GRANVILLE H. VAUGHAN. The occupation of farming is one that has received attention from the earliest ages, and it is not to be wondered at that it has become the art that it is at the present time. Among those who have shown a satisfactory knowledge of this calling, and whose operations are conducted in a very progressive manner may be mentioned Granville H. Vaughan, who is the owner of a valuable farm in Finley Township. He first saw the light of day in Rutherford County, Tennessee, in 1831.
His parents, James and Nancy (Hatchett) Vaughan, were natives of the Old Dominion, the former born in Mecklenburg and the latter in Charlotte County. The parents were reared and married in their native State, and after the birth of their first child, or in 1811, they removed to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where Mr. Vaughan kept hotel for some time. He boarded representatives to the Legislature when that was the capital of the State, it being in David Crockett’s time. Mr. Vaughan also followed farming and superintended the construction of some of the turn-pikes that enter Murfreesboro, and was in official life for some time. He was a man of learning and ability, and of considerable note. During the War of 1812 he furnished a substitute. He was constable for a number of years, this being an important and remunerative office at that time. In 1842 he came by ox team and a one-horse carriage to Christian County, Missouri, being three weeks on the road, and located in the woods about five or six miles south of Ozark, then in Taney County, where he improved one of the finest farms in that section. He made a good fortune in farming and stockraising, and there died in 1869, when eighty-nine years of age. He was one of the pioneers of that section and was well and favorably known. It is supposed that his father was a Scotchman and that his mother was of German nativity. They reared a large family, the father of our subject being the only one who came to Missouri. The mother of our subject died about 1876. Her parents passed their entire lives in the Old Dominion. Mr. Vaughan was twice married, his last wife being Elizabeth Davis, who bore him three children, as follows: Henry, a farmer of this county; Richard, now of Oklahoma, and Joseph, now on the old home place.
The original of this notice was the youngest of thirteen children, as follows: Parks died in Tennessee when young; Catherine married Reuben Bowles and died in Nashville, Tennessee; Jordan was a soldier in Price’s army and died of fever the day of the battle of Pea Ridge; Perlina was the wife of Nathaniel Pipers and died in west Tennessee; Harriet married James Sloan of Gibson County, Tennessee; Thomas, a wealthy man and the father of Judge James Vaughan, of Springfield, Missouri, died at Ozark in 1883; Elizabeth, widow of Dr. Samuel Bowles; James, of Arkansas; William, of Oregon; David, a prominent physician, died in Bedford County, Tennessee (he was a soldier in the Confederate Army and later became surgeon); Julia, deceased; Mary E., deceased, was the wife of John H. Wisner; and our subject.
The latter early learned the duties of farm life, and in addition to a common-school education, attended the school in Springfield. When about twenty years of age he began for himself as a farmer, and this has been his chosen occupation ever since.
On the 7th of January, 1858, he was married to Miss Mary E. McGaugh, who was born on her father’s old farm near Boling Park, Greene County, Missouri Her parents, James and Marinda (Davis) McGaugh, were natives of Marshall County, Tennessee, where they remained until about 1836, and then came to Greene County, Missouri, settling about three miles north of Springfield, adjoining Boling Park. Mr. McGaugh afterward returned to Tennessee, but later moved to Mississippi, where he followed farming until his death. Mrs. McGaugh is still living, is seventy-six years of age, and resides in Christian County. She is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. Her father, Joshua Davis, who came to Greene County, Missouri, about 1836, and who located near Boling Park, was one of the most conspicuous characters of his day. He was a cripple and something of an invalid, but his mind was unusually active and bright. He was clerk of the court of Greene County for twelve years, and was editor and publisher of The Lancet, and also The Mirror, for many years in Springfield. He was a brilliant orator, a man of much influence, and an able and active politician. His death occurred in 1856, and his son, William P., succeeded him in journalistic work.
To Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan have been born seven children, viz.: Flora, wife of George C. Hursh; Waldo Burke, a manufacturer of Carthage; Granville Joshua, at home; Virginia, wife of Scott Massey, a prominent attorney of Springfield; Lena N., wife of Hall Given, of Leon, Kan., a railroad operator; Luther A., at home, and Ella, at home. Soon after marrying, Mr. Vaughan located on his present farm in the woods, and now has 130 acres, all under a good state of cultivation. Politically Mr. Vaughan and his people were originally Whigs, but since the war he has advocated the principles of Democracy. He sympathized with the South during the Rebellion but took no part. Mrs. Vaughan is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and the Vaughan family is one of the best in the county.