Drury Vaughan of Virginia
Submitted by Mary Gregg

Although there is no record of the marriage itself, we do have
proof that one Drury Vaughan who lived in Halifax County,
Virginia, married Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel Barksdale
of that county, and I believe he was:

(1) the son of William Vaughan who died in 1777

(2) the man who died in Rutherford County in 1827. In
Halifax County Deed Book 17, page 229, there is a deed
written on November 30, 1793, in which William Barksdale,
Peter Barksdale, William Vaughan and his wife Fanny,
Drury Vaughan and his wife Eliza, Giles Thweatt and his
wife Sarah, and Thomas Thweatt and his wife Susanna, are
selling to Nathaniel Barksdale, the land that "formerly
belonged to Nathaniel Barksdale, dec'd." Earlier [in 1791]
most of these same people sold some land to Peter Barksdale,
and although Drury Vaughan was a party to the earlier deed
[Halifax County, Virginia, Deed Book 15:227], the name of
his wife [Eliza or Elizabeth] is not given, as it is in the 1793
instrument, so for Drury Vaughan researchers, the 1793 deed
is more useful.

Reference should also be had to the will of Nathaniel Barksdale,
father of Eliza who married Drury Vaughan. This will is in
Halifax County, Virginia, Will Book 2. page 423.
Although we know that Drury married Elizabeth Barksdale, we
do not know if she was his only wife. He was married to her by
1791 [the date of the first Barksdale deed mentioned above]; 
so far, I do not have any later record giving his wife's name,
but no search has been made in Rutherford County, Tennessee,
and possibly some record there will mention her name. I do 
think we can state with certainty that Drury of Rutherford
County was not the Drury who married Sally Johns in
Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in 1797, for there is a deed
recorded in Pittsylvania [see below] which seems to me to 
indicate that the Drury who married Sally Johns was dead by
1823, at which time Drury of Rutherford County, Tennessee,
was still alive. Drury of Rutherford County was also not likely 
to have been the Drury who married Nancy Tucker in Halifax
County in 1805, for that man was called "Drewry Vaughan,
Jr." in the marriage record, and it seems most unlikely that
Drury Vaughan of Rutherford County, who was at least 
47 years old in 1805, would have been so designated.
Furthermore, there seems to be no possibility that the Drury
who married Elizabeth Barksdale, and who was born not
later than ca 1755, was younger than, and therefore "junior" 
to, some other Drury/Drewry Vaughan in the area.  No such
older Drury in the Halifax-Pittsylvania area has ever come to
light. Since these are the only marriages for anyone named Drury/Drewry Vaughan in the late 18th-early 19th century in 
this part of Virginia, and it seems improbable that either of
these grooms was the same Drury Vaughan who married
Elizabeth Barksdale, it seems very likely that the Drury who
married Elizabeth Barksdale had no other wife.An indication
that Elizabeth Barksdale was the mother of the children of
Drury Vaughan of Rutherford County is that most of this
Drury's children seem to have been named for members of 
the Barksdale family: William B. Vaughan [Perhaps named
William Barksdale Vaughan]; Peter Vaughan [Peter is definitely a
Barksdale name]; Betsy Vaughan [for Elizabeth (Barksdale)
.Vaughan]; 
Frankey Vaughan [for Franky Barksdale who was the sister
of Elizabeth (Barksdale) Vaughan and 
who was married to William Vaughan, almost 
certainly the brother of this Drury Vaughan]. 
And although Elizabeth (Barksdale) Vaughan 
is not known to have had a sister named Mildred, 
that is a name found in other branches of the 
Barksdale family. So even though we do not have 
proof, we can tentatively say that Eliza(beth) 
Barksdale was probably the mother of most, and 
perhaps all, of this Drury Vaughan's children.
I have not seen the 1827 Rutherford County, 
Tennessee, will of Drury Vaughan, but have been 
given a brief abstract by a correspondent. In 
his will, Drury mentioned the following children 
[additional notes by Mary Gregg]:
     1. William B. Vaughan (born in Virginia  1770-1777;
    died in Rutherford County, Tennessee ca 1845) married
    in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in 1805, Sarah Terry,
    daughter of Joseph Terry, and had the following children
    [as told to me by a correspondent, who said these were
    named in William B.'s will]. 

