BIRTH: 1694, Duxbury, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH: 18 May 1777, Pembroke, Massachusetts, USA
FATHER: Josiah Keen Jr (1657-1732)
MOTHER: Lydia Baker (1659-1732)
SPOUSE: Ruth Sprague (1701-1736)
When Samuel Keen was born in 1694 in Duxbury, Massachusetts, his father, Josiah, was 37 and his mother, Lydia, was 35. He married Ruth Sprague and they had six children together. He then married Margaret Redding and they had four children together. He died on May 18, 1777, in Pembroke, Massachusetts, having lived a long life of 83 years.
His story
The following is an excerpt from Staggs Genealogy – Harold Wareham Staggs – His Book
Josiah’s ninth child was Grandfather Samuel Keen who married Ruth Sprague. They had two children.
Ruth’s father, John Sprague, was killed in Pierses’ fierce fight at Pawtucket in King Phillip’s War. His father, Francis, arrived in Plymouth Massachusetts on the good ship Anne in 1623. In 1637 he was admitted as a “Freeman of the Colony” and became an “Inn Holder”. Francis did not adhere strictly to the civic code of the “Puritan Fathers” and records show that he was brought before the Court several times.
A son of Grandfather Samuel and Ruth was Grandfather Isiah (1732) who, when living in Pembroke, married Ruth Bisbee (1739). They had eight children.
The following is an excerpt from The John Keen(e) (1578-1649) and Associated Families, by Mr. and Mrs. Archie Timothy Keene, 1971
Samuel, b 1694, married 4-18-1719 Ruth Sprague, born 2-22-1701/2 in Duxbury, daughter of William and Grace (Wadsworth) Sprague. They had eleven children.
Legacy of Samuel Keen
Parents
Father: Josiah Keen Jr (1657-1732)
Mother: Lydia Baker (1659-1732)
Married
Married 1st: Ruth Sprague (1701-1736) on April 18, 1719, in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts
Married 2nd: Margaret Redding (1704-1789) married on January 4, 1737, in Pembroke, Massachusetts
Children
Children with wife Ruth Sprague
- William Keen (1720-?) married Ruth Sargant (1721-?)
- Levi Keen (1722-?) married Eunice Jennings (1729-?)
- Abel Keen (1724-?) married Bethiah Dogget
- Grace Keen (1726-1772) married Jabez Cole (1720-1790)
- Samuel Keen (1729-?)
- Isaiah Keen (1733-1777) married Ruth Bisbee (1739-1783)
Children with wife Margaret Redding
- Ruth Keen (1737-1795) married John Leavitt (1738-1812)
- Asher Keen (1739-1789) married Desire Witherel (?-1823)
- Moses Keen (1741-?) married Maria Freeman (1749-1835)
- Judah Keen (1743-1765)
Documents
- Birth Records
- Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2 > Warren > Josiah Keene born to parents Josiah Keen and Lydia Baker
- Marriage records 1st wife
- Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 > Duxbury Marriages > Ruth Sprague and Samuel Kein, April 18, 1719
- Massachusetts, U.S., Vital Records, 1640-1849 > Duxbury Marriages > Ruth Sprague and Samuel Kein, April 18, 1719
- Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850 > Name:
Samuel Kein; Gender: Male; Marriage Date: 18 Apr 1719; Place: Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts; Spouse: Ruth Sprague - U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 > Name: Samuel Keen; Gender: Male; Spouse Name: Ruth Sprague; Marriage Year: 1719; Marriage State: MA; Number Pages: 1
- Marriage records 2nd wife
- Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850 > Name: Margaret Redding; Gender: Female; Marriage Date: 4 Jan 1737; Place: Pembroke, Plymouth, Massachusetts; Spouse: Samuel Keen
- History of the Town of Duxbury, Massachusetts with Genealogical Registers > Samuel m. Ruth Sprague, Apr. 18, 1649
- Death records
- Samuel and his son Isaiah Keen (1733–1777) of Pembroke, Massachusetts died on the same day—May 18, 1777
- Find a Grave died 18 May 1777
- Other
- Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2 > Volume 2 > Warren > Children of Samuel Keen and Ruth Sprague
- Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2 > Volume 2 > Warren > Children of Samuel Keen and Margaret Redding
- North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, Sprague Families in America
Relation of Samuel Keen to Steven Barry Staggs: 7th great-grandfather
Page last updated November 13, 2025
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