The Vaughan family is a Nigerian American family with branches on both sides of the Atlantic ocean. In Nigeria, it has links to the Nigerian chieftaincy system and the Nigerian bourgeoisie, while in America, it belongs to the African-American upper class.

Vaughan
Parent houseOodua
Current regionNigeria
America
Place of originOwu Egba
Founded1815 (1815)
FounderScipio Vaughan
Maria Theresa Conway
Connected familiesAdemola family
Rogers family
Estate(s)Camden House

Family history

The Vaughans claim descent from the union of Scipio Vaughan, an American freedman of royal Owu Egba origin, and Maria Theresa Conway, who was herself of Catawba descent.[1] On Scipio's deathbed, he told his two sons Burrell Churchill Vaughan and James Churchill Vaughan Sr. to return to his ancestral home in Yorubaland following his death. The pair ultimately did so, and later established the Nigerian branch of the family before their own deaths. The American branch, meanwhile, was itself established by those of their siblings that remained behind.[2][3][4]

Nigerian lineage

Vaughan's Nigerian descendants include the nationalist Dr. James C. Vaughan Jr. and Nigerian women's rights activist Kofoworola, Lady Ademola.[5]

American lineage

Vaughan's American descendants include the U.S. government official Jewel Lafontant-Mankarious and her son, the businessman John W. Rogers Jr.[6]

Today

The Vaughan family, while being either Nigerian or American, has provided a large number of doctors, lawyers, businesspeople and politicians over the years of its existence.[7]

The American branch started the incentive to trace its African heritage and re-unite with the African group of Vaughan descendants. Its members first attempt to convene a reunion started in August, 1970, when several Vaughans convened a meeting in Pittsburgh and decided to arrange an annual reunion of all their known relatives. They read the research of a deceased family member, Aida Arabella Stradford, a South Carolina school teacher, and studied census figures, family Bible records and other documents.[8] Today, the American Vaughans are a network of more than 3,000 cousins from over 22 states. From the daughters, who remained in the United States, the cousins have traced the eight main family lines - Barnes, Brevard, Bufford, Cauthen, McGriff, Peay, Truesdale and Vaughan.[9][10][11][12][13]

The Nigerian branch, for its part, was involved in major events back in the family's homeland: it took part in colonial politics, was active in the women's movement in the Independence era, and intermarried with various Nigerian royal families. Prominent lines amongst the Nigerian Vaughans include Vaughan, Coker, Moore and Vaughan-Richards.[14][15] The Nigerian Vaughans and their American relatives have stayed in touch through the years after James Churchill Vaughan Sr.'s death, and today the Nigerians take part in the periodic "Cousin" reunions in America.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lisa A. Lindsay (2017). Atlantic Bonds: A Nineteenth-Century Odyssey from America to Africa. University of North Carolina Press. p. 22. ISBN 9781469631134.
  2. ↑ "600 cousins meet to celebrate roots". The New York Times. June 28, 1982. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Back to Africa: A Dying Wish Births A Living Legacy". Guardian.ng. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  4. ↑ Lindsay, Lisa A., Atlantic Bonds: A Nineteenth Century Odyssey From America to Africa, p.13 (Scipio Vaughan’s South Carolina).
  5. ↑ "Black is Beautiful". The Nation. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  6. ↑ Edmonds Hill, Ruth (1991), The Black women oral history project: from the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe College, p. 33. ISBN 978-0-887-3661-47.
  7. ↑ Michael Pye (November 9, 1986). "Slave to a proud past". The Observer from London, Greater London, England. p. 52. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  8. ↑ Jeane Eddy Westin (2002). Finding Your Roots: How to Trace Your Ancestors at Home and Abroad. MJF Books. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-567-3155-54.
  9. ↑ "Author And Historian Lisa Lindsay Speaks At The Camden Archives & Museum". City of Camden. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  10. ↑ Darlene Gavron (May 29, 1988). "Ayo Vaughan-Richards: 'I Was Taught That I Can Do Whatever A Man Can Do'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  11. ↑ Era Bell Thompson (1974). The Vaughan Family: A Tale of Two Continents", African and American Descendants of Former Slave Have Kept in Touch for More Than a Century. Vol. 30. Ebony Magazine (University of Virginia, Negro Digest Publishing Company, Incorporated). pp. 53–64, 136.
  12. ↑ Lisa Lindsay. "An African-American in 19th century Lagos". Ekopolitan Project. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  13. ↑ Tony Scully (February 23, 2017). "An extraordinary family". Chronicle Independent. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  14. ↑ Darlene Gavron (May 23, 1988). "Ayo Vaughan Richards". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Demise of Adewale Thompson's wife revs nostalgia about late jurist". Thenationonline. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
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