Nicholas Vaughan
Elizabeth Williams
Amelia County, Virginia
Submitted by Mary Gregg

For instance, I can prove that he had a son named Robert
to whom he gave land by deed, and this son is not mentioned
in the will, even though he was still alive. I think the same
thing happened with Nicholas. I believe the following is a
deed of gift from father to son, even though the relationship
is not stated in the deed:

[Amelia County Deed Book 11:255] April 25, 1771.
Robert Vaughan, Senr, of Amelia County to Nicholas
Vaughan] of same Robert for natural love and affection
for said Nicholas 150 acres in aforesaid county part of the
tract where Robert Vaughan now lives. Bounded by James
Vaughan, Gardner Mayes, Lewis Vaughan, Jesse Lunsford,
and some land lately purchased by the said Nicholas of
Bartholomew Vaughan

No witnesses
/s/ Robert (X)
Vaughan, Senr.
 

In KENTUCKY, A HISTORY OF THE STATE, EDITION
4, W.H. Perrin, J. H. Battle and G. C, Kniffin, pub. by F. A,
Battey and Company in 1887 and reprinted by Southern
Historical Press in 1979, there is a biographical sketch of a
William N. Vaughan, who is stated to have been the son of
John Vaughan and Margaret Edrington. It is further stated
that this John Vaughan was born in 1794, the youngest of
13 children of Nicholas Vaughan and Elizabeth Williams
of Amelia County, Virginia, and that he John-was "brought
to Kentucky by Stephen Board". Thus from this sketch we
learn he name of Nicholas Vaughan's wife, that they lived
in Amelia County, that they had 13 children, and that the
youngest of those 13 was born in 1794.

Elizabeth Williams, the wife of Nicholas Vaughan, almost
certainly was the daughter of Phillip Williams of Nottoway
Parish, Amelia County, Virginia, whose will [Amelia County
Will Book 4:19] dated January 14, 1786 and proved
December 28, 1786, mentions, among others, his daughter
Elizabeth Vaughan. [He als mentions his daughter "Martha
Williams alias Hundley... "and she married, in Amelia
County, on February 8, 1786, one John Vaughan, whom
I cannot further identify]

The mention of Stephen Board in the biographical sketch
cited above is, perhaps, yet another valuable bit of
information, for in Bedford County, Virginia, on March
24, 1800, Lettice Vaughan married Stephen Board. Possibly
this is the Stephen Board with whom young John Vaughan
went to Kentucky, and, if so, it seems likely that the Lettice
Vaughan who married Stephen Board was John Vaughan's
older sister, therefore a daughter of Nicholas Vaughan and
Elizabeth Williams.

Names of two other probable daughters of Nicholas Vaughan
and Elizabeth Williams are found in Amelia County where
Nicholas Vaughan is mentioned as the father of the bride in
two marriage records. I cannot be absolutely certain that this
is the Nicholas who married Elizabeth Williams, but so far I
have found only one Nicholas Vaughan living in Amelia
County during this time period, and if I am correct in theoriz-
ing that he was the Nicholas who married Elizabeth Williams,
then they must have been the parents of these two girls.

1797 Jason Meador and Polly Vaughan, daughter of
Nicholas Vaughan.
Surety: Willis Vaughan.
[If Lettice Vaughan who married in Bedford County was
the daughter of Nicholas Vaughan of Amelia, the fact that
shemarried in Bedford might be an indication that she was
living with a sibling who had moved to that county.
I have not made a serious study of this, but I have reason
to believe that Jason and Polly (Vaughan) Meador moved
from Amelia County to Bedford County, Virginia; if this is
correct, then possibly Lettice was living with them when she
met and married Stephen Board.]

1800 George W. Baldwin and Elizabeth Vaughan, daughter
of Nicholas Vaughan.
Witness to consent: Willis Vaughan and James Townes.
Surety: Willis Vaughan.

The name of another probable child, a son, is found in the
deed records of Amelia County, Book 21, pages 20 and 406.
These are both deeds of gift from Nicholas Vaughan to his
son Willis Vaughan. The first is a gift of household items and
livestock dated February 14,1800, and the second, dated the
same day, but not recorded until 1803, is for 50 acres of land
in Amelia County bounded by Thomas Wright, John Wright,
Seth Webber [or Webster], and by one other person whose
name I could not read.

This Willis, son of Nicholas Vaughan, almost certainly is the
man of that name who, in 1796 in Amelia County, married
Betsy Wright, daughter of Thomas Wright.

I have found two more Virginia marriages which I think
might be those of children of Nicholas Vaughan and
Elizabeth Williams.

In Charlotte County,December 6, 1802, Lewis Beadles
married Martha Vaughan with the consent of Nicholas
Vaughan, and with George W. Baldwin as security. It is
not stated in the published record of this marriage that
Nicholas Vaughan was the father of the bride, and it is
quite possible that he stood in some other relationship
to her, but the presence of George W. Baldwin, known
to have married a daughter of a Nicholas Vaughan,
strongly suggests the probability that this bride, Martha
Vaughan, was another daughter of Nicholas Vaughan.

And, again in Charlotte County, on September 21, 1806,
Sally Vaughan married Morgan Morgan, with the consent
of her guardian, Jason Meadow. Since Jason was the son-
in-law of Nicholas and Elizabeth (Williams) Vaughan, it
seems reasonable to suppose that this bride - a ward of
Jason Meador/Meadow, also, was their daughter.

This Nicholas Vaughan died ca 1803-1804, for his name
disappears from Amelia County tax lists after 1803. Begin-
ning in 1809 and continuing through 1813, an Elizabeth
Vaughan is seen in the lists, and she might be Elizabeth
(Williams) Vaughan, widow of Nicholas. [I have not read
the lists for dates later than 1813.]

To summarize: Nicholas Vaughan (born November 21, 1734,
in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia; perhaps
died ca 1803 in Amelia County) married Elizabeth Williams
and had 13 children, probably including:

1. Willis Vaughan who married, in Amelia County, December
16, 1796, Betsy Wright, daughter of Thomas Wright.

2. Polly Vaughan who married, in Amelia County, January
13, 1797, Jason Meador.

3. Elizabeth Vaughan who married, in Amelia County,
October 30, 1800, George W. Baldwin.

4. Lettice Vaughan who married, in Bedford County,
Virginia, March 24, 1800, Stephen Board.

5. Martha Vaughan who married, in Charlotte County,
Virginia, December 6, 1802, Lewis Yancy Beadles.

6. Sally Vaughan who married, in Charlotte County,
Virginia, September 21, 1806, Morgan Morgan.

7. John Vaughan (born in Amelia County, Virginia, 1794;
died in Kentucky) married in Kentucky, Margaret Edrington.
 

Linda_Welden@vaughan-vaughn.org

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