Member of the Tennessee House, 17th, 18th, and 19th General Assemblies, 1827-33; representing Greene County; SENATE, 21st General Assembly, 1835-37 (1st session only; replaced by Orville Bradley); representing Greene and Hawkins counties; Unionist. Born in Sevier County on July 12, 1792; son of Major Samuel and Jane (Laughlin) McGaughey. Farmer, near Greeneville, Greene County; trustee of Tusculum Academy, Greene County, 1818; orator, politician; one of the original directors and active in construction of the East, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad. Married in Greene County on February 12, 1812, to Hannah Robinson; children — Richard W., Margaret (Mrs. Robert Rankin), Nancy L., and (apparently) William S. McGaughey. Member of Constitutional Convention of 1834; ensign in Blount County militia, 1811. Member Presbyterian Church. Died at his home near Greeneville on May 20, 1874; buried at Mt. Bethel Presbyterian Churchyard, Greeneville. Father of William S. McGaughey, sometime member Tennessee General Assembly.

Sources: Athens Post, May 29, 1874; Moore, Record of Commissions of Officers of the Tennessee Militia, 107; Laughlin Dairy, Roll 40, p. 38; White, Messages of the Governors of Tennessee, II, 468; Temple, Notable Men of Tennessee, 52; Wilson, East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad, passim; Reynolds, Greene County Cemeteries, 188; Creekmore, Greene County Marriage Records, Vol. III, p. 111; Burns and McCoun, Soldiers of the War of 1812, 80; D.A.R. Rosters and Soldiers, 1181.

Transcribed by Mildred Collins from published biographies of Tennessee Legislators, compiled and printed by the TN State Library & Archives.