Elizabeth (Unknown) Vaughan (1709 - 1775)

Born Jul 1709 in King and Queen, Virginia

Wife of Cornelius Vaughan Sr. — married 1722 in King Queen, , Virginia

Descendants

Died 14 Nov 1775 at age 66 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia

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Biography

Elizabeth (Unknown) Vaughan was a Virginia colonist.

Elizabeth is believed to be the 2nd wife of Cornelius due to the fact that
1. the last five children of Cornelius are much younger than the older children
2. Elizabeth only mentioned the youngest five children in her will.
The older children of Cornelius were alive at the time of her death, so if they had been her children, she presumably would have included them.

See research notes for speculative parentage.

Probate

Will of Elizabeth Vaughan^[1]
Written: 14 November 1775
Proved: 19 November 1778
Place: Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Legatees:
my four children which are now alive, and my son Martin Vaughan's four children, his part to be equally divided amongst them.
Cornelius Vaughan, Bridget Broadas, Elizabeth Pemberton, Margaret Geter.
Witnesses: Nathan Hawkins, Edward Leavell
Executor: William Pemberton

Family

Cornelius Vaughan (husband)

Will of Cornelius Vaughan ^[2]
Written: 6 November 1735
King and Queen County, Virginia
Legatees:
son John Vaughan - land and plantation where he now lives
son James Vaughan - plantation where he now lives and 1/2 the land on which I now live
son Ambrose Vaughan - plantation where he now lives and 1/2 the land on which I now live
son Cornelius (who is referred to as one of the four youngest children) - 1/2 the tract of land I bought lately of John Foster of Spotsylvania
Wife Elizabeth - the use of the plantation where I now live, lend to her three negro men (Antony, Tom and Sam) for three years to make a plantation on my land in Spotsylvania, I also lend to her for her natural life five negroes ( Hannah, Bess, Judy, Charles and Sary) and half my personal estate. After her death or marriage - the five negroes and their increase and the half of my personal estate are to be divided among my four youngest children (Bridget, Cornelius, Elizabeth and Margaret) and the child my wife is carrying.
daughter Bridget (who is referred to as one of the four youngest children)
daughter Elizabeth (who is referred to as one of the four youngest children)
daughter Margaret (who is referred to as one of the four youngest children)
and the unborn child currently carried by wife Elizabeth (Martin) - 1/2 the tract of land I bought lately of John Foster of Spotsylvania (if male)
To James Vaughan, John Vaughan, Ambrose Vaughan, Mary Chapman, Ann Martin, Sarah Hudgin, Katherine Silvan and Christian Scott - I give three negroes (Anthony, Tom and Sam) and half my personal estate after the the expiration of the term.
Executor: Elizabeth Vaughan
Witnesses: John Chapman, Edward Leavell, Mary M. Leavell
[Note: Martin is assumed to be the unborn son listed in Cornelius' will]

The inventory of Cornelius Vaughan's estate is listed in an Amherst County, Virginia Chancery suit^[3]
"In Obedience to an order of King and Queen County Court dated the 26th day of January 1735 We the Subscribers met at the house of Cornelius Vaughan decd on the 8th Day of March 1735 & Appraised all the Estate of the said Vaughans that was brought to our view according to the following Inventory...."

Court Cases

Leavell versus Coleman

There is a Chancery^{[4] [5]} suit filed April 1801 in Madison County, Virginia by John Leavell.
The crux of the suit is that their were five slaves willed to Elizabeth Vaughan by Cornelius Vaughan for her lifetime, and at her death they were to go to the five youngest children of Cornelius - one of which was Elizabeth Vaughan, the mother of the plaintiff, John Leavell.
There were four children from the marriage of Edward Leveall and Elizabeth Vaughan - William (the oldest), John , Edward and James (deceased prior to the filing of the suit).
From that suit, we know that Elizabeth Vaughan had moved from Caroline County to Spotsylvania and spent the last ten or twelve years of her life with her daughter Elizabeth and her daughter's second husband William Pemberton.

