Staggs Family History

BIRTH: 6 Sep 1856, Pennsylvania, USA
DEATH: 11 Dec 1928, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana, USA
FATHER: Stephen Marion Wareham (1824–1864)
MOTHER: Juliaette Julia Hawthorne (1832–1889)
SPOUSE: Alice Geraldine Crowe (1867-1948)

When William Hawthorne Wareham was born on September 6, 1856, in Pennsylvania, his father, Stephen, was 32 and his mother, Juliaette, was 23. He married Alice Geraldine Crowe in Valparaiso, Chile. They had five children in 13 years. He died on December 11, 1928, in Valparaiso, Indiana, at the age of 72, and was buried there.

The Life of William Hawthorne Wareham

William Hawthorne Wareham entered the world on 6 September 1856, in the wooded hills of western Pennsylvania, a region just beginning to feel the tremors of the coming oil boom. He was the eldest child of Stephen Marion Wareham, a young farmer and laborer, and Juliaette “Julia” Hawthorne, a woman whose quiet resilience would shape the course of her children’s lives. William’s earliest memories were likely of the rural rhythms of Irwin Township, Venango County, where the Warehams lived in a modest household surrounded by forest, farmland, and the steady churn of frontier life.

William was only eight years old when the Civil War claimed his father in 1864. The loss reshaped the family overnight. Julia, widowed at thirty‑two, was left with two small children—William and his younger sister, Sarah Elizabeth. The years that followed were marked by movement, adaptation, and the quiet determination of a mother doing everything she could to keep her family intact. William grew up quickly, learning early the value of work, responsibility, and self‑reliance.

By the mid‑1880s, William had left Pennsylvania behind and followed the current of opportunity westward to Porter County, Indiana. There, in the growing town of Valparaiso, he found both stability and companionship. On 23 July 1887, he married Alice Geraldine Crow(e), a woman ten years his junior whose family had deep roots in the region. Their marriage marked the beginning of a new chapter—one defined by steady work, a growing household, and the creation of a family line that would endure for generations.

William built his life in Valparaiso with the same quiet steadiness that had carried him through childhood. He worked as an electrician for the railroad, a skilled and increasingly essential trade in an era when electricity was transforming American life. His work connected him to the pulse of modernity—rail lines, telegraph wires, and the hum of industry—yet his home life remained grounded in the familiar rhythms of family and community.

The Wareham home at 3 Wayne Street became the center of a bustling household. William and Alice raised seven children there, including Ella Blanche Wareham, born in 1888, who would carry the family line forward. Their home was a place of constancy: the same address appears in records from 1910, 1920, and even the 1924 city directory. Through economic shifts, technological change, and the passing of years, the Warehams remained rooted in their Valparaiso neighborhood.

By the 1920s, William was still working in the trade that had defined most of his adult life: he remained an electrician for the railroad, a skilled and increasingly essential occupation in an era when rail lines and electrical infrastructure powered the growth of Midwestern towns. His work connected him to the technological transformation of the age, and his long tenure in the role reflects both competence and reliability. Although his 1928 death certificate listed him as a “retired lumberman,” the census records from 1910 and 1920 make clear that his primary career—and the one his community would have known him for—was his decades of service as a railroad electrician in Valparaiso.

He was laid to rest in Maplewood Cemetery, the same ground where generations of Porter County families found their final peace.

Legacy of William Hawthorne Wareham

William Hawthorne Wareham’s legacy is one of endurance, quiet strength, and generational continuity. Born into hardship, shaped by the loss of his father, and carried forward by the determination of his mother, William built a life defined by stability and purpose. His marriage to Alice Crowe united two long‑standing American families, and together they raised children who would spread across Indiana and beyond. Through his daughter Ella Blanche Wareham, William’s line continued into the Staggs family and ultimately into our own. His story—rooted in Pennsylvania hills, carried westward by hope, and anchored in the industrious heart of Valparaiso—remains a testament to the resilience and quiet dignity of the Wareham name.

