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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Montgomery County, Arkansas published by Southern Publishing Company in 1891.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Judge Silas P. Vaught is a man who has steadily and surely made his way to the front in the profession of law, and he possesses in a more than ordinary degree the natural attributes essential to a successful career at the bar and in public. He was born in Jackson County, Ala., in 1831, being a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (McAnally) Vaught, the former born in Bledsoe, and the latter in Franklin Counties, Tenn., their union taking place in Jackson County, Ala., whither they were taken by their parents when young. In 1846 they emigrated to Montgomery County, Ark., and on a woodland farm in this region they found a home and on it spent the remainder of their lives, dying in 1867 and 1878, respectively, both having been members of the Methodist Church for a great many years. Mr. Vaught was a successful tiller of the soil and stock-raiser, and was a soldier in the Seminole War. He belonged to New Hope Lodge of the A. F. & A. M. at Caddo Gap, and as a man and citizen was all that could be desired, for he was industrious, enterprising, charitable and honest. His father, John Vaught, was born in East Tennessee, but was an early emigrant to Alabama, and there died in 1841, a farmer. His wife, Nancy Hatfield, died in 1844. The great grandfather of Judge Silas P. Vaught, William Vaught, was of German extraction and spent nearly all his life in what is now the District of Columbia, and served during the Revolutionary War. Capt. Jesse McAnally, the mother’s father, was a Tennessean, but in an early day removed to Jackson County, Ala., where he died from the effects of a wound received in the battle of Horse Shoe Bend, some ten years after the battle. He was a captain in one of the Indian wars, and by calling, was a farmer. Judge Silas P. Vaught was the eldest of five children born to his parents, those living besides himself being C. B., of the Indian Territory, and J. T., of Crawford County, Ark. The Judge was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools, and after removing to Montgomery County, Ark., with his parents he was married in 1857 to Lucinda, daughter of John and Esther (Tweedle) Vaught, the former of whom was born in Indiana, but in 1817 came with his father, William Tweedle, to this county, settling on the farm on which the subject of this sketch is now living, seventy-three years ago. Here he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1858. His wife was born in Tennessee, but came with her parents to Clark County, Ark., where she passed from life in 1849. Mrs. Vaught died in 1874, having borne eight children, seven of whom are living. Mr. Vaught was married a second time in 1879, his wife being Elizabeth J., daughter of John T. and Elizabeth Petty, who came from Alabama to Montgomery County, Ark., in 1855, but for six years have lived in Polk County. Mrs. Vaught was born in Calhoun County, Ala., and has become the mother of two sons and one daughter. Since his marriage Judge Vaught has lived on his present farm of 1,120 acres, about 480 acres of which he has himself cleared. In July, 1861, he joined Company E, Second Arkansas Infantry, the first fight in which he participated being Wilson’s Creek, then Pea Ridge, and was afterward at the evacuation of Corinth. He was then at Richmond, Ky., Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Resaca. While a member of the Trans Mississippi Department, he fought at Pine Bluff, Mark’s Mill, Jenkins’ Ferry and surrendered at Marshall, Tex., in June, 1865, after almost four years of hard service. He went out as a private, but served as first lieutenant the most of the time. He was never captured, and was but slightly wounded. In 1868 he was licensed to practice law, and has since successfully devoted his attention to that profession, being, in 1886, elected to the position of county and probate judge, in which capacity he served with distinction for four years, when he declined re-election.

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This family biography is one of 37 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Montgomery County, Arkansas published in 1891.  For the complete description, click here: Montgomery County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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