The following newspaper article is transcribed, exactly as it appeared in The Press Observer, Wayne Co., West Virginia on 3-17-80] "The Saga of Abagail Dean" (Or the mystery of Twila's Bible) By Pharo Osborn.This story was collected in bits and pieces over a period of 45 years from Martha Vaughan Osborn (b: 1846), from a family Bible that belongs to Twila Osburn Hatten, from information received from Lt. Col. Lowell McKinster, from 105 year old Aunt Ella Osborn Plummerlast month (Jan, 28).
In attempting to trace the Dean (Deane, Dene, Deen) family, the oldest family, one of the oldest family was James Dene of Denelands, England alive 1530. In England a sand duneis called a Dene. Is there any connection? Twila Osburn Hatten's Bible has family records that are a fascinating piece of folk history with entries by several different people.
One entry states, "Abigill Deen was born the first day of March 1819". Abagail was the daughter of Amos Dean (b. 1770) and Abagail Wheeler Dean who were married in Washington County, Va., 1804.
(1840 Wayne County census shows 11 people in the Amos Dean household.) Amos' father was William Dean of Moors Fort, Va. Abagail Dean married Charles Osburn (son of Edmund, b. 1775, and Polly Noe Osburn) at Louisa, Ky. in 1839. Their children were: Leander, b. Oct, 19,1841,Charles, b. Oct 17, 1843, and Mary, b. March 26, 1845. (They lived at the head of Wolf Creek.) Sometime between 1845 and 1849, Charles Osburndied (?). Abagail then married Meredith Workman. Their children were Stephen, b. Jan. 10, 1849; John, b. Nov.10, 1850; Laura, b. Oct. 24,1854. Then on August 9, 1858, Amos Workman/Dean/Vaughan was born. In Twila's Bible there are five entries of Amos with his last nameb lotted out except one which states "Amos Dene was born on the 9 day of August 1858". In the others the names that were blotted out were Workman and Vaughn.
What happened to Meredith and Abagail after is a mystery. Abigail's son Leander Osburn, married CarolineVaughn (b. 1841), daughter of Thomas and Minerva Walker Vaughn. Also Abagail was a sister to my great-grandmother Mille (Amila) Dean Osburn, wife of Thomas Osburn who was a brother to Abagail's first husband, Charles). Thomas Vaughn, Jr.'s, nameis written on the inside cover of Twila's Bible, and an entry in in the family section states "Thomas Vaughn, borned 10th day of July 1819. Died 18 day of January 1877 age 56."
Also on the inside cover is written Alderson Workman Sept, 1858. Mrs Osborn, a great story teller, once hinted that she had a brother who was born out of wedlock. Once sister, Pauline asked my father the name of a person in a family group (Vaughn) tin-type. He replied that the personwas a " house-born" child and gave no further explanation. House-born is an old English expression that dates back to the 9th century. It refers to children born out of wedlock. Some claim thatthe house-born became Osborn and the thirty other spellings of the name,e.g. Osbun, Ozborne, Osburn, etc. While reading the entries in Twila's Bible, it seemed obvious that there was conflict and some contradiction as to who fathered Amos. Two or more people seemed to register their feelings by writing in names, and another person disagreed, or was possibly embarrassed, marked out the name and, in one case, replaced the name Workman with "Deen". It would be interesting to know who owned Twila's bible through the years andwho made all the entries. Abigail Deen/Dean/ Dene is listed four times,and always with her maiden name. Some of the writing was elegant, others were poorly written with creative spelling. One wonders why people were listed more than once, and why the different spelling of names, e.g. Orsburn, Osburn, Osborne.
After Amos the children of Leander and Caroline Osburn were listed: Charles,born 1863, Chilton, born 1865, Mary, born 1872. Then another group of children (was Leander married twice?): Jimmerson, born 1888, Emma, born 1890, Pharo' born 1893 (???), Chilto, born 1892, Hesrate, born 1868 (Leander's second wife?).
The name Amos Workman rang a bell withme so I quizzed members of family, I asked Gladys to put the question to our 105-yeqr old Ella Osborn Plummer. Ella said she didn't know, but the next day, without prompting, Ella said, "Amos Workman was my Grandfather Thomas Vaughn's son. ---------------? There was a picture included with the article but it was not clear enough to print. The caption on it read: "From the left: Martha Vaughn (Osborn), Thomas Vaughan Jr., and Minerva Walker Vaughn, photographed about 1860." ----------------Transcribed and submitted by Pat Workman, wife of Dwain Workman who was the Great Grandson of Amos Workman (Vaughn/Vaughan) and Mary ElizabethScaggs of Wayne Co., WV, Aug 19, 2006."
