August J. Vaughn

August J. Vaughn (born August Johnson)
Born	February 8, 1854(1854-02-08) Vestergatland or Smaland, Sweden (Source Conflict)
Died	January 7, 1947 (aged 92)
Resting place	Platte Valley Cemetery in Phelps County, Nebraska
Residence	Sweden (1854–1868) «Did not recognize date. Try slightly modifying the date in the first parameter.–Did not recognize date. Try slightly modifying the date in the first parameter.»"Marriage: Sweden to August J. Vaughn" Location: (linkback:http://jimlindstrom.com/mediawiki/index.php/August_J._Vaughn) Illinois, USA (1868–1878) «Did not recognize date. Try slightly modifying the date in the first parameter.–Did not recognize date. Try slightly modifying the date in the first parameter.»"Marriage: Illinois, USA to August J. Vaughn" Location: (linkback:http://jimlindstrom.com/mediawiki/index.php/August_J._Vaughn) Phelps County, Nebraska, USA (1878–1947) «Did not recognize date. Try slightly modifying the date in the first parameter.–Did not recognize date. Try slightly modifying the date in the first parameter.»"Marriage: Phelps County, Nebraska, USA to August J. Vaughn" Location: (linkback:http://jimlindstrom.com/mediawiki/index.php/August_J._Vaughn)
Spouse	Matilda Swan Peterson (m. 1877) «Did not recognize date. Try slightly modifying the date in the first parameter.»"Marriage: Matilda Swan Peterson to August J. Vaughn" Location: (linkback:http://jimlindstrom.com/mediawiki/index.php/August_J._Vaughn), Illinois
Children	Oscar Albion Vaughn (1878-) Ira Clarance Vaughn (1882-1969) Alice Irene Vaughn (1884-1925) Edward Phillip Vaughn (1886-1975) Henry Carroll Vaughn (1888-1974) Fred Walter Vaughn (1890-1955) Alvin August Vaughn (1893-1986) Ernest Harold Vaughn (1896=1983) Togue Thedford Vaughn (1898-1976) Carroll
Parents	Maybe: John G. Johnson Maybe: Johanna Johnson

Biography of August J. Vaughn

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August J. Vaughan [sic], a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Williamsburg township, Phelps County, was born in Sweden, February 8, 1854. He was reared on a farm and attended school for about seven years. He landed in New York City, after a somewhat stormy voyage, on August 3, 1868, and came west as far as Oneinda, Knox County, Ill., where he remained for 10 years, working out by the month on a farm.

Mr. Vaughan came to Phelps County, Nebr., in July 1878, homesteading the southeast quarter of Section 32. There was plenty of antelope and other wild game, but very few actual settlers in that locality then. Mr. Vaughan was a young man and came here with a very limited means, having only three horses and about $50 in money. He built a sod house and at once set about laying the foundation for his future home. He underwent all of the hardships of frontier life, was compelled to haul water three miles for his stock, being unable to have a well dug, and was subjected to many other inconveniences. He has worked hard, early and late, however, until the once wild and desolate prairie homestead has been transformed into a productive and beautiful farm.

Mr. Vaughan was married to Miss Matilda S. Peterson on December 31, 1877 (sic: see marriage license, below). She was born in Sweden in 1856 and came to America in 1868. This union has resulted in the birth of five children, namely -- Oscar, Ira (deceased), Alice, Eddie, and Carroll. Mr. Vaughan has 320 acres of improved land, all fenced and under a good state of cultivation. He is a progressive man and believes in keeping well-bred stock of all kinds. He has some as fine standard-bred Hambletonian horses as anyone would wish to see, and his Short-horn cattle and Poland-china hogs are among the best to be found in Phelps County. He is regarded as one of the most successful stock-raisers in the county, and his example is well worthy of emulation.

Both Mr. Vaughn and his estimable wife are members of the Christian Mission church. In politics he is a republican, and a man who stands high in the estimation of his fellow men.

