Hundley Vaughan
Of Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia
Submitted by Mary Gregg

Although that hope is still unfulfilled, I have learned a good
deal about a man named Hundley Vaughan and about his
descendants.

   Hundley Vaughan is found in the records of Halifax
County, Virginia, in a deed (Deed Book 10, page 128)
which shows that on May 15, 1776, John Skates of
Halifax County sold to Hundley Vaughan of the same
county, 200 acres of land on branches of the south fork
of Catawba Creek bounded by Thomas Spraggins, James
Bates, Fleming Bates and John Royall, Witnesses were
Jas. Bates, Sarah (X) Vaughan, Ben. Vaughan and
Pleasant Shields.  Although it was not necessary that one
be as old as 21 in order to make a legal deed, it is unlikely
that a person purchasing land was less than 18 years old,
so this purchaser, Hundley Vaughan, was almost certainly
born not later than 1758; however, the possibility is that he
was born as early as 1745, for, as will be  seen, he may
have had a son, Hundley Vaughan, Jr., who likely was born
about 1765.

   But this Halifax County appearance is not the earliest
record of Hundley Vaughan in Virginia.  In Ruth and
Sam Sparacio's Order Book Abstracts of Caroline
County, Virginia, 1772-1773, are two abstracts which I
believe refer to the man found in Halifax County in 1776.
In Caroline County Order Book 10, page 109, there is
mentioned that at a Court held September 10, 1772,
James Miller, plaintiff, sued Mundley (sic) Vaughn,
defendant. Although the abstract does not so state, the
suit was apparently carried over until the next day, and
in the same Order Book, on pages 118 and 119, under
date of September 11, 1772, it is again mentioned, this
time the name of the defendant being given in the abstract
as Hundley (sic) Baughan.

[Baughan was a not uncommon variant of the name Vaughan and, in fact, there
was a familyin Caroline County whose name was most often spelled Baughan rather
than Vaughan, though which spelling was "correct," I cannot say,]

   Probable relatives of Hundley Vaughan in Halifax
County include the Ben. and Sarah Vaughan who
witnessed the deed when Hundley bought his land from
John Skates, and the William Vaughan who signed his
will (by mark) in Halifax County, Virginia, September
4. 1777, (Halifax County Will Book 1, page 199)
Among other legatees was William's daughter, Milesend
Bates (whose husband possibly was Samuel Bates, one
of the nominated executors of the will), and the will was
witnessed by Jas.  Bates, William Bates and Mary (+)
Bates.  Since both William Vaughan and Hundley
Vaughan were associated with members of the Bates
family, it seems reasonable to suppose that William and
Hundley were related to each other.

   Another link between William Vaughan and the Hundley
Vaughan family is the Spragins family, who were near
neighbors of the Vaughans on Catawba Creek in Halifax
County, Virginia.  An indication of a William Vaughan-
Spragins relationship is the name of one of William
Vaughan's daughters, Maacah.  By tradition, this very
unusual name was first an "Abney name" and then it
became a "Spragins name" when, in about 1747, Thomas
Spragins married Maacah Abney. Evidence of a Vaughan-
Spragins relationship is that there was a man named
Melkijah Spragins Vaughan who bought some land in
Louisiana in the 1800s.  I believe he very likelywas the
same man, Melkijah S. Vaughan, who later lived and
died in Wilson County, Tennessee, buteven if that theory
is incorrect, the mere existence of Melkijah Spraggins
Vaughan is indicative of a probableSpraggins-Vaughan
kinship.

   On September 19, 1777 Hunley Vaughan of Halifax
sold to Thomas Spragins of same, 200acres on the south
fork of Catawba Creek bounded by Thomas Spragins,
James Bates, Fleming Bates and John Royall, Witnesses
were William Shiels, Reuben Abney and William Shields,
Jr.  (Halifax DB 10:400)

   Although apparently no longer a landowner, Hundley
Vaughan was still in Halifax County as late as May 1779,
for on that date, under a program of the Continental
Congress aimed atdefeating the efforts of counterfeiters,
Hundley Vaughan of Halifax County exchanged 38
(pounds?) in paper money for a like amount of another
issue.  No subsequent record of him in Halifax County
has been found.

   We next hear of him on February 6. 1782, when William
Atkinson, Senr., of Pittsylvania County, Virginia (immediately
west of Halifax) sold to Hundley Vaughan "of said county".
50 acres in Pittsylvania County on the north side of Pigg
River bounded by George Hearndon, Daniel Witcher and
John Witcher.  Witnesses were Georg (X) Pike, William
Shiels, and one other whose name I could not read.
(Pittsylvania Deed Book 6:220) Just twodays later, on
February 8, 1782, Hundley Vaughan, whose wife Elizabeth relinquished her dower rights, sold this land to Harman
Cook, also of Pittsylvania County, Witnesses were Saml.
Call and, Henry Conway and one illegible, which appeared
to me to be the same as the illegible name on the earlier
deed. (Pittsylvania Deed Book 6:238) Hundley apparently
never again owned any land in Virginia, though he did
continue to live in Pittsylvania County at least until 1785,
for he appears on the 1782 and 1785 tax lists for
Pittsylvania.   I have not seen the 1786 taxlist, but I have
checked the 1787 Pittsylvania and Halifax lists, and he
appears on neither, so he must have gone to South
Carolina between 1785 and 1787.

