Amos Fuller VAUGHN

Early Settler of Iowa

©2000/2001
Amos Fuller Vaughn

The above "restored" Photo was taken in What Cheer, Keokuk Co., Iowa, probably in the 1840s.

VAUGHN PHOTO ALBUM - Coming Soon!

Amos Fuller VAUGHN * was born 7 January, 1814, allegedly in New York, the son of Edward Vaughn and Rachel FULLER. The Vaughn family moved to Ohio after all their children were born in New York.

Recently, I found at least two VAUGHN families in New York that seem promising. Time will prove if I am on the right path to finding Amos Fuller Vaughns parents and origin.

Edward Vaughn's true identity and origin is not yet known, but Family Stories have it that Edward descended from English Lords. It is a possibility from the research I have recently discovered, that he may have descended from the Tretower Vaughan family of Wales.

The known children of Edward & Rachel were:
Harriet Vaughn
Ann Vaughn
Melvina Vaughn
Rachel Vaughn
Unknown dau. Vaughn (Mary ?)
John Vaughn
Edward Vaughn
Amos Fuller Vaughn *

And possibly others...

On 19 May, 1832, Amos F. Vaughn was mustered into the Black Hawk War as a private, where he served until September of 1832. He served actively for a 14-day period of his enlistment time, which was the actual length of the War with Chief Black Hawk and the Sac and Fox Indians.

The next we find of the Vaughns is in Iowa, where Amos married (1st) Miss Susan BREEDEN, on July 26, 1839 in Fulton, Jackson County, IA., at that time part of Wisconsin Territory.
Susan was the daughter of Richard BREEDEN III and Lucretia ALEXANDER of Shelby County, Kentucky. The Breedens lived first in Gallatin County, Kentucky, where their first 4 children were born. By 1817 they had moved to Indiana and lived in Monroe County, where Susan was born in about 1820.

The following year, the Breedens moved to Putnam County, Indiana where three more children were born. Sometime after 1828 they again pulled stakes and moved this time to Edgar County, Illinois, where the Bradshaw families of Cabell County, Virginia came to live in 1832 -1833. I have found members of the Breeden family living in and around Cabell County, Virginia at the time the Bradshaws lived there, so it is entirely possible that they had been acquainted there, and maybe even the reason for the Bradshaws to move to Edgar County, Illinois.

Richard & Lucretia's last 3 children were born there. It was also there in Edgar county, where their firstborn son, Fielden Breeden married Nancy BRADSHAW, daughter of the late John & Rebecca (Stevens) Bradshaw of Cabell county, Virginia (now WV). Nancy had moved to Illinois with her grandparents, Charles and Hannah (Bates) Bradshaw. Charles Bradshaw was age 64 when the Bradshaw Clan moved to Illinois from Virginia & Kentucky, and by 1835 he had taken out a Land Patent there in Edgar county , along with many of his sons and one cousin. When Charles died in 1843, he left a Will to his family, which included the following in regard to Fielden & Nancy (Bradshaw) Breeden:

Charles Bradshaw's Edgar county, IL. Estate Will:
Names of those who were listed to inherit part of his estate:
1. William McCoy & wife (Charles dau., Nancy Bradshaw)
2. William Bradshaw (Son)
3. (James) Skelton Bradshaw (son)
4. (Charles) Lewis Bradshaw (son)
5. Jeremiah Bradshaw (son)
6. Elias Bradshaw (son)
7. Thomas Campbell & wife (Susan Bradshaw, Charles' dau.)
8. * FIELDING BREEDEN & his wife (Nancy Bradshaw, Charles' granddaughter, & dau. of John, deceased) **
9. * Skelton Bradshaw, Jr. (grandson of Charles, & son of John, deceased)
10. *Anny Bradshaw (Ann Bradshaw: granddau. of Charles & dau. of John, deceased)**
11. * The guardian of Elanor (sic) Bradshaw, a minor of Jacob Bradshaw, deceased.