(Note: This was published in 1890, at which point A.J. and Matilda did only have 5 children. Children 6-9 were born after this book, in the 1890s. -- Jim.lindstrom)

Account of A.J. Vaughn's Emmigration by Dean Randall Lindstrom

This is the story that my mother, Aline, and my uncle, Lee Vaughn, have told me about the origin of the Vaughn name taken by their grandpa, August J. Vaughn, sometime in the 1880's when he came from Illinois to Phelps County, Nebr.: At age, 18, my great grandfather, August Johnson came from Sweden in the early 1880's and worked for a few years for a Swedish farmer in Illinois with a last name of Vaughn. He appreciated the job opportunity in Illinois and admired his employer, Mr. Vaughn. August Johnson was later convinced by someone to move to Phelps County, Nebraska and homestead 160 acres about 2 miles south of the pioneer cemetery, which we now call Platte Valley Cemetery. Upon arriving in Phelps County and doing the homestead claim he discovered that the county had many families with the name of Johnson who were not related to him and made it confusing. (or maybe there was another reason or two) I have not examined the real estate title or homestead document at the Phelps County Clerk's office to see how the name is recorded, but, at some time during the 1880's when he first came to Phelps County, he assumed the name of A. J. Vaughn. His wife, 8 sons, and all of male offspring have used the Vaughn name ever since. A.J. and his wife, Matilda, and 4 of their sons, Togue, Fred, Ernest, and Carroll, are buried at the Platte Valley Cemetery. A.J. & Matilda had 4 other sons and a daughter who were married were buried with their families in Holdrege & Overton, Nebr. and near Akron, Colo. My grandfather, Edward P. and wife, Ethel A. are buried in Moses Hill Cemetery northwest of Holdrege where my parents are buried.

Reflections by AJ's son, Alvin

ALVIN A. VAUGHN It was 1878 when my parents, August John and Matilda, decided to come to Phelps County. My father had come from Vastergotland, Sweden as a young boy at 14 years of age, his name then being Gust Johnson. He worked on a farm for a man by the name of Vaughn which he admired and liked very much. So he changed his name to August John Vaughn when he left for Phelps County, with no legal formality.

Gust Johnson and Matilda Peterson from Smaland, Sweden, were married December 31, 1877 at Oneida, Illinois and their first home being Galesburg, Illinois. The following spring they joined with a group of westward immigrants traveling by covered wagon on the Overland trip to Nebraska. Their first son, Oscar, was born in the state of Iowa enroute to Phelps County, where mother’s parents, the C.J. Peterson’s had already started a homestead having come in 1876. The 2 families lived together until my dad took over a homestead relinquishment which was proved up after first living in a dug out, then a sod house and a simple frame structure. In 1893, the present home was built, with a lot of sacrifices and hard work. This home is where 8 sons and 1 daughter: Oscar, Ira, Alice, Eddie, Alvin, Carroll, Fred, Ernest and Togue grew up.

My father was a progressive farmer, with the help of sons he raised and trained trotting horses, Shorthorn cattle and hogs, and in later years purebred Hereford cattle, having large auctions at our farm. Mother passed away August 1915.

In 1918, our cousin, Olga Thulin, from Galesburg, Illinois, came to make her home with us, being the only child of my father’s oldest sister, Hannah and husband John Thulin. Olga was thought of as a member of the family. My father passed away January 10, 1947 and at this writing I am the only survivor of a large family and consider it a privilege to have seen many changes in Phelps County.

I remember lights were tallow in a saucer, cheese making, cooking molasses, grasshopper plagues and the drouth that forced selling of livestock. With the present day progress, it makes for many memories.

Timeline

1854	August was born
1868	August came to Oneida, Illinois, at age 14
1876	Matilda's parents moved to Phelps County, Nebraska
1877	August married Matilda Swan Peterson, in Galesberg Illinois, on Dec. 18, 1877.
1878	1st child, Oscar Albion Vaughn was born. (The 1880 census, below, says Oscar was born in Nebraska. Son Alvin's notes say Oscar was born in Iowa, while the family was en route to Nebraska.)
July 1878	August and Matilda moved to Phelps County, Nebraska, moving in with Matilda's parents, Carl J. Peterson and Maria Sophia Peterson, until August and his family took over "a homestead relinquishment which was proved up after first living in a dug out, then a sod house and a simple frame structure."
1882	2nd child, Ira Clarance Vaughn was born
1884	3rd child, Alice Irene Vaughn was born
1884	A J became a naturalized US citizen
1886	4th child, Edward Phillip Vaughn was born, in Westmark, Nebraska
1888-1898	5th through 9th children are born, in Nebraska
1893	"The present home was built, with a lot of sacrifices and hard work. This home is where 8 sons and 1 daughter: Oscar, Ira, Alice, Eddie, Alvin, Carroll, Fred, Ernest and Togue grew up."
1915	Matilda dies (buried in Platte Valley Cemetery)
1947	August dies (buried in Platte Valley Cemetery)

