I’ve learned over the years as a Genealogist that proving a connection is the most challenging task for a researcher. Those familiar with Genealogical source material understand that the further back in time one goes in their research, the fewer and fewer public documents there are to reference. When you reach the early 19th century, you have very, very little to utilize in your research. If you are fortunate to come across a will or a Family Bible, you might glean something, but much of the earlier time period is theory and speculation.
So when DNA testing began to be used by Genealogists to compare family lines, I, and the members of the Vaughan Pioneer Research Group jumped at the chance. There were several mysteries that we wanted cleared up. Here is a summary of those questions that we had:
1.) Fereby Benton, born about 1750, died May 1850, was William Vaughan’s wife and in the late 19th century, some of her descendants tried to gain Cherokee Indian Citizenship in a massive effort that produced a huge file of documents. I have a copy of the entire file, and the Vaughan descendants’ claim is that Fereby was at least part Cherokee Indian, supposedly on her mother’s side. Although the Citizenship requests were all rejected by the Cherokee tribe, the persistence of the family stories that Fereby was anywhere from a full-blooded Cherokee to only slightly Indian on her Mom’s side, made this question one that descendants have debated for nearly 100 years. So, our group took it upon themselves to find a woman that could trace her ancestry back to Fereby. This subject has to pass backwards in time in an unbroken link, mother to daughter, with no sons in this link, back to Fereby Benton. This was due to the nature of Mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA for short). MtDNA is passed down from mother to child, without any genetic material from the father. Men have MtDNA from their Mothers, but they do not pass it down to their children, instead, the children get their MtDNA from their mothers. MtDNA, as it is passed down intact from mother to child, can show a person information about his mother’s mother’s mother (and so on), by looking at the genetic code. The numbers seen in DNA results are a tally of a loop of genetic code at a specific point in a DNA strand. When the number 9, for example, appears, it means that at that specific place in the DNA strand, the 4 chemicals that make up DNA connected in a certain order for 9 loops or repeats. The number of repeats usually stays the same, but mutations over many generations sometimes adds or takes away a repeat (or sometimes more than one repeat) so that instead of repeating 9 times, the DNA repeats only 8 or moves up to repeating 10 times. These harmless mutations are passed down to descendants, and they help make DNA patterns that can identify a person. So by looking at a woman who’s mother’s mother’s mother’s (and so on) mother was Fereby Benton, we would be seeing what Fereby Benton’s MtDNA would look like, with the possibility of a few mutations thrown in. As races of people have different types of MtDNA called Haplogroups, you can actually tell more or less where a person’s maternal ancestor came from. So if Fereby Benton was part Cherokee and received this from her mother, and if Fereby had a daughter, who had a daughter, who had a daughter (and so on), then you could look at this descendant’s MtDNA. American Indians have only 4 or possibly 5 types of MtDNA, so if a descendant of Fereby matched this MtDNA, it would prove she was at least part Indian. So we found a lady and the group chipped in and paid for the test. The result was that Fereby’s mother’s side of the family was NOT Indian, but had the most common type of northern European Mitochondrial DNA. All this truly shows is that Fereby was not 100% Indian but had at least some white ancestry. If her mother’s father had been a pureblood Indian and her mother a white woman, then Fereby’s MtDNA would have been white, though she would have been half Indian.