* The last four persons received lesser amounts of money from Charles's Estate, than the first seven persons, all of whom received $17.42 as their share of his estate.

** Fielding should read: Fielden
* "Anny" Bradshaw became my GG-Gramma, Ann (Bradshaw) Vaughn

It is not known whether the Breedens went to Iowa before Charles Bradshaw's death, but it would seem so, because Susan Breeden was to marry Amos Fuller Vaughn there in Jackson County, 4 years before Charles died in 1843. It is supposed that Fielden & Nancy had also gone to Iowa with many of the Breeden family.

Three or four of Charles Bradshaw's sons also went to Iowa, three eventually settled in Missouri, in Bates and Putnam counties; one in Cass County, Iowa. Two other children lived there for a time, but removed to live in Tyler, Texas, where their descendants can now be found.

Most of the Breeden siblings lived the remainder of their lives in Jackson County, in Farmers Creek Twp., namely, Richard Owen, William, Dudley, Calvin and Bland Ballard. There may have been others, but these are all I have found death records for in Jackson county, to date.

Richard Breeden and his wife, Lucretia, also moved to Jackson County where they lived out their lives, died and are buried there.

The children of Richard & Lucretia Breeden were:
1. Fielden
2. Millie
3. Richard Owen
4. William
5. Polly
6. Dudley
7. Bland Ballard
8. Susan *
9. Lucretia
10. Jane
11. Berryman
12. Calvin
13. James
14. Amanda

Below information - Not known if related or same as some of the above children:

I found this in Crawford Co, Indiana Civil War Soldiers (A-G)
- taken from the Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana:

BREEDEN, Abel R. Independent Indiana Cavalry Enlisted as a Ferrier.
BREEDEN, Calvin P. Independent Indiana Cavalry Private.
BREEDEN, David Independent Indiana Cavalry Private.
BREEDEN, Henry W. Independent Indiana Cavalry Sergeant.
BREEDEN, William C. Independent Indiana Cavalry Private.

So it would seem that the BREEDEN Family played a very influential role in the lives of both the Bradshaw and Vaughn families' westward migration, and eventual settlement in Iowa & Missouri.

Children of Amos & Susan (Breeden) Vaughn:

1i. William Vaughn - married Sarah Anne BENNETT
2ii. Amos Conwell Vaughn
- married (1) Margaret Ann CLONINGER
- married (2) Nancy Ann SMITH
3iii. dau. twin- died in infancy
4iv. dau. twin - died in infancy

Susan (Breeden) Vaughn died in December of 1845 after giving birth to the twins, and afterward the two babies died within a month of their births in January and February 1846.

I do not know how many of the Vaughns removed to Iowa from Ohio, but in the Iowa Census for years 1840-1849, Vol. 2, edit. by Ronald Vern Jackson, R. G. ; A. I. S. Senior Archivist (Accelerated Index Systems, INC.); Call number R. 929.3 Iowa Jac v.2,
I found the following:

VAUGHN, Amos, Jackson CO, Iowa, Farmers Creek Twp, 1849

VAUGHN, John, Louisa CO., Iowa, (no township listed), 1849

VAUGHN, Mary, Jackson CO, Maquoketa Twp., 1849

I have found many people by the name VAUGHN and VAUGHAN in Iowa at this time. Many of these Vaughns came from Virginia and appear to all have descended from the afore mentioned John Vaughan who early settled in Virginia in 1636.

Amos F. Vaughn and Rebecca Ann BRADSHAW began their life together on August 26, 1846 when they were married by Charley Harris, Christian Minister, at Fulton, Jackson County, Iowa. Anne was the sister-in-law of Fielden BREEDEN, the brother of Susan. Fielden had married Nancy Bradshaw sometime before 1843, in Edgar County, Illinois, several years before going out West to Iowa. Nancy was a mid-wife.