Research Notes

While many internet trees and books have Elizabeth, 2nd wife of Cornelius Vaughan as the the daughter of Edward Leavell - none have any evidence/citations/sources to support this. Edward Leavell had a will in which he named his wife and 2 sons. No other children are mentioned in the will. Her daughter Elizabeth married an Edward Leavell, the probable son of Edward Leavell- this may be the origin of the belief that Elizabeth was a Leavell.

There is some evidence that she may be Elizabeth Foster, the daughter of Robert Foster and sister of Anthony Foster of the Rising Sun Tavern in Fredericksburg, related to the Chews and Larkins of Annapolis.^[6] Quote from the book - "Christian (Vaughan) Scott, dau. of Cornelius Vaughan Jr. & Frances (Spencer) Vaughan, son of Cornelius Vaughan & Elizabeth (Foster) dau of Robert Foster and sister of Anthony Foster of the Rising Sun Tavern in Fredericksburg, related to the Chews and Larkins of Annapolis."

Other records linking the Fosters to the Vaughan family are in the deeds and land records of Spotsylvania Co, Va.: Spotsylvania Co., 1721-1800 Deeds Book E, 1751-1761, page 219, April 6, 1761. Other records of Spotsylvania Co. in the early and mid 1700's make references to these connections.

Resources for Further Research

Amherst County, Virginia Genealogy Wiki - FamilySearch.org

Amherst County, Virginia Family History Links - Linkpendium

Chancery Records Index - Library of Virginia Digital Collection - VirginiaMemory.com

King and Queen County, Virginia Genealogy Wiki - FamilySearch.org

King and Queen County, Virginia Family History Links - Linkpendium

Spotsylvania County, Virginia Genealogy Wiki - FamilySearch.org

Spotsylvania County, Virginia Family History Links - Linkpendium

• https://www.geni.com/people/Elizabeth-Vaughn/6000000010555651914

Sources

1. ↑ Spotsylvania County (Va.), William Armstrong Crozier, and Clayton Torrence. 1905. Spotsylvania county, 1721-1800 being transcriptions from the original files at the county court house, of wills, deeds, administrators' and guardians' bonds, marriage licenses, and lists of revolutionary pensioners. New York: Pub. for the Genealogical Association by Fox, Duffield & Co.
2. ↑ Virginia Genealogical Society. August 1999. Virginia Genealogical Society quarterly Volume 37, Number 3. Richmond, Va: The Society. Leavell V. Coleman
3. ↑ Sweeny, Laura Higginbotham. Amherst County Chancery Suits. William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 19, No. 3 (July 1939) pp. 318 - 324.
4. ↑ Madison County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1794-1913. John Leavell v. Thomas Coleman, 1807-004. Local Government Records Collection, Madison Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
5. ↑ Virginia Genealogical Society. August 1999. Virginia Genealogical Society quarterly Volume 37, Number 3. Richmond, Va: The Society. Leavell V. Coleman
6. ↑ Manahan, John E., and A. Maxim Coppage. 1975. Coppage Coppedge chronicle, 1542-1975. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], Page 207

Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia County Records, Vol. 1, Spotsylvania County Records 1721 - 1800 (Baltimore: Southern Book Co., 1955). See references to Cornelius Vaughan at p. 33 Will Book E, p.142 Deed Book C, p. 182 Deed Book D, p. 219 Deed Book E; wife Elizabeth Vaughan at p. 33; Elinor Vaughan, wife of Cornelius' son Martin Vaughan p. 219; Frances Vaughan, p. 182; son Martin Vaughan, pp. 33, 142, 219; Thomas Vaughan and his wife Sarah Vaughan, p. 444 Deed Book N (dated 1744); Vaughan Index at p. 572. Foster Family Index at p. 548. See Also: