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Note: Alice's father and mother lived with Ralph and Alice many years in Iola. Her father, a blacksmith by trade, was blinded when someone shoved him down some cellar steps. Alice's brother, Harlan was born in Ontario, KS. She also had a half-brother who lived at Prescott, KS. My mother's mother came from Scotland. My father's father came from Washington, IA. He was Irish. Scotch and Irish. Wasn't that a mixture. John inherited all the Irish.
We stopped at Iceland when we flew to Europe. Then the passengers could get out and wander around. One passenger did not come back when they called. We stayed about two hours. We just saw the airport. I do remember the murals. My they were gorgeous.
When we came down we were real close to the water. It looked so dirty and it had great big white caps and big waves. The houses had green or red roofs. Everbody's house was red or green. You ask David (Vaughn).
My mother was raised in Washington and came to Kansas when they were married. They moved down to Iola from Emment in a wagon. You know there used to be an awful hill north of Garnet. There were rocks all over it. Dad wanted to rest the horses going up the hill. He said,"when I stop get a rock and put it under the hill." We looked all over the hill and couldn't find a rock.
Alice and her mother were members of the Saunders Relief Corp, an auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic. They prepared sandwiches for the funeral of Sarah A. Vaughn, an active member in the GAR.
The following is an interview with Alice at her home in Emporia, KS,February 1980 by Wilma and Donald Vaughn.
Now you see great-grandpa lived with Uncle Arthur and Aunt Theresa, you see. That was D.C.'s home. My Lord he was bed-ridden for years and they tool care of him. He deeded the home to them. There were comments on that but I've got my answer for that. They earned every cent of it and then some.
George lived at Mineral. D.C. lived southeast of Cherokee. The year my Robert was born, 1925, George died soon after. George spent the winter with me because he was taking those treatments from a doctor in Iola. Ralph was with Hilda and running the mill for George. Thats the way it was.
Rob was about three or four days old when George died. Rob was born 27 March 1925. George died right at home in Mineral Wells. Ya he was at home.
I never will forget what George said, "do you want Ralph to come home for Christmas?" And I says, "well if you can arrange it." " You just as well bring Hilda and the girls along". George says," I've got a better idea than that. We will go down on the bus." So we did and I was two ton Annie. We got down there somewheres. I think it was Pittsburgh and we got a bus out of there to Mineral Wells.
Oh that thing was full. It was Christmas time you know. There was a young man sitting there and George and I were holding onto the darn things that hung down from the ceiling. This young fellow said to George,"Let your wife sit down." George was the comic of the whole. I liked him, my he was some guy. Any way he says,"why sure, thank you." Never batted an eye. I sat down and the way we went. I'll tell you he makes me think of--Robert Vaughn, Thats who.
I know it says in there that Grandma Sarah A. (Thayer) Vaughn has three sisters and one brother. Ula Roberts thought there was one sister and one brother. I knew that was wrong but I am not going to argue with anyone.
And anyway this Stella, lived with them but not really. She had a house on the back of the lot. We went to California in 1939. John did not go. He stayed with Grandma Dillie. This is the only time I saw Stella. She was awful nice. She was your Grandma Sarahs half-sister. I used to have some pictures but can not get them down. I remember them talking about Aunt Lottie, another half-sister. The other one I never knew.
You see Sarah's father was killed in the Civil War and he never saw her. She was born after he went to war. Editors note. Her father Warren Potter Thayer, was home nine days after she was born before he died at home. He might have seen her.
Her mother (Rachel Rouse) married his brother so they were all Thayers. What was his name? I do not know his first name but his last name was Thayer. (Warren Potter Thayer). I do not know her step-fathers name either. (Chauncy R.).
Looking at Sarah A. Vaughn obituary. She had the funeral at 503 N. Jefferson. That was the 9th of December and Ralph and I were married on the 9th of April. I can't remember but I think,4 years went by and Rob was born in 1925. I think he was 3 years old when Jessie died. We had her funeral in our living room at 503. Ula was married in that room. All my three kids were born there.
One Decoration Day Will and Jean took me by 503. A sign in front of the house said it was not fit for habitation or some darn thing. I just bawled all the way back to Kansas City.
Uncle Chan Thayer, Sarah Thayer Vaughn's brother, was a Captain on a merchant vessel on the Great Lakes. Nadene says he lived at Chicago. What do you think he did? He tatted. The most beautiful tatting you ever saw. I was always hoping he would tat me a doily for my wedding. Land he didn't. I sure would have treasured it.
Stella Thayer married a newspaper man. He ran a newspaper in Peetz. CO. Aunt Ula went out there to teach in the schools. She stayed with them. I saw him when he was retired and they lived on the back end of the lot with their daughter. Her name was Frost. Her husband worked for the post office in Portland, OR.
The Websters had three boys. Ones name was Fred and I remember when he died. Charlie lived in Long beach. We've been to Charlies and Lelia's home. I think she moved to Texas, after Charlie died. She might be living with a daughter.
The folks and me visited Aunt Mary Webster. She was John Henry,s sister. She had three girls Clara, Nellie, and Jennie. Nadene can remember the big kitchen.
Uncle George Vaughn lived in Colorado. My mother and I were out there one summer. They had several kids, Alice was one. I think three girls and a boy. This was in Salida, Co.
Harlan, Kate, Ralph, and I went out there. Ralph just mentioned he would like to stop and see them. It would have been Ralp's first cousin. We seen this hardware with Vaughn Hardware on the front. We went in and I think the boy ran it, Uncle George was dead, I think. George's wife was in poor health and I think the two girls lived with them. That boy didn't make any attempt to tell Dad where she was or
anything about her, so we did not see her. We had a good visit with the boy.
Our George, Ralph's brother, was buried, I can't tell you the name of the town. It is in south east Kansas, a real small place. I'll tell you something, we went there with your folks, Warren and Edith Vaughn. We stopped there and the weeds were that high. The awfullist place you ever saw. It just made Dad sick. Dad is Alice's husband Ralph. He said,"I'll never go back there".
Ula says another set of grandparents are buried in Moran. That would be Sarah Vaughn's mother. The brother she married after Warren Thayer died is buried there, Chauncey R. Thayer.
Grandpa and grandma Vaughn are buried there one row back on the east side in the old part.
The Thayers are several rows straight east. Nadene's mother and Aunt Jessie and little Claude are buried down the row with grandpa. Claude is the first in the row.
(After Lunch) I've been here many a time (Santa Fe depot) hot and cold,,,waiting for Dad in the cafe.
When we were younger we used to go to Coffeyville, KS. They would come up and we would go down. I've heard Mary Williams tell so much about the various families. I recall one incident. Your grandfather (John Henry) said he would never stay long. I don't know whether he drove the team and wagon to Cherokee. But John, Mary's younger brother, was quite witty. When they said it was time for his Uncle John to go, he was named for him you know. Grandpa John says good bye because he would be gone in the morning before little John got up. Little John said,"why have you gotta go home so quick?" Right quick as a wink your grandpa said," I gotta go home so I can come back. He was always quick on the draw. Wilma, that sounds like something Warren would say.
Yea. Here's a few things found in the Moran paper of 1895. Land Goshen. Eastern Star, C.R. hows that? Thats Rachel's husband, the brother of our great grandfather Warren Potter Thayer. Paper reads: Mrs. Thayer spent Christmas with her sister in Iola. Another article: Mrs. C.R. Thayer was Thursday.
Say, you know something, Gladys Thayer? I think her married name was Buck. She died young. Ralph said she was his aunt. Her stone is on the west side of the road heading north, that used to lean so bad. The boys finally raised the devil with Williams and they went out and fixed it.
Looking at newspaper clippings Moran 1895. R.J. Thayer in W.R.C. Relief Corp., so was my mother. ---- Edwin Thayer, C. R. Thayer's son went to norther Wisconsin to work on the lakes this summer. ---- Will Vaughn and Henry Thayer got 100 % in deportment at school. Jessie Vaughn also got
100 % the next week. Old Jessie. I sure did like Aunt Jessie. By golly she was a good old girl. You know what I would have told her husband, Dave Luman, a long time ago. Baking biscuits three times a day.
