VAUGHAN, ETC N EW S L E T T ER
JUNE 1985
EDITOR: Verna Baker Banes
Page 35
LETTER FROM JUDGE ALBERT TATE, JR, NEW ORLEANS, LA
December 1984.
Hopefully this information may be of interest to the NEWSLETTER readers. Although not a Vaughan
descendant, as a hobby I collect and disseminate information as to the early settlers of my native area
of Louisiana.
The family of WILLIAM SMITH and his wife, PRUDENCE BONABD, originally of SC but loyalist
refugees in the Bahama Islands (Providence) during the Revoltuion, appeared in the Attakapas region
of SW LA sometime before 1791. Their dau Elizabeth had been born in the Bahamas and was m. to
a ROBERT ARMSTRONG at the time of their arrival. Armstrong died ca 1806, or at least, disappears.
By 1810, Elizabeth remarried to EDMUND VAUGHAN, b in Richmond, VA, by whom she had
children LOUIS b 1810, JAMES B 1812, and MARY who re JAMES STINE in 1833. The JAMES
VAUGHAN who m ELEANOR PRINCE in 1840 is probably their son, but not definitely identified as
such. LOUIS m USE ARDOIN 28 Jul 1833 and had children FREDERIC b 1834, LOUIS b 1837,
& JAMES b 1838, as well as possibly other children. These marriages and births took place in St.
Martin and St. Mary Parishes of SW Louisiana with at least one indication that it was in an area near
New Iberia now in Iberia Parish,
Sources: The church and civil records are abstracted, with citation, in Donald J. Hebert, Southwest
Louisiana Records, Vol 1, 1756-1810 (Eunice, 1974), pp 516-517; Vol 2, 1811-1830 (Eunice, 1974),
pp 817-820, and Vol 3, 1831-1840 (Eunice, LA 1976). See also MARY ELIZABETH SANDERS,
"Selected Annotated Abstracts of St. Mary Parish, LA, Court Records 1811-1837" for more complete
abstract of MARY VAUGHAN—JAMES STINE 1833 marriage and of LEWIS (LOUIS) VAUGHAN
-LIESE ARDANT (AR30IN) 1833 marriage.
Hebert, v.2, pp. 818-822, and another work by M.E.SANDERS, "Selected Annotated Abstracts of St.
Mary Parish, LA Marr. Book 1, 1811-1829) reveal the presence in the area of another Sraith-Vaughan
connection, with no indication that these families were related to the preceding ones. Four children of
ARCHIBALD SMITH and wife ELIZABETH VAUGHAN are there shown to have been married:
GEORGE m 1821 ELIZABETH ILES; SALLY m MATTHEW WILSOS 1813; WILLIAM V.
SMITH m MELAHIE ROBINET 1815; HARIOT SMITH m PETER W. GODSY 1815. Photocopies
of the original records may be secured by writing to respective churches or clerks of court of the records,
cited by volume and page number (but date should be sufficient) in the Hebert and Sanders works.
Others working on this line are:
CECIL H. SMITH, 627 East Main, Fairfield, TX 75840 states that ELIZABETH VAUGHN SMITH
(widow of ARCHIBALD SMITH) made application to go to TX with Stephen F. Austin's second
colony in 1825. She was a widow with two minor children.
SHERRILL BOURN, 4257 Timuquana Road, Jacksonville, FL 32210. I sent a cop;, at Judge Tale's
letter to Sherrill because of her query on p. 31 of the 'July '84 edition and family sheet, p. 43, Oct.
1984 edition. She responded with great excitement because this information helped her clear some
areas of doubt. Corrected sheets on the family will be printed later. She wrote; "The Judge's
information made a much clearer scenario on Edmund Vaughan but I still wonder how he got to LA.
My main source on this whole family is from my grandfather b 1869. My Dad jotted down info from
him before his death in the 60 *s. According to him, Edmund left VA because he had been in a fight
with a man who was killed in the process, so Ed high-tailed it. I have wondered if this was probably
KY rather than VA as I have conflicting records on the state."
Connecting these families and searchers "made my day I* Are there others of you who have information
on these lines? It sounds like an exciting family.
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