Vaughan Family
Alanson B. Vaughan was born in 1806 in New York and had been in Wisconsin for about eleven years before coming to Mower County. He was a civil engineer, surveyor, farmer and merchant. He came to Mower County, in company with two sons, in the fall of 1854. They were from Rock County, Wisconsin, where Alanson had been engaged in the mercantile trade. They took claims in section 10 in this township. After letting the contract for building a house they returned to Wisconsin, where they remained through the winter. In the spring of 1855, Alanson, with his family, accompanied by his five grown sons, two of whom were married, came with teams to their new homes. The sons are Phineas D., John G., Enoch G., Herman B., and Benjamin K. Four sons took claims: Phineas D., located on the southeast quarter of section 3; John G., the southeast quarter of section 2 ; Enoch G., the northeast quarter of section 10; and Herman B., the southeast of section 10.
Alanson built the first store in Austin and was the first postmaster in Austin, keeping the office in his store. This he operated with his eldest son for a year then he sold the building and goods.
Miss Maria Vaughan, Alanson's daughter, taught the first public school in Mower County, organized at Austin in the summer of 1856.
Alanson laid out the Village of Austin in the fall of 1855 with Chauncy Leverich but it was not properly surveyed and recorded. In April 1856, Jeremiah Yates and Lewis hired the county surveyor to plat their village and a race was on to record the plat of Austin. Yates and Lewis got theirs recorded first, however the plat by Chauncey Leverich, Alanson B. Vaughan and Washington Mason was called “Village of Austin” and so became the original village. The Yates and Lewis plat was called “Austin,” so it became the first addition to Village of Austin.
Alanson was the first elected County representative in the State legislature in October 1855, but it was stolen from him by his opponent. He was elected in October 1856 as first Judge of Probate in Mower County. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention, was one of the first officers of the Mower County Agricultural Society that formed in 1868, served as postmaster in Lansing, was one of the incorporators and directors of the Minnesota Central railroad - the failure of which he lost heavily, was a justice of the peace at the time of his death in 1876.
The first child born in the township was Adeline Ruth Vaughan on August 8, 1856, daughter of Phineas D. and Elizabeth Vaughan. Adeline later married George Russell.
Alanson built the first store in Austin and was the first postmaster in Austin, keeping the office in his store. This he operated with his eldest son for a year then he sold the building and goods.
Miss Maria Vaughan, Alanson's daughter, taught the first public school in Mower County, organized at Austin in the summer of 1856.
Alanson laid out the Village of Austin in the fall of 1855 with Chauncy Leverich but it was not properly surveyed and recorded. In April 1856, Jeremiah Yates and Lewis hired the county surveyor to plat their village and a race was on to record the plat of Austin. Yates and Lewis got theirs recorded first, however the plat by Chauncey Leverich, Alanson B. Vaughan and Washington Mason was called “Village of Austin” and so became the original village. The Yates and Lewis plat was called “Austin,” so it became the first addition to Village of Austin.
Alanson was the first elected County representative in the State legislature in October 1855, but it was stolen from him by his opponent. He was elected in October 1856 as first Judge of Probate in Mower County. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention, was one of the first officers of the Mower County Agricultural Society that formed in 1868, served as postmaster in Lansing, was one of the incorporators and directors of the Minnesota Central railroad - the failure of which he lost heavily, was a justice of the peace at the time of his death in 1876.
The first child born in the township was Adeline Ruth Vaughan on August 8, 1856, daughter of Phineas D. and Elizabeth Vaughan. Adeline later married George Russell.