Speaking of Thayer blacksmith shop in Moran. My dad was a blacksmith in Ontario, KS before he came to Iola. One of my best friend lived where Harlan , Alice's brother was born up at Ontario, KS. Now can you beat that?
I'll tell you something funny about going down to see grandpa D.C. Your grandma, Alice, and Ida went down there. Since Alice went she didn't have Anna along. She got a dime ball for Anna and old Ida got mad and wanted to go right home, cause she didn't get Cindy one. Cindy was there. Oh boy, I've heard a lot of things and they don't come to me until I get started.
Talking about Sarah A. Vaughn's funeral. Mom and I belonged to the Relief Corp, then. Mom didn't go over to the cemetery because she stayed home to make sandwiches and some kind of salad. We all went to my house to eat. That was a long time ago when grandma died.
The Saunders Relief Corp was an auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic. Womans Relief Corp is W.R. C. Its an auxiliary to the old soldiers of the Civil War. Grandma and an old crazy Aunt used to belong to that.
Wilma says, Mrs. Minnie Allen was one of her fathers School teachers around Chetopa. Alice said she knew her real well in Iola. Minnie has been dead for some time. Her husband did beautiful writing. He fixed up some cards for Clarence Morton, Wilma's dad.
Harlan had to stay in Garfield School, but they sent me to Lincoln. We had to go two directions. My mom was mad. Minnie was the principal of Garfield.
The 1915 Federal Census for Iola, lists Edith King, Ula Vaughn, Mary King, and Henry Mossman in the same house. We wondered why. I don't see why, you see your grandpa died in March 1915 and the family moved to 503. It was in September, right at the time of the flood. Edith lived over here with her brother Alva, who worked at the cement plant. I didn't know Mary lived there. She might have been visiting. Henry Mossman had been a soldier and was probably visiting. Edith and Alva really lived there.
The Kings lived on a farm not far from the Vaughns out between La Harpe and Moran. Thats where they got acquainted. The farm was off highway 54. I know where to turn off but I would be lost after that. It was on an east and west road and I would know the house if it is still there. I don't know how long the Kings lived there and Carl Perkins was raised there to. Perkins lived in Gas City. After Mary King and Carl were married they lived in California. They both came back and returned to California in a motorcycle with a sidecar on it.
Alice says she does not know where Alva King is buried. (Towanda, Kansas) I never saw him.
Ula cried to go to school when she was five, so they let her go to try it out. She did better than some of the older kids. She was in Peetz, Colorado, teaching before she was eighteen.
Edith King and Warren Vaughn were married October 15, 1915 after the folks came to Iola in September. Ralph worked at the cement plant but I do not know about Warren. Not long anyway. Wilma asked why Warren and Edith ended up in Woodson County. Warren owned that land didn't he? I think he bought it from the Fields family.
Warren took all the machinery your Grandpa had over to the farm to get started, like the old hay baler. Yes, all the implements. Your old horses Babe and Bill. Old Babe saved Ralph and I's life one time. Remember Lee Easum, who lived a mile south across the prairie. My it was stormin. Ralph worked on the county roads that winter. Mrs. Easum came by after me and wanted me to go to town. Away we went in the buggy. On the way back we stopped at her house. Pretty soon it was supper time.
She said it was stormin too bad for her. We waited for Ralph to come over for supper and we liked to play cards.
The folks, Warren and Edith, had a buggy without a top. Maybe it was all gone when you got here. Well Thats what he come in. We had supper and you know how young folks are, it got to be 9:30. Dad looked out and the blizzard was just raging. Instead of going around the road, dad says, "We will just go across the pasture. Well that was a mistake. We couldn't see where we were going. Dad says, I know we are going around in circles. There was about six hundred acres in the pasture. We fooled around a while trying to find the way. Finally Ralph took the reins and gave old Babe a rap. He said,"Babe take us home." You what he did? He turned around and nearly upset the buggy. It wasn't nothing flat till he was down in the little creek and took us right to the gate.
