Uncle Sid and Aunt Char

 After my father died, his brother, my Uncle Sid, moved us into his home, where we must have remained until after the funeral, when my Aunt Sylvie came and helped my mother move back to Utah, to the historic Hollywood Apartments, in Salt Lake City. 

At Uncle Sid's home, I had the opportunity to become acquainted with my Uncle Sid and my Aunt Char, and their two sons, David and Warren. This was the only time I ever saw David and Warren. According to their FindaGrave memorials, David and Warren died, in 1994 and 2003, respectively.

My mother couldn't have asked for a better brother-in-law, nor I, a better Uncle. He spoke with my mother on the phone, and wrote to us, more times than I remember. He always sent us lots of presents for Christmas, until I was in the Army, and asked him to stop. He wanted me to learn Morse Code, and practice with him. He also wanted to buy me a set of Morse Code equipment. I regret that I didn't take him up on his offer, but I told him that if I became interested in Morse Code, I would buy myself a set... I probably offended him, and I sincerely, deeply regret this.

Luckily, he remained in contact with me via e-mail. He had mentioned that I needed to carry on our lineage, because his sons didn't have any sons. He mentioned a granddaughter with a first name that started with "J." When I asked him about this in more recent years, he told me not to worry, because at least one of his sons had had at least one son, but he became very reticent with me with regard to his grandchildren.

He was, however, happy to provide what little information he had about his forebears.

Circa 2000, he sent me an e-mail, which contained the following notes, to which I have added my own notes, in brackets:

"John M Vaughan married McKee. [I don't believe that "M." was this man's middle initial, nor that he married anyone surnamed or nicknamed "McKee"; I believe he married a woman named "Louisa Hensley."]

"children:

"Luther Clay Vaughan          16 May 1849

"Edward Vaughan                6 Nov 1851 - 1862 [I have yet to find any evidence, other than these notes, that either of these twins ever existed.]

"Edwin Vaughan                   6 Nov 1851 - 1862

"Melville McKee Vaughan     17 Sept 1854 [I believe that this man was a Senior at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, in the school year of 1877 and 1878, but I do not believe he was Luther's sibling.]

"Mary Adeline Vaughan       21 June 1857 [The U.S. Census of 1860 identifies this girl as "Mary Vaughan," born to John and Louisa Vaughan, in Indiana, circa 1851.]

"Frank Vaughan                   23 Dec 1864 [I have yet to find any evidence, other than these notes, that either of these twins ever existed.]

"Lillie Vaughan                     23 Dec 1864

[The U.S. Census of 1850 indicates that John and Louisa Vaughan had one child that year, born circa 1849, in Indiana - a boy named "Luther C. Vaughn." There is a discrepancy between this Census and the next U.S. Census, of 1860, which indicates that "Clay Vaughan" was born circa 1846, and James Vaughan circa 1849. It also indicates that Luther's other siblings were Mary, John, Thomas, and Ellen, born circa 1851, 1854, 1856, and 1859, respectively." Based on Civil War records, I believe that Luther, and one, two, or three of his brothers served in the Union Army during the Civil War, as veterans of under-age military service; I have no doubt that Luther did, but John, James and Thomas are such common names that they may refer to his cousins rather than his siblings.]

"His son Luther Clay Vaughan was born 16 May 1849 in Putnam Co, IN and died 5 May 1916.

"He married Mary Catherine Swift.

"children:

"Vincent Sylvester Vaughan 3 Nov 1862 - 1925

"John Franklin Vaughan       28 Mar 1874

"Maud Emily Vaughan          29 Oct 1875

"Rutherford DeWitt Vaughan [I find it interesting that my Uncle Sid did not give a year (let alone a date) for this uncle's birth. I have communicated, via e-mail, with the wife of a close, genetic cousin listed on FamilyTreeDNA, who believes that he is a direct descendant of a man named "Dewitt Rutherford Vaughan," "b. 16 Feb 1877 - per draft card/Floris, Davis, Iowa, USA, d. 24 Jun 1960 - Florida Death Index, 1877-1998/St Petersburg, Pinellas, Florida, USA." The U.S. Census of 1880 indicates that Luther and "Mary C. Vaughn" had all five of the children Uncle Sid lists as theirs, with slight variations in their names and dates of birth. Mary C. and all of her children except the baby, "William M. Vaughn," (middle initial incorrect) were born in Iowa; "Rutherford B. Vaughn" (middle initial incorrect) was born circa 1877, about two years after and before Maud and William. I am 100% confident that my cousin's forebear, (Dewitt Rutherford Vaughan) and this Rutherford B./DeWitt Vaughan are the same man, and that Luther Clay is our Most Recent Common Ancestor.

