William Wirt Vaughan (July 2, 1831 – August 19, 1878) was an American politician and a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

for the 8th congressional district of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Biography

Vaughan was born on July 2, 1831 in LaGuardo (now Martha), Tennessee in Wilson County. He attended the common schools and graduated from

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberland ...

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropolit ...

. He studied law, was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1860, and commenced practice in Brownsville, Tennessee. Elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Forty-second Congress, Vaughan served from March 4, 1871 to March 3, 1873, but was not a successful candidate for re-election in 1872 to the

Forty-third Congress The 43rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1873, ...

. He resumed the practice of law in Brownsville and became one of the prime movers in the building of the

Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond to ...

branch from Brownsville to Newbern. He was president of the system at the time of his death. He became a candidate for election in 1878 to the Forty-sixth Congress.

Death

On August 19, 1878 Vaughan died, at age 47 years, 48 days, in Crockett Mills near

Alamo, Tennessee Alamo is a town in Crockett County, Tennessee. Its population was 2,461 at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census. Alamo, located in the central part of West Tennessee, is the county seat of Crockett County. History Alamo was first founded as a tradin ...

Crockett County Crockett County is the name of two counties in the United States, both named for frontiersman and politician Davy Crockett: * Crockett County, Tennessee * Crockett County, Texas Crockett County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in th ...

while canvassing the district. He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at Oakwood Cemetery in Brownsville, Tennessee.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, William Wirt 1831 births 1878 deaths Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 19th-century American politicians People from Wilson County, Tennessee