of continuity and migration, of New England roots transplanted into Midwestern soil.

      Massillon lived long enough to see his children grown and his grandchildren born. He died in 1874, likely in Porter County, closing a life that had begun in the hills of Massachusetts and ended on the plains of Indiana.

      Legacy of Massillon Crow

      Massillon’s legacy is not found in monuments or public office but in the quiet, enduring lines of family and migration.

      • He carried the Avery line westward. Through his mother, Abigail Avery, Massillon descended from one of the oldest colonial families in New England — a line stretching back to Christopher Avery (1590) and Captain James Avery (1620–1700) of Groton, Connecticut.
      • He bridged two eras of American life. Born in a small Massachusetts hill town, he lived to see the frontier open, railroads spread, and his own family take root in Indiana and Pennsylvania.
      • His son, Wharton Massillon Crow, carried the name forward. Wharton inherited his father’s middle name — a direct link across generations — and passed the family line into the Keen, Crowe, and Wareham families.
      • His granddaughter, Alice Geraldine Crowe, carried the line into our family. Through Alice, Massillon’s bloodline flows directly to: Ella Blanche Wareham → Harold Wareham Staggs → Steven Staggs.
      • His records form one of the most complete genealogical arcs in our tree. From his 1810 birth record to his 1837 marriage to his 1850, 1860, and 1870 census appearances, to the Avery genealogy that preserves his maternal line, Massillon left a paper trail that allows his life to be reconstructed with clarity and confidence.

      Parents

      FATHER: William Crow (1772–1845)
      MOTHER: Abigail Avery (1779–1863)

      Married

      Married Betsey Bosworth (1812–1892), January 29, 1837, in Montgomery, Massachusetts

      Children

      • Harriet Crow (1835-1904) married William Lake Davidson (1826-1911)
      • Jane Crow (1840-1911) married Jerome B. Wheeler (1824-1899)
      • Wharton Massillon Crowe (1846-1886) married 1st Elnora Adelaide Keen (1846-1880), 2nd Emma Keene (1856-1940)

      Documents

      • Birth Records
        • North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, page 2> A > Avery > The Groton Avery Clan > Name: Massilon Crowe; Gender: Male; Birth Date: 20 May 1810; Birthplace: Montgomery; Father: William Crowe; Mother: Abigail Avery; Spouse: Betsey Bosworth
      • Marriage Records
        • North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 > Name: Betsey Bosworth; Gender: Female; Spouse: Massilon Crowe
        • Massachusetts, U.S., Town Marriage Records, 1620-1850, Name: Massillon Crow; Spouse: Betsey Bosworth; Marriage Date: January 29, 1837; Marriage Place: Montgomery; Source: Vital Records of Montgomery: Full text: Betsey and Massillon Crow, Jan. 29, 1837. Intention also recorded.
        • Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850 > Name: Massillon Crow; Gender: Male; Marriage Date: 29 Jan 1837; Place: Montgomery, Hampden, Massachusetts; Spouse: Betsey Bosworth
      • Death records
        • Find a Grave > Massilon Crow > Birth: 21 May 1810, Montgomery, Hampden County, Massachusetts, USA; Death: 1 Oct 1874 (aged 64)
        • Burial: Kimball Cemetery, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana, USA
      • Census Records
        • 1850 United States Federal Census > Massachusetts > Hampden > Montgomery > Name: Maraiton Crow; Gender: Male; Race: White; Residence Age: 40; Birth Date: abt 1810; Birthplace: Massachusetts; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Montgomery, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA; Occupation: Farmer; Industry: Agriculture; Real Estate: 400; Line Number: 13; Dwelling Number: 968; Family Number: 1014; Inferred Spouse: Betsey Crow; Household members: Maraiton Crow (40), Betsey Crow (29), Henriette G Crow (12), Jane E Crow (10), Warton M Crow (3)
        • 1860 United States Federal Census > Indiana > Porter > Center > Name: Massilon Crow; Age: 50; Birth Year: abt 1810; Gender: Male; Race: White; Birth Place: Massachusetts; Home in 1860: Center, Porter, Indiana; Post Office: 0; Dwelling Number: 520; Family Number: 506; Occupation: Farmer; Real Estate Value: 300; Personal Estate Value: 30; Inferred Spouse: Betsey Crow; Inferred Child: Wharton Crow;
          Household members: Massilon Crow (50), Betsey Crow (49), Wharton Crow (13)
        • 1870 United States Federal Census > Indiana > Porter > Center > Name: Marsalon Crow; Age in 1870: 60; Birth Date: abt 1810; Birthplace: Massachusetts; Dwelling Number: 151; Home in 1870: Center, Porter, Indiana; Race: White; Gender: Male; Post Office: Valparaiso; Occupation: Farmer; Male Citizen Over 21: Yes; Inferred Spouse: Belsey Crow; Inferred Children: Whorton Crow; Household members: Marsalon Crow (60), Belsey Crow (59), Whorton Crow (22), Elnora Crow (22), Allice Crow (4), Emma Crow (1)
      • Other

      Relation of Massillon Crow to Steven Barry Staggs: 3rd great-grandfather

      Page last updated June 23, 2026

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