           A. Peter T. Vaughan (born in Virginia ca 1814; living
           in Rutherford County,Tennessee in 1850)
           married Mary A.Robinson in Rutherford County, 
            November 28, 1850. 

           B. William A. Vaughan (born in Virginia ca 1822;
           living in Rutherford County, unmarried, in 1850). 

           C. Sarah A.Vaughan 
              married Stephen A.Hill 

           D. Nancy B. Vaughan 
               married James Norvell in Rutherford County in
              1840; she probably died before 1860 for in that
               year, James Norville, aged 44, is living in the 
              home of P(eter) T. Vaughan, Nancy B,'s brother,
              and she is not there. 

           E. Mildred Vaughan 
              married M. G. Hill 

           F. Mary A. Vaughan 

           G. James N. Vaughan

           H. My correspondent said that there was perhaps a
           daughter who married Nicholas H. Johns, and I
           did find a marriage record in Rutherford County
           for Susannah T. Vaughan and Nicholas H. Johns,
           December 8, 1840.
     2. Peter Vaughan [born ca 1777 in Virginia], married,
     in Halifax County, Virginia, in 1798, Nancy Turner,
     daughter of Martin Turner [who died testate in Caswell 
      County, North Carolina]. I do not have a list of Peter
      and Nancy's children, but believe they included:
           A. Peter R, Vaughan who 
              married Lucy Quarles
           B. Drury M. Vaughan who 
              married Martha M. Turner
           C. Frances Anne Vaughan who 
              married William Walter Turner. 
              In The Tennessee Civil War Veterans Questionnaires,
              Volume 5. veteran Yancy Burton Turner of Tipton
              County, Tennessee, stated that he was born in
              Davidson County, Tennessee, and that he was the son
              of William Walter Turner of "Casual" County, North
              Carolina, and Frances Anne Vaughn, daughter of Peter
              Vaughn of Rutherford County, Tennessee. He said his
              grandfather's name was George Turner.
     3. Betsy Vaughan (born 1780-1790; living, probably in
     Rutherford County, in 1827) 
      married in Halifax County, Virginia, in 1803 or 1809,
     John Matthews.
     4. Frankey Vaughan (born NLT ca 1784) 
        married, in Halifax County, Virginia, in 1798, Moses
       Palmer, and had one known child:
           A. William H, Palmer
     5. Mildred Vaughan (living in 1827) 
        married ________ Nelson
     6. Nancy Vaughan (born 1790-1800; living in 1830 in
     Rutherford County)
     married John P. H. Lenoir (died before 1830) and had
     one known child:
           A. John P, H. Lenoir (living in 1827)

This is the deed mentioned above: 
Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Deed Book 26, p. 46. September
20, 1823. Elijah Guthery and Gartery H, Guthery his wife,
which said Gartery H. Guthery is an heir of Drury Vaughan
and Sarah his wife, which said Sarah, now deceased, was
daughter and heir of Thomas Johns, deceased, and Frances
Vaughan, daughter and heir of the said Drury and Sarah Vaughan,deceased, of Halifax County, Virginia ... sell to
Joseph B. Johns of Rutherford County, Tennessee ...[They 
sold land in Pittsylvania County. mg] ... I believe that both Drury and
his wife, Sally Johns, were dead when this deed was made.
Had Drury been living, his daughters would not have had
any claim to the property unless Sarah (Johns) Vaughan's
father had willed it in such a way as to give these girls
ownership of it before their father died. And if that had
been the case, then it would not have been necessary to say,
as they did in this deed, that they were daughters and heirs
of Drury Vaughan.

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