Capt. Reuben Vaughan Sr.

Vital Information

Field	Value	Source
Full Name	Reuben Vaughan Sr.	DAR GRS A118329
Title	Captain of Militia	DAR GRS A118329
DAR Patriot	A118329	DAR GRS
Born	Oct 1732, Brunswick, Virginia	DAR GRS A118329
Died	8 May 1817, Petersburg, Dinwiddie, Virginia	FaG #225536876; Richmond Enquirer
Father	James Vaughan (b. ~1704; d. before 3 Jul 1750, Lunenburg Co, VA)	WikiTree Vaughan-634
Grandfather	James Vaughan Sr. (d. 1735, Brunswick Co, VA)	WikiTree
Wife	Elizabeth Ingram (b. 1734; m. 1752); daughter of John Ingram (will 1762, Brunswick Co, names "Elizabeth Vaughan")	WikiTree; Ingram will
Children	At least 9 named: James, John (d. bef. Oct 1813), Jeremiah (d. 1792), William, Hannah Pines, Patsey, Ingram (~1755), Reuben Jr. (1761-1837), Ann Carter "Nancy" (1778-1854), plus Woody Vaughan (b. 1772)	WikiTree; Hairston.org
Justice of the Peace	Appointed 8 May 1771	VA State Library Bulletin: Justices of the Peace of Colonial Virginia (1922)
Land Patent	795 acres, Lunenburg Co, with Stephen Vaughan, on Anthony's Branch and Pine Creek	Hudgins, Cavaliers and Pioneers, vol. 5 (1994)
Committee	Mecklenburg Co freeholders meeting, 8 May 1775, to enforce Continental Congress resolutions	Hairston.org

Their Story

Southside Virginia

Reuben Vaughan was born in October 1732 in Brunswick County, Virginia, part of the vast "Southside" region between the James River and the North Carolina border. His father, James Vaughan, died before 1750, when Reuben was still a teenager. His grandfather, also James Vaughan, had died in 1735 in the same county. The Vaughans were established Southside planters, not wealthy but rooted in the red clay tobacco country that stretched from Petersburg to the Dan River.

In 1752, at about twenty, Reuben married Elizabeth Ingram. Her father John Ingram's 1762 will in Brunswick County names "Elizabeth Vaughan" as a daughter, confirming the connection. The couple settled in Mecklenburg County, which had been carved from Lunenburg County in 1765, and raised ten children. The youngest to survive infancy was Woody, born in 1772, who would carry the Vaughan name westward.

Captain of Militia

When the Revolution came, Reuben Vaughan was 43 years old, married, with a large family. He did not stay home. He received his commission as Captain of Militia in Mecklenburg County from Governor Patrick Henry himself. His militia muster roll from 1779 is the only surviving Mecklenburg County militia record from the period.

Captain Vaughan joined General Benjamin Lincoln's forces in South Carolina for the campaign against the British in the southern theater. On June 20, 1779, he fought at the Battle of Stono Ferry, one of the war's bloodier engagements in the low country outside Charleston.

Lincoln had assembled about 1,200 men, mostly poorly trained militia from the Carolinas and Virginia, to attack a British rear guard holding fortified positions on James Island. The British force under Lieutenant Colonel John Maitland consisted of about 900 regulars: Highlanders of the 71st Foot, Hessians from the Regiment von Trumbach, and Loyalist companies. They had built three strong redoubts circled by an abatis of felled trees.

The Americans attacked in the swampy heat of a South Carolina summer. Lincoln was unable to breach the redoubts. The assault cost the patriots about 150 dead and a comparable number missing or wounded; among the dead was Andrew Jackson's brother Hugh, felled by heat and exhaustion rather than enemy fire. The British lost 26 killed and 93 wounded. Lincoln withdrew.

It was not a victory. But Reuben Vaughan had marched his Mecklenburg men hundreds of miles from Virginia into the Carolina low country, fought against British regulars and Hessian mercenaries, and brought the survivors home. His service is recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution under patriot number A118329.

Later Years

After the war, Reuben continued to appear in Mecklenburg County records. The personal tax lists from 1782 to 1806 and land tax lists from 1782 to 1819 document his property and household. His wife Elizabeth is named through deeds dated 1793 to 1806.

Reuben Vaughan died on May 8, 1817, in Petersburg, Virginia, at the age of 84. His obituary appeared in the Richmond Enquirer on May 16, 1817. He had outlived most of the men he led to Stono Ferry by nearly four decades.

His son Woody Vaughan (1772-~1813) died young but left a son, George Albert Vaughan, who carried the family westward to Jackson County, Missouri. George Albert's son Joseph Gibson Vaughan rode with Quantrill's guerrillas in a very different kind of war.

Document Sources

Document	Type	Status
DAR GRS A118329	DAR patriot record	Consulted
Richmond Enquirer, 16 May 1817 (obituary)	Newspaper	Referenced; primary source
Reuben Vaughan's Militia Muster Roll, 1779	Military record	Referenced; only surviving Mecklenburg militia muster roll
Mecklenburg County personal tax lists 1782-1806	Tax records	Referenced; not directly consulted
Mecklenburg County land tax lists 1782-1819	Tax records	Referenced; not directly consulted
Will of John Ingram, 1762, Brunswick Co, VA	Probate	Confirms wife's parentage; not directly consulted
Patrick Henry militia appointment	Colonial/state government record	Referenced in DAR
Elliott, Revolutionary War Records, Mecklenburg County, Virginia	Published compilation	Not yet consulted
Pierrepont, Alice V. D., Reuben Vaughan Kidd: Soldier of the Confederacy (1947)	Published biography	Contains Vaughan genealogy; not directly consulted
Hudgins, Denis R., Cavaliers and Pioneers, vol. 5 (1994)	Land patent abstracts	795-acre patent with Stephen Vaughan
VA State Library Bulletin: Justices of the Peace of Colonial Virginia 1757-1775 (1922)	Government record	JP commission 8 May 1771
McAllister, J.T., Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War (1913)	Published compilation	Military service records
Hairston.org profile #2650 (Capt. Reuben Vaughan)	Compiled genealogy	Consulted; comprehensive with full source citations