   Hundley Vaughn appears in the 1790 census of Union
County, South Carolina, with two free white males above
the age of 16, four free white males below the age of 16,
and four white females.  This is the only trace of Hundley
Vaughan in the SouthCarolina records, No instance of
his having bought land or in any way participated in the
public lifeof the county has come to light.  He is not in
the1800 census of South Carolina, having already moved
on to Franklin County, Georgia.

   It should be noted that there is no proof that Hundley
Vaugh(a)n of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, is the same
as Hundley Vaugh(a)n of Halifax County, Virginia; or
that the man in Union County, South Carolina, is Hundley
of Pittsylvania and/or Halifax; or that the Hundley Vaughn
of Franklin County, Georgia, is the same as Hundley
Vaughan of Union County, South Carolina; or that
Hundley Vaughan of Madison County, Mississippi
Territory is the person found in Franklin County, Georgia.
I do, however, believe that all these instances of the name
Hundley Vaughan represent two-and only two-men, who
were probably father and son, though it is possible that
Hundley Vaughan, Jr. was the son of a brother of Hundley
Vaughan, Sr.

   There are several mentions of Hundley Vaughan in the
records of Franklin County, Georgia:

    In They Were Here, Volume 8, No, 3 & 4, there is
a record entitled "Pay Roll of a Detachment of Militia
Infantry and Spies under command of Lt, William
Lawrence, garrisoned at Fort Irvin into service of the
United States by order of His Excellency Gov.  Jared
Irwin.,."  Among those listed was "Hundley Vaughn,
Spy, May 15, 1796, 2 mo. 6 days".  Part of this same
payroll issubtitled "Privates serving from 47 to 80
days" and the name William Vaughn appears on this
list.  A request to the National Archives for pension,
military or bounty land record relating to this service
for Hundley Vaughn brought negative results.

   Hundley Vaughn appears on the tax lists (though
not as a landowner) of Franklin County for the years
1800, 1801, 1805 and 1806, His name does not appear
on subsequent tax lists, but he was still in Franklin
County, or he returned there, as is proved by later
records.

   One Hundley Vaughn of Franklin County participated
in the 1805 Georgia Land Lottery,which means that he
had lived in Georgia for at least three years, Others who
registered from Franklin County were Benjamin,
Littleberry and William Vaughan and George and
William Vaughn.  (Benjamin Vaughan and William
Vaughn were fortunate drawers.) Of these, William
Vaughn and George Vaughn were father and son, and
while they might have been related to Hundley, Littleberry,
Benjamin and William Vaughan, they seem not to have
been part of the immediate family.

   On January 31, 1806, Hundley Vaughn witnessed
the deed in which Benjamin Vaughn bought land in
Franklin County from James Gates, and when the
deed was proved the Clerk wrote that it was sworn
to by Hundley Vaughn, Sr. (Franklin DB PP:7-8).
This is the only indication we have that in this time
period there existed simultaneously, in one
geographical area, two men named Hundley Vaughn.

   In a deed made in Franklin County on May 17,
1808, and recorded in Jasper County, Georgia,
Deed Book 1, page 134, Handley Vaughn is seen
witnessing the sale of land from Fleming and
Martha Jordan to Wylly Rogers.

   In 1811, Madison County, Georgia, was created
partly from Franklin County, and it is probable that
Hundley Vaughn and his relatives fell into this new
county, Records of Madison County have not yet
been thoroughly searched.

   Even if the Vaughans did live for a while in
Madison County, Georgia, it can have been for only
a short time, for they soon began to appear in the
records of Madison County, Alabama (Mississippi
Territory).  The earliest record I have for any member
of the family in Alabama is when, on November 27,
1812, William and Manoah Vaughan of Madison
County, Alabama, bought the southwest quarter of
section 21, township 3. range 2 east, in Madison
County.

   From 1798 until 1817, Alabama was part of the
Mississippi Territory, and an 1813 tax listof Madison
County, Mississippi Territory, shows Benjamin, Hanley,
Littleberry, Manoah and William Vaughan paying taxes
there that year; Manoah and William still are listed there
in 1814, I think we can be certain that "Hanley" Vaughan
was actually Hundley Vaughan, but there is no way to
know whether this was Hundley, Jr. or Hundley, Sr.  I
am inclined to believe, however, that it wasHundley, Jr.
Hundley, Sr., were he alive, would have been nearing
70 years of age, and although I do not know what the
law was in the MississippiTerritory, in most jurisdictions
a man that old would not have appeared on a tax list,
being exempt from taxation because of age.