Photo: Copy of Robert Pinkney Vaughan group sheet
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1840 Census Cabell Co., VA
Thomas Vaughn
1 male under 5, 1 male 10 to 15, 1 male 15 to 20, 1 male 60 to 70
2 females under 5, 1 female 20 to 30, 1 female 30 to 40, one female
60 to 70
This is Thomas I and Nancy Ford Vaughan
1840 Census Platte Co., MO
Thomas Vaughan
1 male 20 to 30
1 female under 5, 1 female 15 to 20
I believe this is ThomasII & Minerva Vaughan
---------------
1850 Census Dist. 66, Wayne Co., Va
enumerated: 24 Aug 1850
Thomas Vaughan Age 31, m, b: abt 1819 in Va, Farmer, can read & write
Minerva Vaughan Age 31, f, b: abt 1819 in Va
Nancy Vaughan Age 11, f, b: abt 1839 in Va
Abraham Vaughan Age 8, m, b: abt 1842 in Mo
Lucinda Vaughan Age 7, f, b: abt 1843 in Mo
Virginian C Vaughan Age 6, f, b: abt 1844 in Va
Martha Vaughan Age 3, f, b: abt 1847 in Va
John L Vaughan Age 2, m, b: abt 1848 in Va
Lindsey T Vaughan Age 5 months, m, b: abt 1850 in Va
--------------
1860 Census Wayne Co., VA, P.O.: Wayne Court House,
enumerated: 6 July 1860, pg. 137, 933/925
Thomas Vaughan Age: 41, b: abt 1819 in VA, Farmer,
Value of Real Estate: 0, Value of Personal Estate: 124
Minerva Vaughan Age: 41, b: abt 1819 in VA
Nancy Vaughan Age: 21, b: abt 1839 in VA
Abraham Vaughan Age: 19, b: abt 1842 in MO
Lucinda Vaughan Age: 17, b: abt 1843 in MO
Virginian C Vaughan Age: 15, b: abt 1845 in VA
Martha Vaughan Age: 14, b: abt 1846 in VA,
Attended school within the year
John L Vaughan Age: 12, b: abt 1848 in VA,
Attended school within the year
Linsey T Vaughan Age: 9, b: abt 1851 in VA,
Attended school within the year
William D Vaughan Age: 6, b: abt 1854 in VA
Leander Vaughan Age: 5, b: abt 1855 in VA
--------------
1870 Census Butler, Wayne, WV, P.O.: Cassvill,
enumerated: 26 July 1870, p. 22, 145/145
(Ancestry index list them as Gaughan),
Thomas Vaughan Age: 50 b: abt 1820 VA,
can read & write
Menervia Vaughan Age: 51 b: abt 1819 VA,
can read, cannot write
Linsley D? Vaughan Age: 21 b: abt 1849 VA,
can read & write
William Vaughan Age: 16 b: abt 1854 VA,
attended school in the last year, can read, cannot write
Leander Vaughan Age: 15 b: abt 1855 VA,
attended school in the last year, can read, cannot write
Elizabeth Vaughan Age: 13 b: abt 1857 VA,
attended school in the last year, can read, cannot write
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1840 Census Cabell Co., VA
Thomas Vaughn
1 male under 5, 1 male 10 to 15, 1 male 15 to 20, 1 male 60 to 70
2 females under 5, 1 female 20 to 30, 1 female 30 to 40, one female
60 to 70
This is Thomas I and Nancy Ford Vaughan
1840 Census Platte Co., MO
Thomas Vaughan
1 male 20 to 30
1 female under 5, 1 female 15 to 20
I believe this is ThomasII & Minerva Vaughan
---------------
1850 Census Dist. 66, Wayne Co., Va
enumerated: 24 Aug 1850
Thomas Vaughan Age 31, m, b: abt 1819 in Va, Farmer, can read & write
Minerva Vaughan Age 31, f, b: abt 1819 in Va
Nancy Vaughan Age 11, f, b: abt 1839 in Va
Abraham Vaughan Age 8, m, b: abt 1842 in Mo
Lucinda Vaughan Age 7, f, b: abt 1843 in Mo
Virginian C Vaughan Age 6, f, b: abt 1844 in Va
Martha Vaughan Age 3, f, b: abt 1847 in Va
John L Vaughan Age 2, m, b: abt 1848 in Va
Lindsey T Vaughan Age 5 months, m, b: abt 1850 in Va
--------------
1860 Census Wayne Co., VA, P.O.: Wayne Court House,
enumerated: 6 July 1860, pg. 137, 933/925
Thomas Vaughan Age: 41, b: abt 1819 in VA, Farmer,
Value of Real Estate: 0, Value of Personal Estate: 124
Minerva Vaughan Age: 41, b: abt 1819 in VA
Nancy Vaughan Age: 21, b: abt 1839 in VA
Abraham Vaughan Age: 19, b: abt 1842 in MO
Lucinda Vaughan Age: 17, b: abt 1843 in MO
Virginian C Vaughan Age: 15, b: abt 1845 in VA
Martha Vaughan Age: 14, b: abt 1846 in VA,
Attended school within the year
John L Vaughan Age: 12, b: abt 1848 in VA,
Attended school within the year
Linsey T Vaughan Age: 9, b: abt 1851 in VA,
Attended school within the year
William D Vaughan Age: 6, b: abt 1854 in VA
Leander Vaughan Age: 5, b: abt 1855 in VA
--------------
1870 Census Butler, Wayne, WV, P.O.: Cassvill,
enumerated: 26 July 1870, p. 22, 145/145
(Ancestry index list them as Gaughan),
Thomas Vaughan Age: 50 b: abt 1820 VA,
can read & write
Menervia Vaughan Age: 51 b: abt 1819 VA,
can read, cannot write
Linsley D? Vaughan Age: 21 b: abt 1849 VA,
can read & write
William Vaughan Age: 16 b: abt 1854 VA,
attended school in the last year, can read, cannot write
Leander Vaughan Age: 15 b: abt 1855 VA,
attended school in the last year, can read, cannot write
Elizabeth Vaughan Age: 13 b: abt 1857 VA,
attended school in the last year, can read, cannot write
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1860 census to find Abagail after the birth of Amos. On the 1860 census she was found living without her husband Meredith, next door to Thomas and Minerva Vaughan in Cabell County, Virginia. 932/925 Abigil Workman 38 Leander Osburn 18 Mary 16 Stephen Workman 10 John 8 Laura 5 Amos 1
Meredith's not on the 1860 census anywhere in the United States. Did he died in 1858 or so and shortly there after Amos was born, which caused the speculation of who's child was he?. So Abigail might not have cheated on Meredith, although Thomas certainly did with Minerva. ...oops genealogy...
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Thanks for ANY corrections and additions to these posts. All comments are most welcomed!
Thanks for ANY corrections and additions to these posts. All comments are most welcomed!
