Categories2017 Project

Major William Vaughan

The ninth ancestor in my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2017 project is Major William VAUGHAN. He is my wife’s maternal 9th-great-grandfather. I was interested in this line since supposedly up within William’s ancestry is a connection to the royal lines of England. I’ve spent some time recently trying to confirm my wife’s connection to Mr. Vaughan. I’m pretty confident that he is her ancestor, it’s confirming everything beyond him to the royal lines that is getting difficult.

She is related to William through her mother â†’ her mother â†’ her mother (Marie R SHANNON) â†’ her father (George Washington SHANNON) â†’ his father (Nathanial SHANNON [1]) â†’ his father (Nathaniel SHANNON [2]) â†’ his father (Nathaniel SHANNON [3]) → his father (Nathanial SHANNON [4]) â†’ his father (Nathaniel SHANNON [5]) â†’ his mother (Abigail VAUGHAN) â†’ her father (Major William VAUGHAN). You’re not going crazy, there are a lot of Nathaniels in a row. There are actually two more, Abigail’s husband was Nathaniel and his father is also a Nathaniel, making eight in a row.

Major Vaughan seemed like a pretty prominent man in the New England area in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Information says he was born in around 1640. Some info says he was born in Wales and some says he was born in Sussex in England, son of George and Mary (Boxall) Vaughan. His grandfather was Sir Roger Vaughan. He was in London to be educated in the mercantile profession by a man named Sir Josiah Child. He came to the new world from London in about 1664 settling in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

William was named one of the Royal Councillors of New Hampshire in 1681 and a Major, commanding the militia of the province. Soon after, he was imprisoned for nine months by what looks to be the (some say oppressive) new Governor of New Hampshire. It seems he had different views than the previous leader of the province. Under the new Lieutenant-Governor, he again commanded the Militia in 1690 and was reappointed to the Council in 1692. It looks like he also held the positions of Treasurer of the Province (1696-1698) and Register of Deeds (1697-1702). He was President of the Council from 1706-1715.

He married my wife’s ancestor, Margaret CUTT(S), in December 1668. Her grandfather was Hon. Richard Cutt of Bath in Essex County, England. He was a member of Cromwell’s Parliament.

Major Vaughan passed away at Portsmouth on 12 November 1719, at the age of 78. His large stone is located at Old Point Cemetery in Portsmouth.

In terms of DNA, I have yet to find Shannon matches in my wife’s DNA match lists. Though, I know there are some there as she has a lot of maternal matches.

Published by Brian Zalewski

I started genealogy research about mid-1999. My grandfather had passed away in April of that year. Since then I’ve done a lot of research not only for myself, but for friends and other relatives. In 2006, I married the love of my life, Darcy, and welcomed the birth of our daughter, Aerissa Jean, in 2010 and our son, Xander Lee, in 2012. I can’t wait to tell them stories about all of their ancestors.