Virginia Clark Vaughan Collection

Subseries Descriptions


Series One consists of various research information from the books written by or worked on by Mrs. Vaughan. These books include: Weakley County, People and Places of Downtown Martin, and History of Weakley County, TN which she compiled with the Weakley County Genealogical Society. Included are files about the Williams Hotel, Broadway Street, the Railroads, Lindell and Church Streets, the Stockyards and the Bloody Bucket. Information about public utilities such as Weakley County Electricity, Ice and Coal Plants and the phone lines. This series also contains information on African Americans, Boy and Girl Scouts, and businesses in Weakley County. Each file contains research information on each location, articles that ran in the Weakley County Press and a final copy for the manuscript. Photographs can be found in Series 6. .

Series Two contains information collected by Virginia Vaughan during her tenure as Weakley County Historian. Information on transportation, city business, houses on the National Register, and research about schools, churches and other organizations can be found within this portion of the collection. The series is finished out with files and folders containing the histories of the two prominent papers in Weakley County, the Dresden Enterprise and the Weakley County Press. The files also contain special stories the papers ran with regard to Weakley County History.
The next box contains files and folders for the University of Tennessee at Martin, known originally as Hall-Moody Baptist College. The collection consist mainly of the University's Centennial Celebration, papers, speeches and documentation. However, the collection also contains some research into the history of the University, the search for a new Chancellor and the city of Martin. As a graduate of the University "Miss Jenny" was asked to sit in on many committees for the University.
The box on former Governor Ned Ray McWherter is also included in this collection. This box contains files that concern the Governor's Residence, "Cary Lawn", located in Dresden, Tennessee. The files contain information which varies from docent information and correspondence between the Governor and his staff to personal letters expressing his appreciation to Mrs. Vaughan and the research she had done for historical information on the house.

Series Three contains the genealogical research that Mrs. Vaughan worked on for many years. The First Families of Weakley County and many other families genealogical research can be found within this collection. A great deal of her genealogical research can also be found in the books she has written over the years pertaining to the city of Martin and Weakley County. The series is organized in alphabetical order for First Families of Weakley County, and alphabetical order according to Primary family name in the Basic Genealogical Research. Specific and focused research was done on long- time Fire Chief Buster Williams family line, close friend Van Morgan's Family Line and finally Governor Ned R. McWherter's Family Line, including the work "Miss Jenny" and "Mr. Whipps" did to get the Governor accepted into the Sons of the Revolution and Sons of the Confederacy. Photographs have been removed and are in the photograph portion of the collection with corresponding file names.

Series Four was collected upon the death of Mrs. Virginia Vaughan. In this series we can find the personal research "Miss Jenny" did for herself and her family. Applications and admittance to Sons of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution and to Sons and Daughter of the Confederacy can be found throughout the research. The Genealogical history of her own family can be found and explored in this collection. The collection also contains the family history of her husband Mr. Wibur Vaughan ("Mr. Whipps"). Research and materials form churches and graveyards are also included in the collection. Cumberland Presbyterian Cemetery and Yorkville Cumberland Presbyterian Cemetery are the predominant churches and graveyards used for most of Mrs. Vaughan's research. Mrs. Vaughan also has a great deal of information compiled from other states as well as other counties in Tennessee. Mrs Vaughan researched extensively on the roots of her family and Mr. Vaughan's family. Photographs have been removed and placed into the Photograph collection and are given the same label as the file they were pulled from. Family names included in this research are Bone-Vaughan, DeShazo, Thomas, Grier, Phillips- Gilbert- McLeskey- Gambill, Cawthon- Peak, Patterson, Harris- Hubbard, Shackelford, Clark, Carney, and Vaughan. Boxes are organized by family name and sub-titled accordingly.


Series Five consists of the various educational tools that Mrs. Vaughan used while she was in the classroom. There are brochures and postcards from historic landmarks, information about historical figures and articles from magazines. Also in the series are materials used in the education of Tennessee History and Tennessee Government to 6th- 8th grade students. Files include the Scopes Trial, the Revolutionary War Era in Tennessee, Native Americans in Tennessee, TVA, the General Assembly and Governors of Tennessee. Miss Jenny also had a great deal of information on Famous Tennesseans and their historic homes across Tennessee. Mrs. Vaughan used most of this information within the compilation of bulletin boards and instruction with her students. Finally the collection is finished out with the Teachers Daily Reference. The Daily planners that "Miss Jenny" used from 1974- 1982 in planning her daily class schedules. The planners include notes from students, photographs (moved to photograph collection) and other information about her classroom.

Series Six consists of pictures used in the collection of Virginia Vaughan's books, Newspaper Articles and other research by Mrs. Vaughan. These photographs range from historic homes to family snap shots and local businesses. Many of the photographs are reprints of negatives or snapshots of other pictures. Most photographs correspond with a previously named file in another series of the collection. Photographs range from the early 1800's through the early 1990's. Photographs taken from "Miss Jenny's" History Scrapbooks and placed into individual files. Most photographs correspond with the street name in another series of the collection. Many of the photographs can be referenced however to the file names of earlier portions of the collection.

Series Seven consists primarily of Audio Cassettes and Reel to Reel Tapes. The content of the tapes range from Interviews with the people of Martin and Weakley County to classroom projects while Mrs. Jenny was teaching. 1972-1999


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