Vaughan Family Cemetery

Vaughan

This is believed to be the family cemetery of Tilman Geter Vaughan, Brother of Bannister Vaughan of Boone County, MO. It is located 4.5 miles West of New Bloomfield, Missouri, on land owned by Mrs. J. Ford Lawson, Route #4, Holts Summit, MO. Photographs were taken of each of the stones listed below, except #8 which had no visible markings on the broken base of the stone. Photos and narrative below by Richard P. Burnett taken in the Summer of 1992.

#1 - This stone remnant appears to th the upper portion of the gravestone of Tilman Geter Vaughan. It is the top portion of a rectangular stone with an angular break across the bottom below the name of the deceased. Assuming that it did read "Tilman G. Vaughan", the first three letters, "TIL" are missing because of the break. Clearly legible is "MAN G. VAU". The last four letters "GHAN" have been obliterated because of weathering over time.

#2 - This could be the lower portion of the gravestone of Tilman G. Vaughan. The stone is broken off above the date, Jan., 30, 18--; but the last two numbers are unreadable because of the break and weathering over time. Below the date is written "AGED 61 ys 3 ms 8 da". If the year the deceased died was 1868, then this would compute to October 22, 1806, the indicated date of birth of Tilman Geter Vaughan. His ancestry chart by C.P. Vaughan of San Bernadino, CA, shows that he was born on Oct. 22, 1806 and died Jan. 30, 1868, so this would be a match if her information is correct.

#3 - This is the top portion of a rectangular stone believed to be Tilman G. Vaughan's first wife, Catherine. The name "Catherine M." is arched across the top of the stone but the first two letters "CA" are missing as a result of the angular break across the stone. The surname "Vaughan" would normally be found below the break.

#4 - This gravestone reads "Thomas H., son of T.G. & E.A. Vaughan, died Sep. 15, 1859, aged 4 --------" with the remainder of the age being unreadable because of the jagged break across this area. The parents are Tilman Geter Vaughan and his second wife Eliza Ann Vaughan.

#5 - This gravestone reads "Lewis P., son of T.G. & E.A. Vaughan, died Mar. 30, 1864, aged 1 yr 4 ms 24 ds". This is the only stone remaining upright and still mounted in its' base.

#6 - This gravestone reads "Thomas M., son of Wm. L. & M. Vaughan, born Nov. 14, 1846, died Oct. t, 1855". The parents probably are William L. Vaughan and his wife Mariah Blithe (Blythe) who were married March 14, 1844, in Callaway County, MO. This stone is broken into three pieces and was covered with about six inches of dirt when discovered. The lettering is well preserved because of it being protected by the earth for such a long period of time.

#7 - This gravestone has been broken into several pieces and only the lower of two pieces were found. It is not known whose gravestone this is. Readable is "BORN APR. 21, 1801, DIED Jan. 17, 1855". Written above the dates are the last four letters of the surname, "GHAN", which could well be VAUGHAN. Above this surname, are the last two letters of the deceased's first name, "AN". Near the bottom of the stone is the name of the manufacturer, Halliday & Bourne, St. Louis. The letters "AN" leads one to believe this is not Catherine M.'s stone because the name on her stone is arched; while these two letters are in a straight level horizontal positon.

#8 - This is a rectangular broken stone still mounted on its' concrete base; but the upper portion containing information of the deceased is broken off. It is possible that this is the lower portion to any one of stones #1, #2, or #3 above.

It should be brought out here that Tilman Vaughan's obituary was published in the Telegraph, Fulton, Callaway County, Missouri on April 01, 1864. It states that "Tillman Vaughan, old citizen of this county, died on Wednesday night, last. They may have confused this with the death of Tilman's son, Lewis P. Vaughan, who died on March 30, 1864. The child was aged 1 year 4 months 24 days.

Richard P. Burnett
Jefferson City, MO 65109