Staggs Family History

BIRTH: 5 Oct 1846, Montgomery, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH: 18 Mar 1886, Indiana, USA
FATHER: Massillon Crow (1810-1874)
MOTHER: Betsey Bosworth (1812-1892)
SPOUSE: Elnora Adelaide Keen (1846-1880)

When Wharton Massillon Crowe was born on October 5, 1846, in Montgomery, Massachusetts, his father, Massillon, was 36 and his mother, Betsey, was 34. He married Elnora Adelaide Keen and they had five children together. He then married Emma Keene and they had one daughter together. He died on March 18, 1886, in Indiana at the age of 39, and was buried in Valparaiso, Indiana.

His story

The following is an excerpt from Staggs Genealogy – Harold Wareham Staggs – His Book

Warton was a farmer who became an engineer on the Grand Trunk Railroad.¹ He was born in Montgomery, Mississippi in 1846.² These two had five children. When Elnora died, Warton married her sister Emma Wilhelmina Keen. They had one child.

Warton died in a train wreck.³ His and another train met head on. Warton and his fireman jumped but he was killed in the wreck. Warton and Elenora’s first daughter was Grandmother Alice Geraldine Crowe. She married Grandfather William Hawthorn Wareham. William was an electrician for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The following is an excerpt from The John Keen(e) (1578-1649) and Associated Families, by Mr. and Mrs. Archie Timothy Keene, 1971

Elnora Adelaide, 7th child of Zebulon and Hannah Keen, born 12-29-1846, McGrawville, N.Y.; died 1-15-1880, Valparaiso, Ind.; married 12-6-1866, Valparaiso, Moseland Wharton Crowe, farmer and R.R, employe, born 10-5-1846, Montgomery, Mass of Massilon and Betsey Crowe. They had five children. He married 2nd 8-24-1880 Emma Wilhelmina Keen, sister to his first wife. They had 1 child. He died 3-18-1886 and his widow Emma married 2nd Sylvester Miller, 9-1-1898 who died 9-29-1904

Legacy of Wharton Massillon Crowe

Parents

Father: Massillon Crow (1810-1874)

Mother: Betsey Bosworth (1812-1892)

Married

1st: Elnora Adelaide Keen (1846-1880). Married December 6, 1865, in Porter, Indiana.

2nd: Emma Keene (1856-1940) sister to his first wife. Married August 24, 1880, in Porter, Indiana.

Children

With wife Elnora Adelaide Keen (1846-1880)

• Alice Geraldine Crowe (1867-1948) married William Hawthorne Wareham (1856-1928)
• Ella Adelaide Crow (1868-1888)
• Anna Crow (1875-1962) married Robert Elmer Denton (1873-1914)
• Melvin Crow (1878-1935) married Katie Claire Jones (1882-1973)
• William Crow (1880-1881)

With wife Emma Keene (1856-1940)

• Elsie E Crow (1883-1961) married Charles W Hall (1884-1932)

Documents

• Birth Records
  • Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1700-1850 > Montgomery > Name: Wharton Massillon Crow; Gender: Male; Birth Date: 5 Oct 1846; Birth Place: Montgomery, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA; Father: Massillon Crow; Mother: Betsey Crow
  • Massachusetts, U.S., Birth Records, 1840-1915 > Name: Wharton Mapillon Crow; Gender: Male; Birth Date: 5 Oct 1846; Birth Place: Montgomery, Massachusetts, USA; Father: Massillon Crow; Mother: Betsey Crow
  • Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 > Montgomery > Births, Marriages and Death > Name: Wharton Massillon Crow; Record Type: Birth; Birth Date: 5 Oct 1846; Birth Place: Montgomery, Massachusetts, USA; Father: Massillon Crow; Mother: Betsey Crow
  • Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2 > Volume 2 > Name: Wharton Massillon Crow; Birth Date: 5 Oct 1846; Relationship: Child; Father: Massillon Crow; Mother: Betsey Bozworth
• Marriage records
  • 1st wife Elnora Adelaide Keen:
    • Indiana, U.S., Marriage Certificates, 1960-2012 > Name: Wharton Crow; Gender: Male; Marriage License Date: 2 Dec 1865; Marriage Date: 6 Dec 1865; Marriage Place: Porter, Indiana, USA; Spouse: Elnora Keen; Officiator: T S Webb
    • Indiana, U.S., Marriages, 1810-2001 > Name: Wharton Crow; Gender: Male; Event Type: Marriage Registration (Marriage); Marriage Date: 2 Dec 1865; Marriage Place: Indiana, United States; Spouse: Elnora Keen; Page: 182; FHL Film Number: 001686156
  • 2nd wife, Emma Keene:
    • Indiana, U.S., Marriage Index, 1800-1941 > Name: Wharton Crow; Marriage Date: 24 Aug 1880; Marriage Place: Porter, Indiana, USA; Spouse Name: Emma Keene
• Death records
  • The John Keen(e) (1578-1649) and Associated Families > He died 3-18-1886
  • Find A Grave > Death Date 18 Mar 1886
  • Burial: Kimball Cemetery, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana, USA
• Census Records
  • 1850 United States Federal Census > Massachusetts > Hampden > Montgomery > Warton M Crow age 3 living with parents Maraiton Crow (farmer, 40) and Betsey Crow (29) and siblings Henriette G Crow (12) and Jane E Crow (10)
  • 1860 United States Federal Census > Indiana > Porter > Center> Wharton Crow, age 13 living with parents Maraiton Crow (farmer, 50) and Betsey Crow (49)
  • 1870 United States Federal Census > Indiana > Porter > Center> Wharton Crow (farmer, 22) living with parents Maraiton Crow (farmer, 60) and Betsey Crow (keeping house, 59), wife Elnora (keeping house, 22) and two children Alice (4) and Emma
  • 1880 United States Federal Census > Indiana > Porter > Valparaiso > 140 > Wharton Crow, widower (farmer, 33), living with 5 children: Alice Crow (13), Ella Crow (11), Anna Crow (5), Melvin Crow (2) and William Crow (5/12)

Footnotes

1. No known records confirm that Wharton Massillon Crowe was an engineer for the Grand Trunk Railroad. Searches of employee directories, historical railroad official listings, and digitized biographical sources do not include his name among Grand Trunk personnel. These include the Biographical Directory of Railway Officials of America (1885, 1893, 1901), Grand Trunk Railway employee lists compiled by genealogical databases and Historical summaries, and executive rosters of the Grand Trunk Railway. He may have worked in a non-official or local capacity, such as a contractor or laborer, which would not be captured in national directories.
2. Birth records indicate he was born in Montgomery, Massachusetts.
3. There was a Grand Trunk Railroad train wreck on the Grand Trunk Railway line near London, Ontario, Canada, during the early morning hours of January 15, 1880. A passenger train traveling westbound from Toronto collided head-on with a freight train that had not cleared the track in time. Several passengers were killed or injured. Regional newspapers reported that among the fatalities was Wharton Massillon Crowe, a 33-year-old American traveling on the passenger train. The name and age match, however, Wharton Crow was listed in the 1880 United States Federal Census dated June 12, 1880, and he married Emma Keene on August 24, 1880, so if he was in the January 15, 1880 train wreck he was not killed but survived. Internet searches for other train wrecks with casualties on or about March 18, 1886 (Wharton Massillon Crowe’s date of death), proved negative.

Relation of Wharton Massillon Crowe to Steven Barry Staggs: 2nd great-grandfather

Page last updated November 12, 2025

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