To: Doug Vaughn, Fresno, CA, March 1998.

Here is a story about our great-great-grandfather, William Henry Vaughn. It is just a family story and there is no evidence to support it.

Before William was married, and he would have been in his late teens or early twenties, he was recruited by William Quantrill's gang to make a raid on Lawrence, Kansas. If you know anything about the civil war in Missouri, you will know that Quantrill was a murdering outlaw on the side of the South. Of course Kansas was pro-Union. But Quantrill was out for personal gain and satisfaction more than anything else. It was his way or you were his enemy. Anyway, back to the story. When William was recruited, he didn't turn Quantrill down because that would have been deadly. William was good with a gun, so he went along with Quantrill. He rode with him into Kansas and one night before the raid, William found an opportunity to escape. He left the gang and went into Arkansas to hide until his he felt it was safe to return. I don't know if this story makes him a coward or shows he had some sense. Anyway, that's how my grandfather told the story to my dad.

Bill Vaughn, Pleasant Hill, MO.