At first, Amos & Ann continued to live in the Fulton area. Ann raised Susan's little boys as her own sons, and all their lives they called her "Mother". Four children were born to Ann & Amos while living in Fulton, Jackson county, Iowa, between 1847 and 1855, after which Amos sold his land and they removed to Putnam County, Missouri. Amos F. Vaughn successfully farmed there until after the onset of the Civil War.

Children of Amos Fuller & Ann (Bradshaw) Vaughn:

1iv. Susan Vaughn - died as an infant
2v. Amanda Jane Vaughn - married Denis KEELER
3vi. John Vaughn -died as an infant
4vii. Margaret Ellen Vaughn - married Charley C. SHINLEY
5viii. Nancy Leanore Vaughn * - married Per Gustav HINDORFF
6ix. Martha Emaline Vaughn - married Charles Nelson NEWCOMB
7x. Leo Jordon Vaughn - never married
8xi. Lucy Ann Vaughn
- married (1) Adolfus Fredric HINDORFF
- married (2) John Mason MACK
9xii. Dora Alice Vaughn - married Macedonia Llora Merrion MACHADO

1. Susan - born August 27, 1847. Died on March 10, 1849 of "Lung Fever" (TB)

2. Amanda Jane - born 7 September, 1849. Died 26 August, 1948.

3. John - born 22 November, 1851. Died May 26, 1852 accidental poisoning -red
shoe dye.

4. Margaret Ellen- born 6 June, 1853. Died January 21, 1935.

5. Nancy Leanore - born 10 February, 1856. Died August 25, 1938, Fallbrook,
California.

6. Martha Emaline- born 13 August, 1858. Died 24 January 24, 1923.

7. Leo Jordon "Jurd" - born 27 February, 1861. Died March 28, 1947, Coleridge,
Nebraska.

8. Lucy Ann - born 19 September, 1863. Died November 14, 1934.

9. Dora Alice "Allie" - born 26 March, 1866. Died 28 October, 1953, Temecula,
California.

Family stories tell that Amos was a "Yankee" and his views clashed with those of the general populace in Missouri. He was harassed for it and during the Civil War years received ill treatment as a result. He was even arrested and jailed for a time but was later released and the charges were dropped. During the War of the Rebellion, Ann rode her favorite horse, taking a string of other horses with her, into Iowa state to keep Rebel soldiers in Missouri from getting their stock.

In Missouri, the farm provided nearly everything the Vaughn family needed. Livestock included, horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, oxen for heavy work, chickens and milking cows. Grains included, wheat, corn, rye, barley, buckwheat, and oats. Flax was grown for making into linens and clothing. Bees provided honey and wax for candle making. Fish and other meats were preserved by smoking or by packing is barrels of salt. Vegetables were dried or stored in root cellars. Nut trees grew on the farm in the nearby woods and provided them with black walnuts, hickory nuts and pecans. There were wild strawberries and blackberries and wild plums. Wild prairie grasses provided the fodder for livestock. The woods also provided wild game birds, such as pheasant, quail and turkeys.

As the War heated up, their happy Life on a Missouri Farm dramatically changed, so sometime after September of 1863 the Vaughns removed to a farm in Cass County, then part of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, where Amos worked hauling freight at Indiantown, near Lewis. Ann's uncle Jeremiah Bradshaw had been living there since 1851 and owned and operated a combination dry goods and stage-stop propriety. It is likely the reason for their going to Lewis, Iowa. There had been Flour Mills built nearby and the flour was freighted to others parts of the State by wagon. (See Iowa Historical Biography of Jeremiah BRADSHAW pertaining to Lewis, Cass county, IA.)

Amos died in April 6th, 1880, in Cass County, and was buried at Oakwood Cemetery (Old Lewis Cemetery) in Lewis, Iowa.
Afterward, Ann rented out rooms of her home to boarders for income. Two boarders in the Vaughn Boarding House were Swedish boys - Adolfus Fredric and Per Gustav Hindorff. They eventually married two of Ann's daughters; Nancy Leanore and Lucy Ann Vaughn.

Still under construction...

More to come....Soon!

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