John C. Vaughn

John Crawford Vaughn (born February 24, 1824 in Monroe County , Tennessee , †  September 10, 1875 in Georgia ) was an American politician . Between 1871 and 1873 he was the de facto lieutenant governor of the state of Tennessee as President of the State Senate , although this office was not formally introduced until 1951.

Career

John Vaughn attended the public schools in his home country. In 1847 and 1848 he volunteered in the Mexican-American War . He rose to captain and marched with his unit towards Mexico City . but was not involved in any fighting. Between 1850 and 1852 he was in California during the gold rush , where he prospected for the precious metal. He then returned to Tennessee. He built a hotel in Sweetwater . In 1856 he became a sheriff in Monroe County.

Vaughn was a staunch supporter of the South. Even before the outbreak of the civil war , he set up units from his state for the coming conflict. This gave rise to the third infantry regiment, the commander of which was Vaughn with the rank of colonel. In September 1862 he became a Brigadier General in the Confederation Army . He participated in several battles and campaigns. At the time of General Robert E. Lee's surrender , Vaughn was attending the final council of wars of the Confederate government under its President Jefferson Davis .

In his home country, he has since been sought and charged with high treason by the victorious troops of the Union. Therefore, he evaded temporarily to Georgia. In 1870 he returned to Tennessee, where he was elected to the State Senate as a member of the Democratic Party , of which he became president. In 1871, Vaughn was named deputy to Governor John C. Brown as President of the State Senate . With this he held the office of vice governor until 1873. This office was or is constitutionally anchored in most other states; in Tennessee this has only been the case since 1951.

In 1874 he pleaded guilty to fraud. Money for widows from the war was embezzled with the help of false identities. He was fined $ 1,000. In 1874 he moved to the southern part of Georgia, where he worked as a planter . There he died of meningitis on September 10, 1875 .

Web links

• John C. Vaughn in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• The Political Graveyard
• John C. Vaughn on Tennessee State Senator List with age
• John C. Vaughn on the list of Tennessee Senate Presidents