Parents

Father: William Hawthorne Wareham (1856-1928)

Mother: Alice Geraldine Crowe (1867-1948)

Married

Alice Geraldine Crowe (1867-1948) on 23 Jul 1887 in Porter, Indiana, USA

Children

• Ella Blanch Wareham (1888-1982) married Richard Lesley Staggs, Sr. (1888–1965
• Julia Elnora Wareham (1890–1965)
• William Wareham (1894–1965) married Mary Teresa O’Keefee (1900–1966)
• Grace Wareham (1896–1985) married Frederick Carl Limb (1903–1955)
• Mary Wareham (1901–1968) married Herbert Rudolph Linquist (1897–1991)

Documents

• Birth Records
  • Indiana, U.S., Death Certificates, 1899-2017 > Name: William H Wareham; Birth Date: 6 Sep 1856; Birthplace: Penns
• Marriage records
  • Indiana, U.S., Marriage Certificates, 1960-2012 > Name: William H Wareham; Gender: Male; Marriage License Date: 23 Jul 1887; Marriage Date: 23 Jul 1887; Marriage Place: Porter, Indiana, USA; Spouse: Alice G Crow; Officiator: C J Pope
  • Indiana, U.S., Marriage Index, 1800-1941 > Name: William H. Wareham; Marriage Date: 23 Jul 1887; Marriage Place: Porter, Indiana, USA; Spouse Name: Alice G. Crow; Performed By: Rev. C. J. Pope
• Death records
  • Indiana, U.S., Death Certificates, 1899-2017 > Name: William H Wareham; Gender: Male; Race: White; Marital Status: Married; Age: 72; Birth Date: 6 Sep 1856; Birthplace: Penns; Death Date: 11 Dec 1928; Death Place: Valparaiso, Porter, Indiana, USA; Death Registration Date: 1928; Father: Stephen Wareham; Mother: Wareham; Spouse: Alice Wareham
  • Find a Grave > William Hawthorne Wareham > Death: 11 Dec 1928 (aged 72), Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana, USA
  • Burial: Maplewood Cemetery, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana, USA
• Census records
  • 1860 United States Federal Census > Pennsylvania > Venango > Irwin > Name: William Wareham; Age: 6; Birth Year: abt 1854; Gender: Male; Race: White; Birthplace: Pennsylvania; Home in 1860: Irwin, Venango, Pennsylvania; Post Office: 0; Dwelling Number: 1011; Family Number: 985; Inferred Father: Stephen Wareham; Inferred Mother: Julia Wareham; Household members: Stephen Wareham (37), Julia Wareham (29), William Wareham (6), S E Wareham (10/12)
  • 1910 United States Federal Census > Indiana > Porter > Center > District 0140 > Name: Wm Wareham; Age in 1910: 53; Birth Date: 1857; Birthplace: Pennsylvania; Home in 1910: Center, Porter, Indiana, USA; Sheet Number: 19a; Street: Wagers St; House Number: 3; Race: White; Gender: Male; Relation to Head of House: Head; Marital Status: Married; Father’s Birthplace: England; Mother’s Birthplace: Nunavut; Native Tongue: English; Occupation: Electrician; Industry: Railway; Employer, Employee or Other: Wage Earner; Home Owned or Rented: Own; Home Free or Mortgaged: Free; Farm or House: House; Able to read: Yes; Able to Write: Yes; Enumeration District Number: 0140; Years Married: 23; Out of Work: No; Number of Weeks Out of Work: 0; Enumerated Year: 1910; Household members: Wm Wareham (53), Alice Wareham (43), Blanch Wareham (22) Julia Wareham (19), William Wareham (15), Grace Wareham (13), Mary Wareham (8)
  • 1920 United States Federal Census > Indiana > Porter > Valparaiso Ward 3 > District 0143 > Name: William H Wareham; Age: 63; Birth Year: abt 1857; Birthplace: Pennsylvania; Home in 1920: Valparaiso Ward 3, Porter, Indiana; Street: Wayne Street; House Number: 3; Residence Date: 1920; Race: White; Gender: Male; Relation to Head of House: Head; Marital Status: Married; Spouse’s Name: Alice G Wareham; Father’s Birthplace: USA; Mother’s Birthplace: USA; Able to Speak English: Yes; Occupation: Electrician; Industry: Railroad; Employment Field: Wage or Salary; Home Owned or Rented: Owned; Home Free or Mortgaged: Mortgaged; Able to read: Yes; Able to Write: Yes; Household members: William H Wareham (63), Alice G Wareham (52), William M Wareham (25), Julia E Wareham (29), Grace L Wareham (23), Mary E Wareham (18)
• Other
  • U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 > Name: William H Wareham; Gender: Male; Residence Year: 1924; Street Address: 3 Wayne; Residence Place: Valparaiso, Indiana, USA; Spouse: Alice G Wareham; Publication Title: Valparaiso, Indiana, City Directory, 1924

Relation of William Hawthorne Wareham to Steven Barry Staggs: great grandfather

Page last updated June 22, 2026

Search the Staggs Family History site

Search