George S. E. Vaughan (Vaughn) has a very interesting life story linked to US history or US folklore.
I found this item:
Bessemer, Michigan
September 9, 1899
Saturday
The Bessemer Herald – Sep 9, 1899
Man Whose Pardon Was Signed April 14, 1865, Dies in Missouri.
George S. E. Vaughan, who was the subject of Abraham Lincoln’s last official act as President of the United States, died at Maryville, Mo. At the outbreak of the war he followed the fortunes of Gen. Mark T. Green, who raised a Confederate regiment. He was tried twice as a spy and each time sentenced to death. The president finally signed his pardon the evening of April 14, 1865, just before he left for the theater where he was assassinated.
I then went looking for a family tree for him and found the findagrave web page for him.
The above items were all I was able to find on George when I looked for a family tree for him. Maybe he is just not on any family tree that is on Ancestry.com or his name is misspelled and just doesn’t show up. I did a search on Google and got this interesting update. It seems there is some dispute about the story the newspapers ran at the time. He may not have been pardoned.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – George_S.E._Vaughn
Maybe someday someone will read this little item and claim him for their tree.
Thank You.
To View the Original item,
Select The Bessemer Herald in box below:
Item on: Page 2, Col 3, Middle
| Bessemer, Michigan |
| The Bessemer Herald Sepember 9, 1899 |
Update:
This message from Anne Harding gives some new information.
Submitted on 2014/06/27 at 4:10 pm
“… He’s the oldest son of Almond Vaughn and Samaria Nevil Vaughn (later McQueen).
I’m a direct descendant of his sister Mary Ellen Vaughn McQueen Davis, who married Garrett Davis…”
and still another update:
This message comes from Mandi Brown who wrote me on June 28, 2014 at 3:36 pm
“George Vaughan is laid to rest here in my town. The State of Missouri has the documents his documents in regards to his Presidential pardon, the last one President Lincoln signed. George was scheduled to be shot in the St Louis Armory, St Louis Missouri. He had three days left and we all know what happened. He made his way here to Northwest Missouri and lived a very honorable life. He is listed on Find-A-Grave in Oak Hill Cemetery, Maryville, Nodaway Co., Mo with more information.”
Thank You Anne and Mandi for your input.
Jose from Clarkston, Michigan
Genealogical Collection 
I was pleased to find your entry. As a historian, a true Find-A-Grave supporter and a genealogy slueth I can tell you that George does have some distant relatives out there. From time to time people question the validity of George’s story especially since the “pardon document” has never surfaced. But I’ve found articles written in 1884, 1899, 1901 so on and so forth
Thank You for visiting my blog. I wonder if this is one of those stories like Roswell where there will be some who belive it and others who do not and we will never know either way. I put the items on my blog so that others will see them and pass the word on to the family members maybe this one will catch someones attention. Thank you very much for the comment.
Take care.
Jose
Thank you Telma for stopping by my blog. I’ve been asked that same question often but I don’t have any recommendations however I did write a piece on Google easy where I do have some links to another site so you might want to read that for ideas.
Take Care.
Jose
I don’t know if the story is true, but I can connect you to his (and my) family tree. He’s the oldest son of Almond Vaughn and Samaria Nevil Vaughn (later McQueen). I’m a direct descendant of his sister Mary Ellen Vaughn McQueen Davis, who married Garrett Davis.
Thank you Anne for your input.
George Vaughan is laid to rest here in my town. The State of Missouri has the documents his documents in regards to his Presidential pardon, the last one President Lincoln signed. George was scheduled to be shot in the St Louis Armory, St Louis Missouri. He had three days left and we all know what happened. He made his way here to Northwest Missouri and lived a very honorable life. He is listed on Find-A-Grave in Oak Hill Cemetery, Maryville, Nodaway Co., Mo with more information.
Thank you Mandi for stopping by my blog and for the additional information to the story.
You are most welcomed…..ck out Find a Grave….last year our local library did a big event centered around Pres Lincoln and I got to do the info for George Vaughan….it was awesome!
I am a great great grandson of Almond Vaughan Jr., Mary Ellen’s brother.
Thank you Thomas for the information and for stopping by this blog post.