EVE EVERHART

Ca. 1803 - 1875

Eve Everheart was born ca. 1803 on Dodson's Creek in Hawkins County Tennessee the daughter of Jacob and Catharine Everhart. On September 6, 1834, Eve was married to Benjamin Vaughn in Hawkins County.

Ben Vaughn was born November 4, 1805, in Western Hawkins County the son of John Vaughn and Nancy Callicott. In ca. 1799, his parents had come from Virginia and settled North of the Holston River in the part of Hawkins County that would later become Hancock County.

In 1836, Eve and Ben's first children, twin sons, were born. They were named Jacob and John A. after their grandfathers, Jacob Everhart and John Vaughn. On November 28, 1839, another son, Anderson W. was born.

In 1841, Ben Vaughn's father, John, died and left Ben a portion of his land on the north side of Clinch Mountain. In 1844, it became part of the newly created Hancock County.

When the census taker came in December 1850, the Vaughn family was living in the 32nd subdivision of Hancock County near the village of Kyles Ford. Nearby neighbors included Eve Everhart Vaughn's nephew, Jacob Brotherton and his family; Eve's sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Beverly C. Ford and children; and two of Ben's brother's families, John and Susan Vaughn and Samuel and Melvina Vaughn.

On November 8, 1851, following a revival held in a brush arbor by the pioneer preachers Asa Routh and W. A. Keene, a group met in the home of George Anderson and organized the Independence Baptist Church of Hancock County. Ben and Eve Vaughn were among the thirty-four charter members. Ben's brother, John Vaughn and his wife Susan, and Ben's sister-in-law Melvinia Vaughn were also there.

Later a meeting house of large prime logs was built at the foot of Looney's Gap in Clinch Valley on land donated by N. M. Moneyhum and his wife. Since Mr. Moneyhum was a Methodist and his wife was a Baptist, it was agreed that both demoninations would use the building.

Ben and Eve Everhart Vaughn and their sons John A. and Anderson W. have not been found on the 1860 census. Their son Jacob Vaughn was living with his cousin, William Ford, in Hancock County when the census was taken.

All three of Ben and Eve Vaughn's sons appeared on the 1861 Grayson County Texas Personal Property Tax List, and Jacob Vaughn was also listed in 1862, but Benjamin Vaughn's name does not appear until 1863.

Ben and Eve Vaughn had probably left Hancock County by the time the 1860 census was taken and were probably enroute to Texas. The date of their arrival has not been established, but on July 12, 1862, "Brother Benjamin Vaughn and wife Evy" were received by transfer of letter into the Kentucky Town Baptist Church at Kentucky Town, Texas.**

The village of Kentucky Town had been established in ca. 1852 in southeastern Grayson County. Eve's brother James B. Everhart had settled nearby in ca 1846, and her brother Emanuel had come from Alabama in 1848 and purchased several tracts of land near the future site of Kentucky Town. In 1860 another brother, Jacob Everhart had also settled near Kentucky Town, so the Vaughn's had settled in a community with East Tennessee relatives living nearby.

Ben Vaughn's name appeared on the Grayson County Tax List for 1863 and 1864, but we believe that the land for which he was taxed actually belonged to his son Anderson. The 1864 Tax List is the last record found for Ben Vaughn.

When the 1870 Grayson County census was taken, Eve Vaughn, age 66, was living with her son Anderson W. Vaughn in the 3rd District.

Eve Everhart Vaughn died before 1880 (probably in 1875). Her funeral was preached at the Kentucky Town Baptist Church by the Reverend J. W. Connelly, and she was buried in the Batselle Cemetery near Kentucky Town, Grayson, Texas.** We believe that Ben Vaughn was also buried there, but stones for them have not been found.

Note: ** From "Kentucky Town and Its Baptist Church" by Joe W. Chumbley, 1975. D. Armstrong Co., Houston, TX

Return to Jacob Everhart.

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