Warren had mule. I can't Remember her name. Jenny? Thats it. Warren had a young one the year they left for California. We stayed out on the farm the first year we were married. I always went out with so many ears of corn for each trough and got the hay down. Ralph said," don't go in the barnyard if the mule was there. You know they would even kick up against a fence post. I never did see that mule, but he kicked me in the side. It was so hard I went right down. The door was open a little so I crawled through it and just lay there. I thought I was dead it hurt so bad.
We stayed on the farm the year Warren and Edith went to California. That was in 1921, a long time ago. I was so lonesome most of the time ----about like now days. I began to talk to myself. I was used to being around my mom and dad and a bunch of high School girls who lived upstairs. Then going out there with Ralph gone all day. I'll never forget it.
Bill asks,"were the Maxwells good friends?" One of them was a pallbearer at grandma Sarah's funeral." All the pallbearers were woman. I didn't know them but they were neighbors out there.
I'll tell you about a another family. The daughter went with Warren. They were real chummy. They lived out by the Vaughns and ended up in the oil fields at Madison.
Bill asks,"Did you know where the Riggs lived before Charley and Alice Vaughn were married?' No,I knew where they lived after the marriage. It was the other side of La Harpe when I was a kid going to high school.
Your grandma came over and asked mamma if I could go with her to get this cow. Thats when they first moved to Iola. I had a buggy and a horse. After school we went out to Alice Riggs and stayed all night. We tied the cow on the back of the buggy and she wouldn't go. We had such a time. Pretty soon it ended up your grandma was driving and I was out with a stick trying to get the cow to move. We went that way for a mile or two. I figured we never would make it to Iola. Grandma said,"enough is enough." We left the cow with someone she knew.
I think Ralph worked at the cement plant or the smelter. We got to town at two so I was late to school. When Ralph came home he sure was provoked. Of course I wasn't over there. He said to his mamma,"looks like as you lived on a farm you would know you can't lead a cow behind a wagon but you could tie her to the harness and she would go right along."
I didn't have any idea of marrying that bird then. In fact I didn't like him because he teased Ula. Harlan was bad enough but Ralph was worse. Funny how you change your mind in a few short years, ain't it.
The Riggs lived north of Iola later and then down by Humboldt. Ula and I was going over to your house and we decided to by Alice's, in our fair car. The car stopped three times up on highway 54. Every time we had a farmer help start it. It would start right off. The last time it went on to the farm and Warren did something to it.
The Rogers lived across the road from the Vaughns farm north west of Moran. Ralph thought so much of that Mrs. Rogers. Seldon Rogers of Yates Center was her son.
Nadene said she was playing over at the Rogers one day and she and Seldon fell down in the pig pen. Mrs. Rogers cleaned them up, but Mrs. Vaughn found out about it.
I can tell you another one. One day Ralph and Warren were fighting on the shed roof. Mrs. Rogers could see them and she called your grandma. "The boys are fighting on the roof and they got down," she said. I can remember her telling that.
Mrs. Rogers invited us to Sunday dinner one time. I was kind of afraid to go since Ralph had put her upon a pedestal, but we went and I liked her.
This was the end of the tape. Wilma and I had an enjoyable day talking and visiting with Aunt Alice Vaughn. This visit took place in February 1980 at Alice's home in Emporia, Kansas. The narrative is Aunt Alice unless preceded by "Bill" (Donald) or "Wilma" Vaughn.
Alice's funerl service was at the Roberts-Blue-Barnett Chapel in Emporia, at 10:30 A.M. , on December 1. 2001.
Interment in Memorial Lawn Cemetery.
Her son Robert, read this message from Steve Vaughn , a gt grand child.
"She was always happy. I never saw her in a bad mood or in a grumpy mood. She never felt sorry for herself. She was happy with what she had. She was thankful for everything would do for her. Even though she was sick and getting old she never forgot a birthday or christmas. She was a good person. I hope she lives the rest of her life in peace in heaven. Rest In Peace. " Steve Vaughn
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