2.) Following this test, we began to wonder about William and John Vaughan. William Vaughan, born 1750, was rumored, by family tradition, to have been a brother (or sometimes a cousin) of John Vaughan, who was born in 1762. Both men lived close to each other in Hawkins County, Tennessee in the late 1700s and early 1800s and several of their children married. If William and John were indeed brothers, there would be a test to show this; Y-Chromosome DNA testing. Y-Chromosome DNA, or Y-DNA for short, is the Chromosome passed from the father to a baby that determines the sex of the baby. All women have two X Chromosomes and men have an X and a Y Chromosome. If the Y-Chromosome is passed during reproduction to a baby, the child will be a son, if the X-Chromosome is passed, the baby will be a girl. As only men have the Y-Chromosome, it is the only Chromosome that does not mix with the mother’s DNA during reproduction, as women have no Y-Chromosomes to pass to a child. So, a son inherits all of his father’s Y-DNA, which in turn came intact from his father, and so on back in time, father to son. As in MtNDA, mutations sometimes occur, and when they do, they will be passed down from father to son. These mutations give males’ Y-DNA it’s own “code”. Two men who have the same Y-DNA will have a common male ancestor somewhere in their past. The Vaughan Pioneer group knew this would be an excellent tool to examine the relationship between John and William. We would find a man who descended, father to son back in time to John and another one who descended from father to son and so on back in time to William, and compare these two men’s Y-DNA. If their Y-DNA matched, it would indicate that William and John were related somewhere back in time. If they didn’t, it would mean that either there was no relation between them, or else one of their female ancestors had conceived a child that they claimed was from their Vaughan husband but was not his. There also was the possibility that a child was adopted by a Vaughan family and never told they were not biologically the child of his adopted parents. The danger of these possibilities made it very important for us to test as many different branches of William and John’s trees – in other words, testing descendants from different sons— so that any case of infidelity could be singled out.
The Y-DNA testing we did at first was just to determine if William and John were related. We found two descendants, one from each man and tested them for 37 markers. Their Y-DNA matched on 35 out of 37 places, and on the two spots it didn’t, there was only one number of difference, which is easily explained as random mutations over the past 200 years that these two lines have reproduced. Compared to other Vaughan tests in the larger Vaughan DNA study, our two tests didn’t even come within 10 markers of matching any other Vaughan line…at first.
But to verify our findings, we tested another descendant, one suspected of being from John’s son Beverly Vaughan. His line matched closely. Then we receive word that a man had independently tested his Y-DNA to see if his ancestor, who was born out of wedlock to Judge George W. Vaughan with his housekeeper, was indeed a descendant, and his matched perfectly to the William Vaughan test we had done first. Thus, we had 4 verified tests, two for descendants of William Vaughan and two for descendants of John Vaughan.
Still, we wanted to test other theories, such as who William and John’s father (if indeed they were brothers) was? We had long suspected an Abraham Vaughan of Charlotte County, Virginia. He had sons named William and John, close to our two guys in age. I was very confident that Abraham was their father. So with some effort, we located two descendants of Abraham from other lines. One came through his son Bouldin Vaughan, the other through his son Felix Vaughan. When tested, the two descendants of Abraham matched closely, showing a common Y-DNA link, but they were very far away from our William and John descendants’ Y-DNA results. So the conclusion we reached was that William and John’s line was not from Abraham’s lineage.
We also conducted several tests to see if descendants of Ayres Vaughan, who some thought was related to William Vaughan, was indeed related to him. These tests did not match closely either, showing that Ayres Vaughan was of another line.
The last set of tests we conducted was to verify that Benjamin Franklin Vaughan, who was a grandson of William and Fereby by his own admittance, was related to them on both his mother’s side (a daughter of William and Fereby) and on his father’s side, through James Vaughan, son of John and Nancy, who married Martha, according to family tradition. Obviously he married his first cousin, but Ben and his descendants should have had John’s Y-DNA, which was the same as William’s DNA. I was, once again, very sure the results would match.