A.J.'s Phelps County Farm

In an email, Dean Randall Lindstrom writes:

Great grandpa homesteaded in northern Phelps county. [...] The land that he homesteaded is about 16 miles northwest of Holdrege in Westside Township with a legal description as follows: The Southeast quarter of Section 32, Township 8, Range 19 West of Principal Meridian, Phelps County, Nebraska. The county recorder's office doesn't have the old real estate deeds inserted on their computerized database, so I will have to go to Holdrege sometime and walk in the Phelps County Recorders Office and find the original or microfilmed recorded deed from United States of America to A.J. Vaughn, August J.Vaughn, August Johnson, or whatever name he used back in the 1880's when he first homesteaded it. The landowner now on that place is Ryan C. Vaughn, who is my cousin, Stanley Vaughn's son, who now owns and farms the land which is identified as parcel ID # [004357.00] by the Phelps County Assessor, and, contains 165.44 acres more or less. You can see the parcel description on the Phelps County Assessor's records, and, view the parcel map on Google Earth if you wish. There is no house or farm buildings on the farm now. and, it is used only for farmland for corn and soybeans.

I can remember when A. J. Vaughn raised registered Hereford cattle on the farm. My uncle Lee says that in the early 1900's A.J. Vaughn (his grandpa) sold high quality registered Hereford (red & white) bulls and bred cows to other ranchers and producers at auction at the farmstead on an annual basis. My mother, Aline, when she was a young girl, used to help her grandparents by helping to cook meals at harvest time or on special occasions when they needed to feed extra farm workers. A.J. Vaughn and his wife, Matilda raised 8 sons and 1 daughter. Great Grandpa Vaughn loved his trotting horses and had a race track behind his horse barn where he trained the "trotting gait" to his horses. My uncle Lee says that he remembers the horses in training wore a harsh metal appliance on the horse shoulders and legs which would cause them to bleed until they learned the special gait to make them a trotter. Then they were used to race with a two wheel cart which had bicycle-like tires.

The address of the above map is "H Rd & 744 Rd, Loomis, Phelps, Nebraska 68958".

Historical Records

Immigration:

• Possible match for August in the Swedish emmigration records, arriving NYC on Aug 12, 1868.

It is unclear where and with whom A.J. lived during the 1870s in Illinois. One possibility is that he lived on his own, in Knox County (as the biography above suggests), and perhaps lied about his age to seem older. This version fits with the story that A.J. would take someone else's last name. Possible sources matching this version:

• The 1870 Illinois Census lists A.J. in Ontario Township, Illinois, just north of Galesburg: Johnson, August. 18 M. White. Sweden. Knox County. Ontario Township. (Ancestry link). This August is a workman on Robert McKee's farm in Sections 16 and 21 of Ontario Township, just outside Oneida.
• Another August (age 16, which is the expected age for an 1854 birth) was working on Alonzo Miller's farm in Ontario Township in the 1870 Census

Alternatively, A.J. might be this individual who immigrated from Sweden with his father John and mother Johanna and younger brother Charles. This A.J.'s birth year matches. And he exits this family at the right time to get married and show up in Nebraska in the 1880 census. But it's not clear why this individual would pick a new last name if his father were in the country. And this version has some weird holes. Where, for example, is Charles in the 1870 census?

• The 1870 Census for Geneseo City, IL contains an August Johnson, living with parents John G Johnson and Johana Johnson. What makes this likely to be A.J. is that August is the right age, he's listed as a day laborer (could fit Dean's story of August working for a Vaughn), it's in the area where we know he married Matilda, and his father's immigration year is listed as 1868, which matches the immigration date for August, given in that biography (Aug 3, 1868).
• The 1877 book The History of Henry County, Illinois (p201) lists August, Charles, and John.

In either case, August and Matilda's marriage is documented in a marriage license application and marriage license still on file in Knox County, Illinois:

August's and Matilda's application for a marriage license	August's and Matilda's marriage license

By the time A.J. shows up in Nebraska, their trail is much clearer:

• August (age 24), Matilda (age 24), and Oscar (age 1) lived in Williamsburg, Phelps County, Nebraska, in the 1880 Federal Census.
  • The Agricultural Schedule says the Vaughns owned 40 acres of tilled land, and 120 acres of unimproved land. They valued their farm (buildings & land) at $400, their equipment at $20, and their livestock at $400.
  • They spent $50 building and mending fences in 1879.
  • They had 4 horses. 3 milk cows, 5 poultry.
  • 20 acres of Indian corn produced 200 bushels. 5 acres of oats produced 100 bushels. 10 acres of wheat produced 80 bushels.
• Matilda Vaughn (age 28), husband A.J., and children Oscar (age 6), Ira (age 3), and ? (age 1) lived in Westmark, Phelps County, in the 1885 Nebraska Census.
  • That census's Schedule 2 (Agricultural Production) lists the Vaughns as having 110 acres of improved land and 50 acres of unimproved land.
  • It values their farm (land and buildings) at $3,000, their equipment at $85, and their livestock at $580. In 1884, they spent $50 on fences, $200 on farm labor (for 32 weeks of help). Their farm productions for 1884 were $1,500.
  • As of June 1885, they had on hand: 20 horses (compared to the 3-5 each neighbor had), no mules, 7 milk cows, and 18 other animals. During 1884, they "dropped" 4 cows and sold 5 (living). They made 300 lbs of butter. They had 115 swine and 35 chickens. During 1884, they produced 100 dozen eggs.
  • 5 acres of barley produced 100 bushels. 38 acres of Indian corn produced 1800 bushels. 16 acres of oats produced 660 bushels. 25 acres of wheat produced 500 bushels. 8 acres of broom corn produced 4,000 lbs. 3 acres of Irish potatoes produced 300 bushels.
• This Directory Listing, 1889 Phelps County Map (Phelps County Museum) lists A.J. in Nebraska in 1889:
  • VAUGHAN, A. J. Occupation: FARMER. Post Office: WESTMARK. WILLIAMSBURG TOWNSHIP, PHELPS COUNTY, NE.
• August J Vaughn (age 46), Matilda Vaughn (age 44) live with children Ida (age 18), Alice (age 16), Eddie (age 14), Carol (age 11), Fred (age 9), Alvin (age 5), Ernest (age 3) and Taggie (age 2) in Williamsburg, Phelps, Nebraska in the 1900 Federal Census
• A 1903 Atlas of Williamsburg Township, Nebraska shows A.J.'s plot of land
• August J Vaughn (age 56), Matilda Vaughn (age 53) live with children Eddie (age 23), Fred (age 19), Alvin (age 16), Ernest (age 14), Tagon (age 11), and Alice (26) in Williamsburg, Phelps, Nebraska in the 1910 Federal Census
• The 1910 Nebraska Census lists A.J. in Phelps County:
  • VAUGHN, August J. 56, male, white. Birth Place: Sweden. Phelps County. Williamsburg Township.
• Togue Vaughn (age 21), Ernest Vaughn (age 23), A J Vaughn (age 66), and Olga Thuline (age 27) lived in Wiliamsburg, Phelps Co, Nebraska in the 1920 Federal Census. (Matilda had died 5 years earlier.) A J is listed as a farmer, and Togue and Ernest are listed as laborers on that farm.
• A J (age 74), Togue (age 30), and E H (age 32) live in Williamsburg, Phelps Co, Nebraska in the 1930 Federal Census. A J is still listed as a farmer, with E H and Togue laboring on the farm.

Relationship to Olga J. Thuline

According to Dean and Larry Lindstrom, August had his wife, Matilda, committed to a medical facility prior to her death in 1915. Some of the older Lindstroms (e.g., Aline Lindstrom & Lee Vaughn) seem to have believed that August committed Matilda despite Matilda's absence of any serious illness. Around this time, perhaps because August's household was without a housekeeper, Olga Thuline moved into the August household and became the housekeeper. Olga is buried among the Vaughns in the Platte Valley Cemetery, and her tombstone reads "Niece & Cousin."

Olga is identified in the 1920 and 1930 Federal Censuses of Phelps County as living with August.

An eight-year-old "Olga J Thulin" was identified in the 1900 Federal Census of Galesburg, Illinois, as living with mother, Hannah Thulin, and father, Olof Thulin. According to AJ's son Alvin, "In 1918, our cousin, Olga Thulin, from Galesburg, Illinois, came to make her home with us, being the only child of my father’s oldest sister, Hannah and husband John Thulin. Olga was thought of as a member of the family." "O.J. Thuline" is also listed in the 1907 Galesburg city directory. According to the Illinois Death Index, the father of Hannah Thulin (b. 9 Oct 1851 (Sweden) - d. 27 Dec 1916) was Swan Johnson---a family name that could connect Olga to August.

Olof and Hannah immigrated to the US from Sweden in approximately 1883, and are buried in the Linwood Cemetery in Galesburg, Illinois.