[I also find it interesting that a man named "DeWitt B. Vaughan" has a FindaGrave Memorial which indicates that he had the same date of birth, albeit four years earlier, and the same year of death, and the same location of burial as Rutherford's, in Pinellas County, Florida. Unfortunately, Rutherford's descendant's wife is unable to explain to me why Rutherford left his family in the Mid-West to move to Florida.]

"William Swift Vaughan         12 July 1879

"His son William Swift Vaughan was born 12 July 1879 and died 4 Nov 1952.

"He married Maud Knowlton.

"children:

"William Knowlton Vaughan  14 Jun 1921

"Sidney Knowlton Vaughan  30 Jul 1923

"His son William Knowlton Vaughan
 was born 14 Jun 1921 in Chicago, IL and died 30 Aug 1966 in Winthrop Harbor, IL."

I emphasize the name "Winthrop Harbor," because this is the only source I have for this fact, and I believe that Uncle Sid remembered better than anyone, even my mother, where his brother was living when he died. My mother remembers the place simply as Chicago, or somewhere near Chicago.

Our Last Three Visits

I saw my Uncle Sid and Aunt Char at least three more times before Uncle Sid died, in 2011. 

I went to visit them in the summer of 1986. I was hitch-hiking from Ogden, Utah, to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, when a young man from Chicago gave me a ride, from Rock Springs, Wyoming, because he wanted someone to take turns driving through the night, so he wouldn't need to stop until he reached his home, in Chicago. We became acquainted, and, since I had my Uncle Sid's address, he took me to visit him. 

My Uncle was delighted to see me, and tried to persuade me to stay. My Aunt Char didn't seem very happy to see me, and I don't blame her. If I were her, I probably wouldn't have been happy about a nephew she hadn't seen for two decades showing up, unexpectedly, at her home, hitch-hiking with a complete stranger and no job. Regardless of their feelings, I was determined to press on immediately, in the hopes of reuniting with my first wife as soon as possible. My friend asked about my father's grave, so Uncle Sid gave him directions, and the young man took me to see it.

Then he took me to his house, in Chicago, but later dropped me off at a bus station so I could continue my journey. I bought a bus ticket to Detroit, with money my Uncle Sid had given me. But that is another memoir.

Uncle Sid and Aunt Char came to visit me while I was stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, circa "9-11" (September 11, 2001). They stayed at a Best Western Motel in Sierra Vista, where I had a brief visit with them.

In the spring of 2008, I took my second wife to visit them at their rest home in Iowa. My Uncle Sid paid for our room at a Best Western Motel in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and took us to see their little house inside a sort of mall for elderly people.

My second wife and I were not married yet; I had proposed to her on a cruise to Central America during the vacation I was on from the Army, prior to my deployment to Iraq.

I never saw them again, but my uncle and I stayed in touch, by e-mail, as we had for years.

A Strange Coincidence

After I retired from the U.S. Army in 2010, my second wife and I moved to Los Angles County, California. Eventually, we obtained a mortgage for a house in Lancaster, near Edwards Air Force Base. After we were settled there, in April, 2011, I decided to call my Uncle Sid's rest home, because it had been an unusually long time since I had heard from me. An employee who answered the phone told me to check the newspaper that day, and I would see his obituary.

My Aunt Char called me a few days later, and explained to me that her husband had died while he was connected to a dialysis machine, which, of course, upset the other patients who were connected to the same machine at the time.

I never heard from her again, but I believe she remains at the rest home where I last saw her.