The first two tests we conducted not only failed to match our four “core” samples from William and John, they also failed to match each other. Clearly, something was wrong, so we found another descendant and tested him, and his line matched one of the two from Ben’s line perfectly, but these two failed to match William and John’s DNA. The result indicated that Ben Vaughan was not – at least through his father—a descendant of John Vaughan. We are still convinced that his mother was a daughter of William and Fereby, but there is no way to test this genetically. Ben Vaughan was my direct ancestor, so this result really concerned me. The next step is to test some of James and Martha’s other sons, if a descendant with their Y-DNA can be found. If their Y-DNA matches Ben’s, then maybe we would have to rethink James being the son of John. If their Y-DNA matched John and William’s Y-DNA, then either Ben was the son of an affair of some sort by Martha, or else he was adopted. I doubt the adoption theory, as Ben lived most of his childhood (he claimed) with William and Fereby, who he referred to as his “grandparents”. He also referred to Daniel and Samuel Vaughan as his “uncles” and if Martha and James had adopted Ben, why would they then turn around and let her parents raise him? To me, it looks like Martha (or maybe one of her sisters) had Ben out of wedlock, he took his mother’s maiden name and was raised by her parents. It could also be that one of William and Fereby’s daughters had a son either in or out of wedlock, and died in childbirth.
Since Ben Vaughan’s affidavits in the Cherokee Citizenship case are among the best clues we have for William and Fereby information, I feel it is important to know just how he fits in. If he had been adopted as a child by one of the Vaughans, I doubt he would have been so bold as to make a claim for Cherokee Citizenship as there were a few people still alive at the time of the claim that knew his grandparents and his uncles, and if any of them had said, ‘Hey, he was adopted’, it would have blown the whole scheme.
Yet Ben never mentioned his mother by name in any of the affidavits. There was a Martha Vaughan living with him in 1870 and in 1850 and 1860 she and apparently another son or grandson was living close by to Ben. Family lore says she was Ben’s mother. There are several stories of Ben Vaughan told in the family, more it seems then most of the other early Vaughans. He was remembered for a long time after his death as a very colorful character that the residents of Madison County fondly loved.
As of September 1st, 2007, the Vaughan Pioneer group is preparing to run a test on another one of Ben Vaughan’s descendants, to see if his Y-DNA will match. More importantly, we are trying to find descendants of Ben’s brothers to test their Y-DNA against descendants of Ben’s. I’d also like to test descendants of some of the sisters and aunts of Ben, to see if their husband’s non-Vaughan Y-DNA would match. It could be something happened that the family covered up. With Y-DNA, it is always best to have as many samples as possible.
So, what follows is a selected list of male descendants of James and Martha Vaughan (excluding Ben’s line). If anyone sees their family in this outline, and knows of a direct male line back to James and Martha to test, please contact me at ec21davis@gmail.com.
Selected male Descendants of James L. Vaughan, excluding the line of Benjamin Franklin Vaughan
Generation No. 1
1. JAMES L.3 VAUGHAN (JOHN2, PAT. UNKNOWN1) was born October 15, 1795 in Halifax County, Virginia. He married MARTHA “PATTY” VAUGHAN Bef. 1814, daughter of WILLIAM VAUGHAN and FEREBY BENTON. She was born January 19, 1787 in Virginia, and died Aft. 1870.
Notes for JAMES L. VAUGHAN:
His great, great grandson, Ben Todd (1879-1967) told his family that Martha married her first cousin, James Vaughan.
In the 1830 Warren County, Tennessee Census, it is believed he appears at homestead # 374
374 James Vaughan 211001-012001
In homestead # 362 appears Beverly Harp, whos’ daughter Cherubia married James’ son Benjamin.
Freddie Todd claimed that Ben, William and Maborne were full brothers but John and Elijah were by a second wife of James.
Notes for MARTHA “PATTY” VAUGHAN:
Her great, great grandson, Ben Todd (1879-1967) told his family that Martha married her first cousin, James Vaughan.
Living at Household # 839 in Huntsville, Madison County, Arkansas in 1850, along with son Elijah, age 18, however, her age is shown as “50″ which was wrong, it should have been about 63, just four houses away from her son Ben Vaughan.
In 1860 she was still in Huntsville, Madison County, Arkansas but was living with her son Elijah C.:
1016/1016 E C Vaughan 27 Merchant, born in Tennessee
Mary F. 18 born in Arkansas
Martha A. 60 born in “IND“ – either Indiana or Indian Territory?
