Scipio Vaughan
Omoba Scipio Vaughan | |
---|---|
Born | 1784 |
Died | 1840 Camden, South Carolina, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | slave, artisan |
Spouse |
Maria Theresa Louisa Matilda Conway
(m. 1815) |
Children | 9 (possibly up to 13)[1] |
Family | Vaughan family |
Scipio Vaughan (1784–1840) was an
Early life and career
Scipio was born as an
Marriage and children
In 1815, Scipio married Maria Theresa Louisa Matilda Conway. Of
"Back-to-Africa" Movement, descendancy and legacy
On his deathbed in 1840, Scipio told his sons to return to his native Yorubaland in Africa.[3][2] It is most likely that Scipio was determined to reverse the effects of the transAtlantic slave trade, through some members of his immediate family by rebuilding their roots in Africa in order to restore some of their lost dignity, pride, wealth, power and security. To grant their father's last request, James Churchill Vaughan, 24 years old at the time, and his elder brother Burrell Vaughan, enrolled with the American Colonization Society as emigrants to Liberia. They left Camden in 1852 in an attempt to also escape the oppressive laws against coloured men and sailed to Liberia in 1853. There, they started a new life and James Churchill Vaughan soon became prominent.
However, after arriving in Liberia, they did not settle for long. They lived there for two years before accepting an offer of employment to go with Thomas Jefferson Bowen, a Missionary with the Southern Baptist Convention and his wife to Yorubaland in 1855 to spread the Baptist religion. They came to Nigeria in 1854
James also kept in touch with his relatives in America, who were also embroiled in their own separate struggles for survival, prosperity, and dignity in post-Civil War South Carolina and elsewhere. James Churchill Vaughan revisited his South Carolinian home and family before his death in Lagos, Nigeria in 1893. Scipio Vaughan's descendants included several state legislators during the Reconstruction period, politicians, diplomats, entrepreneurs and a high proportion of teachers, doctors and lawyers, among other professionals. Members of the Vaughans of Nigeria and the United States have maintained contact with one another for several decades over the century.[3]
Nigerian lineage
Vaughan's descendants include the Nigerian nationalist
American lineage
James Churchill Vaughan's sister, Mary Elizabeth Vaughan Mac Laughlin (1838-1863) who remained in the United States, married a Scot named Mac Laughlin. They had one child, Harriet Josephine Mac Laughlin Carter (1856-1917). Harriet Josephine Mac Laughlin had 12 children. Aida Arabella Stradford was Harriet's third child. Arabella Stradford who married Cornelius Francis Stradford, a renowned Chicago attorney and historic activist, was the driving force behind the survival of the family tradition in the United States. Aida Arabella Stradford had three children,
Cousin reunions
The American Vaughans started the incentive to trace their African heritage and re-unite with the African group of the Vaughan family. The Vaughans first attempt to convene a reunion started in August, 1970, when several family members 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.[15] The Nigerian Vaughans and their American relatives stayed in touch through the years after Churchill's death with periodic "Cousin" reunions. Today, the American Vaughans are now a network of more than 3,000 cousins from over 22 states – along with their Nigerian cousins. 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.[16][13][1][17][18]
References
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-761-8479-22.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-556-1127-13.
- ISBN 978-1-107-0229-97.
- ISBN 978-0-812-2087-02.
- ISBN 9789783507227.
- ISBN 9781469631134.
- ^ Peter Kerr (28 June 1982). "600 'Cousins' Meet to Celebrate Roots". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ^ Stephen Birmingham (26 September 2016). Certain People; "America's Black Elite". p. 152.
- ^ Adeniyi Thompson (12 December 2015). "Demise of Adewale Thompson's wife revs nostalgia about late jurist". The Nation. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-594-2008-30.
- )
- ^ a b Darlene Gavron (29 May 1988). "Ayo Vaughan-Richards: 'I Was Taught That I Can Do Whatever A Man Can Do'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ^ "Black is Beautiful". The Nation. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-567-3155-54.
- ^ "Author And Historian Lisa Lindsay Speaks At The Camden Archives & Museum". City of Camden. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ^ Lisa Lindsay. "An African-American in 19th century Lagos". Ekopolitan Project. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ^ Tony Scully (23 February 2017). "An extraordinary family". Chronicle Independent. Retrieved 18 January 2018.