Manuscripts Department
           Library of the University of North Carolina
                         at Chapel Hill

                 SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION

                              #4192
                  WILLIAM LE ROY VAUGHAN PAPERS
                            Inventory

Abstract:      William Le Roy Vaughan (1880-1956) researched and
           wrote local history and life histories, 1930-1939,
           with the Federal Writers' Project in Beaufort County,
           N.C.
               Correspondence and other papers relating to
           Vaughan's work with the Federal Writers' Project. 
           Most correspondence is with George L. Andrews,
           assistant state director of the Federal Writers'
           Project.  Other papers include material collected and
           written about Beaufort County history, sample life
           histories given to Vaughan as examples, a life history
           of a minister by Vaughan, and biographical and
           autobiographical material of Vaughan dealing with his
           Federal Writers' Project experience and other matters.

Online Catalog Terms:
   Andrews, George L.
   Beaufort County (N.C.)--History.
   Federal Writers' Project.
   North Carolina--Biography.
   Oral history.
   Vaughan, William Le Roy, 1880-1956.

Size:  About 250 items (.25 feet).

Provenance:  Received from Virginia Vaughan Mallory of Richmond,
             Virginia, in July 1979.

Access:  No restrictions.

Related Collections:  FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT PAPERS (#3709)

Copyright:  Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
            their descendants, as stipulated by United States
            copyright law.

Table of Contents:
           Biographical Note
           Description
           Shelf List

                        BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

  William Le Roy Vaughan was born 29 January 1880 in Halifax
County, North Carolina, the sixth child of Martha Gray and
William Thomas Vaughan.  Both Vaughan and his older brother
received their bachelor's (1902) and master's (1906) degrees from
Wake Forest College.  They were both admitted to the North
Carolina Bar in 1907.

  After working briefly at Wake Forest as an instructor and then
as an editorial assistant on a Halifax county newspaper, William
Vaughan established a law office in Washington, North Carolina,
in 1908.  While in Washington, he served as superintendent of
Beaufort County Schools, 1909-1913; judge of Recorder's Court,
1914-1916; and legal council for the Beaufort County Land
Company, 1916-1919.  From 1919 to 1933, he confined his
professional activities to his legal practice.

  In 1911, Vaughan married Carrie Simmons, the daughter of
another Washington lawyer.  She died in February 1920 while
bearing her fifth child.

  Vaughan lost the use of his legs and right arm in May 1933 in
an automobile accident in which one of his children was killed. 
Vaughan remained an invalid until 1938, when he began work as an
interviewer for the Federal Writers' Project, responsible for
collecting information on the history of Beaufort County.  After
the termination of the project, he worked as a Gallup poll-taker
and later as customs officer for Washington, North Carolina.

  In 1947, Vaughan left Washington to live with his daughter.  He
died in February 1956.

                           DESCRIPTION

  Vaughan's papers center around his activities with the Federal
Writers' Project.  Materials consist chiefly of correspondence
with George L. Andrews, assistant state director of the Federal
Writers' Project for North Carolina, and with others who were
chiefly sources of information about Beaufort County; data on
Beaufort County he collected from numerous public and private
sources; and the finished accounts that he submitted to Andrews.

   Folder  1   Correspondence, August-September 1938.

           2   Correspondence, October-December 1938.

           3   Correspondence, January 1939.

           4   Correspondence, February-April 1939.

           5   Beaufort County Place Names--Information
               collected by Vaughan and correspondence with 
               Andrews relating to communities in Beaufort
               County.

           6   Beaufort County History--written by Vaughan,
               65 pages, submitted to Andrews, with cover letter,
               3 April 1939.

           7   County Historical Data--Clippings, correspon-
               dence, maps, typed notes, and other material
               collected by Vaughan.

           8   "The Rev. J. R. Everett," a Federal Writers'
               Project life history by Vaughan, 19 pages, with
               cover letter, 31 January 1939.

           9   "My Own Story," autobiographical Federal
               Writers' Project life history by Vaughan, 31
               pages, with cover letter, 24 February 1938; also a
               biographical sketch, 1979, of Vaughan by Virginia
               Mallory, his daughter, and some other biographical
               material.

           10  "A Double Tragedy," written by Vaughan about 
               the 1933 automobile accident, about 15 pages.

           11  Sample life histories by Ida Moore--copies
               given to Vaughan as examples.

                           SHELF LIST

   Box 1 (only).