In 1870 she was living with Ben and Cherubia in Clifty, Madison County, Arkansas, listed as being 83 years old and born in Virginia.
Children of JAMES VAUGHAN and MARTHA VAUGHAN (not shown is Benjamin Franklin Vaughan) are:
2. i. DAVID4 VAUGHAN, b. 1810, (about) In Tennesee; d. Bet. 1860 - 1870, Arkansas.
3. ii. MABORNE E. VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1815, Tennessee; d. Aft. 1880, Missouri.
4. iii. WILLIAM M. VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1817, Tennessee; d. December 15, 1861, New Madrid, Missouri.
5. iv. JOHN VAUGHAN, b. February 16, 1827, Tennessee; d. August 27, 1863.
6. v. ELIJAH C. VAUGHAN, b. January 1832, Tennessee; d. Springfield, Greene County, Missouri?.
Generation No. 2
2. DAVID4 VAUGHAN (JAMES L.3, JOHN2, PAT. UNKNOWN1) was born 1810 in (about) In Tennesee, and died Bet. 1860 - 1870 in Arkansas. He married LUCINDA COLES. She was born 1818 in (About) In Tennesee, and died 1870 in (after) In Arkansas.
Notes for DAVID VAUGHAN:
To Vaughan Pioneers group, from Peggy Hermann, October 1st, 2006
Eddie, here are my notes on David Vaughan. I have his father listed as
unknown, but he surely is related to ours in some way.
Peggy
**************
from Vaughan Pioneers by Lewis Vaughan
p. 282 - All that is known of David Vaughan must be derived from the few
surviving records that pertain to him. Census records indicate he was
living in Daniel Vaughan’s household in Washington Co, AR in 1830. He
does not appear to have been Daniel’s son, however, for he received none
of the gifts of land and slaves that went to Daniel’s known descendants,
nor did David or his heirs participate in the partition of Daniel’s estate.
Tax lists show David living alternately in Madison or Washington
Counties. The 1850 census locates him in Brush Creek Twp of Washington
County. This area is immediately adjacent to Prairie Twp of Madison
County, so David in fact was living continuously in the same community
as the Madison County Vaughans. He was back in Prairie Twp at the time
of the 1860 census.
David evidently died some time in the 1860’s. His widow and some of his
children are shown living with his son Jesse in the 1870 Madison County
census. He may have died early in the decade as I do not find him
listed in the 1861 or later tax lists of Madison County.
————–
This David Vaughn in Barry Co, MO in 1840 could be the same as the David
on the 1850 Washington Co, AR census since the ages of David, his wife
and children over age 10 in 1850 fit in the age groupings for the 1840.
He is the only Vaughan/Vaughn in Barry Co. that year.
1840 Barry Co, MO - Spring River Twp
p. 5, line 5 David Vaughn 20001-20001
male b. 1810-1820 David (20-30)
female b. 1810-1820 (20-30)
male b. 1835-1840 ( u 5 )
female b. 1835-1840 ( u 5 )
female b. 1835-1840 ( u 5 )
male b. 1835-1840 ( u 5 )
————–
1841 Madison Co, AR Tax List
David Vaughan (2 listed)
————-
David Vaughan is living amid our Harps in 1850. John Harp who married
Louisa “Lucy” Vaughan, d/o William & Fereby Vaughan is in h.h. #27.
1850 Washington Co, AR - Brush Creek Twp, #29
David Vaughn 43 m TN farmer
Lucinda 39 f TN
Benjamin 17 m AR farmer
Marget 14 f AR
Rhoda 13 f AR
William 11 m AR
Jesse 4 m AR
Catherine 1 m AR
—————
In 1860 David and his family are living near the Fitchs and Beachs who
married Vaughan girls.
Catlett Fitch is in h.h. #199 and Barnett Beach is h.h. #203.
1860 Madison Co, AR - Prairie Twp, P. O. Little Spring
p. 30 - 25 June 1860, #198/198
David Vaughan 50 m TN farmer
Lucinda 40 f TN
William 20 m AR farm laborer
Rhoda 18 f AR
Jesse 12 m AR
Catherine 10 f AR
Rebecca 6 f AR
—————
David apparently died between 1860 & 1870 census records, and his widow
& unmarried daughters are in the h.h. of their son, Jesse Vaughan.
1870 Madison Co, AR - Prairie Twp, P. O. Hindsville
p. 412 - 10 Jun 1870, #55/55
Jesse Vaughan 24 m AR farm hand
Sarah M. 25 f TN
Thomas 3 m MO
Matilda C. 1 f AR
Lucinda 52 f TN domestic servant <<<<
Catharine 20 f AR
Rebecca A. 18 f AR
Marriage Notes for DAVID VAUGHAN and LUCINDA COLES:
_STATMARRIED
Children of DAVID VAUGHAN and LUCINDA COLES are:
i. BENJAMIN5 VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1833, Arkansas.
iv. WILLIAM VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1839, Arkansas.
7. v. JESSE VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1846, Arkansas.
3. MABORNE E.4 VAUGHAN (JAMES L.3, JOHN2, PAT. UNKNOWN1) was born Abt. 1815 in Tennessee, and died Aft. 1880 in Missouri. He married LUCINDA ?? Abt. 1838 in White County, Tennessee?. She was born Abt. 1812 in Tennessee, and died Aft. 1880 in Missouri.
Notes for MABORNE E. VAUGHAN:
Believed to be found in White County, Tennessee in 1840.
Maburn Vaughn 1-0-0-0-1 // 1-0-0-0-1
Lived in Wright County, Missouri in 1850,
District 102
452/452 Mabun Vaughn 35 TN
Luircinda 38 TN
Ruthy 13 TN
William 11 TN
Jane 9 TN
Francis (female) 7 TN
Emily 5 MO
John 2 MO
Hezehion 1/12 MO
Madison County Arkansas in California Township in 1860
#79/79 Mabune Vaughan 43 TN
Lucinda 47 TN
William Vaughan 21 TN (his last name is listed, though none of his siblings’ are)
Jane 18 TN
Francis 16 AR
Jhn 12 AR
Zimiri 9 AR
Levisa 7 AR
Henry 2 AR
They were in Fox Township, McDonald County, Missouri in 1870.
80/76 Vaughan, Matthew 52 TN (should be Maborne, from the names and ages of his wife and children)
Lucinda 57 TN
Zimry 20 AR
Lovisa 16 MO
Henry 12 AR
Joab 10 AR
…on another note, a couple of years back, I think it was Peggy that sent me info on my gr gr grandfather Maborne Vaughan. It was his land grant for abt 40 acres in McDonald County Missouri. I ran across these papers again, and noticed that in the land grants: Certificate No 30177 (May 10, 1870) & 160 acres in Springfield MO, Certificate 1546 (July 1st, 1874), his name is spelled MAYBURN VAUGHAN on both. I wonder how long he kept the land in his family?
Deborah Burns (7-16-2007 via e-mail)
In 1880 Maborne and Lucinda were living with son John Henry in Granby, Newton County, Missouri:
187/181/181 Vaughn, J.H. 31 Mining AR/TN/TN
Mary 15 (wife) MO/Unk/Unk
Maborn 60 (father) TN/VA/VA
Luncinda 66 (mother) TN/SC/SC
Jobe 19 (brother) AR/TN/TN
Children of MABORNE VAUGHAN and LUCINDA ?? are:
ii. WILLIAM VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1839, Tennessee.
.
iv. FRANCES VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1844, Arkansas.
10. vi. JOHN HENRY VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1848, Arkansas; d. Bef. 1919.
vii. HEZEHION VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1850, Missouri.
viii. ZIMRI VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1851, Arkansas; m. MARGARET, Bef. 1880; b. Abt. 1860, Missouri.
Notes for ZIMRI VAUGHAN:
Living in Granby, Newton County, Missouri in 1880:
150/150 Zim Vaughn 29 Day Laborer Unk/Unk/Unk
Margaret 20 MO/MO/MO
x. HENRY VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1858, Arkansas.
xi. JOBE VAUGHAN, b. Abt. 1861, Madison County (?) Arkansas; d. Aft. 1880.
Notes for JOBE VAUGHAN:
Living with his brother John in 1880 Newton County, Missouri.
4. WILLIAM M.4 VAUGHAN (JAMES L.3, JOHN2, PAT. UNKNOWN1) was born Abt. 1817 in Tennessee, and died December 15, 1861 in New Madrid, Missouri. He married REBECCA L. SMITH Abt. 1839 in Washington County, Arkansas. She was born Abt. 1820 in Overton County,Tennessee, and died Abt. 1864 in Arkansas.
Notes for WILLIAM M. VAUGHAN:
William & Rebecca have not been found on the 1840 census. I believe it’s possible that they were living in the household of Bill’s brother/half-brother, Benjamin Vaughan. This is just a guess on my part, however, Andrew Smith (Rebecca’s father) is listed on p. 30, line 25 (out of 30 lines) and so is just 8 households away from Benjamin Vaughan.
1840 Madison Co, AR – Prairie Twp
p. 31, line 3 Benjamin Vaughan 20002-10011
male b. 1810-1820 Benjamin (20-30) b. ca 1815
male b. 1810-1820 unknown (20-30) poss. brother, William, b. ca 1817 <<<<<
female b. 1810-1820 Cherubia (20-30) b. ca 1817
female b. 1820-1825 unknown (15-20) poss. sis-in-law, Rebecca, b. ca 1820
female b. 1835-1840 Mary Narc. “Sis” ( u 5 ) b. ca 1838
male b. 1835-1840 Geo. Wash. ( u 5 ) b. ca 1839
male b. 1835-1840 unknown ( u 5 ) poss. nephew, Francis M, b. ca 1840
————–
1840 Madison Co, AR Tax List
William W. Vaughan
William M. Vaughan
——————
1850 Madison Co, AR - Cedar Creek Twp
p. 282B - 1 Nov 1850, #498/498
William Vaughan 33 m TN Farmer
Rebecca 30 f TN
Francis 10 m AR
Andrew 8 m AR
Martha 6 f AR
Defthsey 4 f AR
John 3 m AR
William C. 2 m AR
—————–
1860 Franklin Co, AR - Six Mile Twp, P. O. Charleston
p. 136 - 17 July 1860, #967/923
W. M. Vaughn 43 m TN farmer
Rebecca 37 f KY
F. M. 20 m AR farmer (Francis Marion)
A. J. 18 m AR farmer (Andrew Jackson)
M. A. 16 f AR (Martha A.)
D. A. 14 f AR (Defthsey A.)
J. B. 12 m AR (John Benton)
W. C. C. 10 m AR (William Columbus)
J. R. 8 m AR (James R.)
M. J. 6 f AR (Mary J.)
Rebecca 2 f AR
—————–
William M. Vaughan died during the Battle of New Madrid, during the Civil War.
——————
Letter dated 20 Nov 1988
To: Fred Todd
Route 6, Box 573
Rogers, AR 72756
Dear Sir,
Shirley Quick gave me your name and said you have a lot of material on the Vaughan family. I am working on a Vaughan family tree for my husband and am writing to see if you have information on various members of his family.