   With that 1813 tax list appearance, Hundley Vaughan
vanishes, never to be found again. It is quite possible that,
as a descendant wrote in 1915, he removed to the area
near Nashville, Tennessee, and died there, though no
record of his name has been found in Davidson or
nearby Tennessee counties.  Early deed records of
Davidson County, Tennessee, should be searched, and
so should the early Davidson County Court Minutes if
they exist.

   Others of the family stayed in the northern Alabama
area, and several of them served in theWar of 1812
from that area.  On a list of persons serving in the 6th
Regiment of Mississippi Militia (1814-1815) are the
names of privatesBenjamin Vaughn, Melkijah Vaughn,
Minoah Vaughn and William Vaughn, Some of these
will be taken up in later papers.  Here, I will say only
that no genealogically useful information (either military
records or pension or bounty land applications) on these
soldiers has been found in the National Archives.

   As has been seen, the only proof I have for my theory
that there existed, in the lateeighteenth century, a Hundley
Vaughan, Sr. and a Hundley Vaughan, Jr. is the mention
by the Clerk in Franklin County, Georgia, that the deed
was witnessed by Hundley Vaughan, Sr.; but it seems to
me that the names of John Fowler'schildren (Aphra,
Melkijah, Olivia and Hundley Vaughan Fowler) are very
strong circumstantial evidence that John Fowler's wife
was a member of Hundley Vaughan's family, and other
factors make it probable that she was the daughter of a
Hundley Vaughan, Sr. (Which statement implies, of
course, that there existed a Hundley Vaughan,Jr.) These
factors are:

   1. John Fowler's daughter Aphra probably was his
oldest child; she was born about 1796(1850 census of
Marshall County, Mississippi) so her mother must have
been born not later than about 1781, and most likely
was born several years earlier than that; therefore,
her maternal grandfather (i.e., Aphra's mother's father)
must have been born not later than about 1760.  Of the
Hundley Vaughans we have found so far, only the one
who was an adult by 1772 would fit to have been the
father of Aprha Fowler's mother.

   2. The 1772 Hundley Vaughan was not the only
eighteenth century man of that name of whom we have
knowledge.  Our information on the other Hundley
Vaughan comes from a letter written in 1915 by his great-great-granddaughter, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth
(Vaughan) James, of Shannon, Mississippi. She wrote
that her great-great-grandfather Hunley Vaughan was
father of Billy, Melkyah, Abner,Manoah, Littleberry,
Benjamin, Hunley and Sallie Vaughan. Research has
shown that these children were born from the mid-1780s
through the early 1800s, which may be an indication that
their father probably was born about 1765 and was,
herefore, born too late for him to have been the adult in
Caroline County in 1772.
   Mrs, James stated that Sallie, the only daughter of her great-great-grandfather HunleyVaughan, died "in early
youth".  If she was correct in so stating, then obviously,
this Hunley Vaughan was not the father of John Fowler's
wife.  If I am correct in theorizing that John Fowler's
father-in-law was named Hundley Vaughan, we must,
then, have had two Hundley Vaughans who were living
adults in the latter part of the eighteenth century,

   3. It is clear that Mrs, James's great-great-grandfather
Hunley Vaughan, was the younger of the two men of that
name and time. In the 1790 census, Hundley Vaughan
of Union County, South Carolina, had, besides himself,
one other maleover the age of 16, four males under 16,
and four females.  If this was a "typical" household,
then it consisted of Hundley and his wife, Elizabeth, a
son born 1774 or earlier, four sons born between 1774
and 1790, and three daughters. This does not fit to have
been the household of the Hunley Vaughan of whom Mrs.
James wrote; her Hunley could not have had eight children
born before 1790 since his apparent oldest child, Littleberry,
was born in the mid-1780s. This must, therefore, have been
the household of Hundley Vaughan, Sr.

   I believe I have now shown that there is good reason to
believe that John Fowler married adaughter of the Hundley
Vaughan who went from Virginia to Union County, South
Carolina, and from there to Franklin County, Georgia. I
have also shown that it is highly probable that there were
two late eighteenth century men named Hundley Vaughan,
and that it was the older of these two who fits to have been
John Fowler's father-in-law, with the younger of the two
having been Mary Elizabeth (Vaughan) James's great-great-grandfather.

   Over the years, I have corresponded with a number of
Hundley Vaughan's descendants who have done research
on their own lines, and have generously shared their
information. I, myself, have done very little research on
the families of William Vaughan of Lafayette County,
Mississippi, (including his descendants in Texas), or of
Littleberry Vaughan.  Most of the information on these
families given below is fromthe correspondents mentioned
above.  I do not know who the other children (besides
Hundley, Jr. and (possibly) Mrs. John Fowler) of Hundley Vaughan,Sr. were, but I believe that the William Vaughan,
aged 75, born in Virginia, (also known as "William H.
Vaughan"), of the 1850 Lafayette County, Mississippi,
census, was one of the sons and I shall list him as such,
but the reader should keep in mind that this is an unproven
theory of mine, and differs from the opinions of most of
those who have researched this family.
 

Linda_Welden@vaughan-vaughn.org

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