Staggs Family History

My ancestors in the United States

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      Mayflower Ancestor Lines

      Through our Crowe, Keen, and Bosworth ancestry, we descend from eight Mayflower passengers: Richard Warren, Stephen Hopkins, Elizabeth Fisher, Henry Samson, John Howland, Elizabeth Tilley, John Tilley, and Joan (Hurst) Tilley.

      The Mayflower Legacy in the Crowe, Keen, and Bosworth Families

      In the autumn of 1620, the Mayflower anchored off Cape Cod, carrying 102 passengers whose lives would shape the beginnings of Plymouth Colony. Among them were families whose names would echo through centuries of American history: John Howland, Elizabeth Tilley, John Tilley, Joan (Hurst) Tilley, Richard Warren, Stephen Hopkins, Elizabeth Fisher, and Henry Samson. Through the interwoven lines of the Bosworth, Keen, and Crowe families, these eight passengers became part of the ancestry of Alice Geraldine Crowe (1867–1948) — and through her, part of ours.

      This chapter traces how those eight Mayflower lines converged, generation by generation, into the Crowe family of Tennessee. It is a story of survival, migration, marriage, and continuity — a story that begins on the deck of the Mayflower and ends in the lives of modern descendants.

      The Howland–Tilley Line: A Marriage Born in Plymouth Colony

      Among the passengers who survived the first winter was John Howland, a young man in his twenties who famously fell overboard during a storm and was hauled back by a rope — an event William Bradford recorded as a miracle. Also aboard was Elizabeth Tilley, a thirteen‑year‑old girl traveling with her parents, John Tilley and Joan (Hurst) Tilley. Both parents died during the first winter, leaving Elizabeth an orphan in the care of the colony.

      In time, John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley married, becoming one of Plymouth Colony’s most influential couples. Their daughter Hannah Howland (1637–1705) married Jonathan Bosworth (1636–1717), a union that carried the Howland and Tilley bloodline into the Bosworth family of Massachusetts.

      Through Hannah and Jonathan, the Howland–Tilley line passed to:

      • David Bosworth (1670–1747)
      • David Bosworth Jr. (1699–1747)
      • Zadock Bosworth (1735–1810)
      • Betsey Bosworth (1812–1892)

      Betsey married into the Crowe family, carrying the Howland and Tilley legacy into the nineteenth century.

      The Warren Line: A Merchant’s Legacy

      Another Mayflower passenger, Richard Warren, traveled without his family in 1620, sending for them later. Warren was one of the few signers of the Mayflower Compact who left descendants through multiple daughters. His line entered our ancestry through the marriage of Abigail Little (1634–1657) to Josiah Keen (1620–1710).

      Abigail Little was the granddaughter of Richard Warren through her mother, Anna Warren, daughter of the Mayflower passenger. This marriage connected the Keen family — later part of the Crowe line — to one of Plymouth Colony’s most documented families.

      Through Abigail Little, the Warren line passed into:

      • Josiah Keen Jr. (1657–1732)
      • Samuel Keen (1694–1777)
      • Isaiah Keen (1733–1777)
      • and onward into the Tennessee Keen and Crowe families.

      The Hopkins–Fisher Line: A Family of Survivors

      Stephen Hopkins was one of the most experienced colonists aboard the Mayflower, having previously traveled to Jamestown. His wife, Elizabeth Fisher, also survived the first winter. Their daughter Deborah Hopkins married Andrew Ring, beginning a line that would eventually merge with the Keen family.

      Through the Ring, Mayo, and Keen families, the Hopkins–Fisher line passed into the same Crowe ancestry that carried the Warren line. This convergence of multiple Mayflower families into the Keen line is one of the reasons our ancestry includes so many passengers.

      The Samson Line: A Young Passenger Who Became a Patriarch

      Henry Samson, a young boy on the Mayflower, traveled with his aunt and uncle, Edward and Ann Tilley. Samson survived the first winter and became a respected member of Plymouth Colony. His descendants entered our ancestry through the Oldham–Sprout–Samson line, which merged with the Keen family in the eighteenth century.

      This line passed through:

      • Elizabeth Samson
      • Mercy Sprout
      • Mary Oldham
      • and onward into the Keen family of Massachusetts.

      Through this pathway, Samson became another Mayflower ancestor carried into the Crowe line.

      Convergence: The Crowe Family of Tennessee

      By the nineteenth century, these multiple Mayflower lines — Howland, Tilley, Warren, Hopkins, Fisher, Samson — had converged into the Keen, Bosworth, and Crowe families of New England. When Betsey Bosworth (1812–1892) married into the Crowe family, she carried the Howland–Tilley line with her. When the Keen line merged with the Crowes through Alice Geraldine Crowe (1867–1948), the Warren, Hopkins, Fisher, and Samson lines joined the same branch.

      Alice Geraldine Crowe became the single point where eight Mayflower passengers converged:

      • John Howland
      • Elizabeth Tilley
      • John Tilley
      • Joan (Hurst) Tilley
      • Richard Warren
      • Stephen Hopkins
      • Elizabeth Fisher
      • Henry Samson

      Through her daughter Ella Blanche Wareham, her grandson Harold Wareham Staggs, and her great‑grandson Steven Barry Staggs, these lines continued into the present.

      Legacy

      Our Mayflower ancestry is not a single line but a network of interwoven families whose stories shaped the earliest years of Plymouth Colony. Through the Crowe, Keen, and Bosworth families, we inherit the legacy of:

      • the Howland–Tilley marriage that united two surviving families,
      • the Warren line that helped stabilize the colony,
      • the Hopkins–Fisher family whose experience guided early governance,
      • and the Samson line that carried the resilience of the first winter into future generations.

      These eight passengers represent courage, endurance, and the willingness to cross an ocean in search of a new life. Their descendants helped build towns, serve in militias, cultivate land, and establish communities across New England — and eventually across the American frontier.

      Through Alice Geraldine Crowe, their legacy became part of our own. Our ancestry is a tapestry woven from the lives of those who stepped onto the shores of Cape Cod in 1620, endured hardship, and helped shape the beginnings of a nation. Their stories continue in us, carried forward through the generations that link the Mayflower to the present day.

      Richard Warren

      Stephen Hopkins

      Elizabeth Fisher

      John Howland

      Joan Hurst

      John Tilley 

      Elizabeth Tilley

      Henry Samson

      Page last updated July 3, 2026

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