William Vaughan + Rebecca Walker
b. ca 1817 TN b. ca 1820 TN
m. ca 1839
(source 1850 Madison Co, AR census. All children b. Madison Co, AR)
Francis b. ca 1840 AR
Andrew b. ca 1842 AR
Martha b. ca 1844 AR m. ____ Dunham
Defthsey b. ca 1846 AR m. _____Nicholson
John Benton b. 1847 AR m. 17 Oct 1870 Julia Ann McGinnis
Wm. C. b. ca 1848 AR
Marion
James
Mary
Columbus
Rebecca b. 10 Nov 1859 m. William G. Hays
My husband’s grandfather is John Benton Vaughan. We are sure his father, William Vaughan, is a grandson of William & Fereby Vaughan because he always said his great grandmother had Cherokee blood and his middle name is Benton. In “Vaughan Pioneers” by Lewis Vaughan it is suggested that this family (William Vaughan) is the son of James Vaughan, and William & Fereby Benton Vaughan’s daughter, Martha, and he is supposed to be a full brother of Benjamin Vaughan.
Lewis Vaughan cannot find this family. Since the children were all born in Madison County and stayed relatively close we wonder what happened in this period of history? We do know from Rebecca Vaughan’s granddaughter that Rebecca (b. 1854) as a young child was in Van Winkle’s Boarding House and was raised there and met her husband (Wm. Hays) there. Do you know anything about this boarding house? I think the family also ran a lumber mill (Benton County). Rebecca Vaughan Hays lived all her life in Rogers & she raised her granddaughter, Mildred, whose father was Clarence Hay born 1887 in War Eagle. Rebecca Vaughan & Williams Hays children: Robert, Albert “Ab”, Clarence, Belle and Lulu.
We had the obituary of my husband’s grandfather (John Benton Vaughan) and it mentioned brothers Marion, James & George and a sister Rebecca Hays. When we located the Hays family & Rebecca’s granddaughter Mildred, Mildred told us that she was raised by her grandmother (Rebecca Hays) and remembered Aunt Mattie Dunham who lived just over into Oklahoma, Aunt Defthsey Nicholson who lived a little north of them coming for visits, so we were able to tie the later children with the ones on the 1850 census. We aren’t sure what happened to William & Rebecca. They must have both died a short time after 1859 when their daughter Rebecca was born. Do you have any information on what happened to them? There is a Wm. Vaughan a private in Co J of the 12th Arkansas Infantry who served under Captain Jordon and enlisted for 1 year on 29 May 1861 & died at New Madrid 15 Dec 1861 (this New Madrid could be the one in Missouri or was there one in Arkansas?). We don’t know if this one is the correct William Vaughan or not.
Do you have any information on Francis, Andrew, Martha (Dunham), Defthsey (Nicholson), my husband’s grandfather - John Benton, William C, Marion, George, James, Mary or Columbus? (I really don’t think there was another child Columbus - I think that is probably Wm. C’s middle name & he probably went by the name of Columbus instead of William - this is just a guess. Do you know?). We know that John Benton fought in the Civil War on the Confederate side but don’t know where. It could be he became involved in the Battle of Pea Ridge since it was fought right there.
Do you have any more information than Lewis Vaughan to assure us that the William Vaughan b. ca 1817 in TN is the s/o James Vaughan and Fereby & William’s daughter Martha? (See page 285 in Lewis Vaughan book) - the write up on Benjamin Vaughan who Lewis says is William Vaughan’s brother. Members of James Vaughans family were supposed to be Benjamin, William and Maborne, and their half brothers John & Elijah. Thanks for all your help.
Yours truly,
Mrs. John M. Whalen
32325 Burlwood Drive
Solon, OH 44139
(216) 248-8617
Died during the Battle of New Madrid, during the Civil War.
Children of WILLIAM VAUGHAN and REBECCA SMITH are:
11. i. FRANCIS MARION5 VAUGHAN, b. June 09, 1841, Madison County, Arkansas; d. May 24, 1929, Afton, Ottawa, Oklahoma.
12. ii. ANDREW JACKSON VAUGHAN, b. October 05, 1842, Madison County, Arkansas; d. Bef. 1900, Missouri.
15. v. JOHN BENTON VAUGHAN