Dorothy Ray Muse, daughter of Joseph C. & Margaret G. Muse [1], graduated in 1940 from Queens College in Charlotte, NC. She received an A.B. in Math and was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority.
[1] 1930 Census. Mountain City, Johnson County, Tennessee. ED 2, Family #68, Sheet 3B. Available online at FamilySearch. <https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/SP4J-R7Q>
BUTLER, Roderick Randum, (grandfather of Robert Reyburn Butler), a Representative from Tennessee; born in Wytheville, Va., April 9, 1827; bound as an apprentice and learned the tailor’s trade; moved to Taylorsville (now Mountain City), Tenn.; attended night school; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1853 and commenced practice in Taylorsville; lawyer, private practice; appointed postmaster of Taylorsville by President Fillmore; major of the First Battalion of Tennessee Militia; member of the Tennessee state senate, 1859-1863 and 1893-1901; during the Civil War served in the Union Army as lieutenant colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, November 5, 1863-April 25, 1864; delegate to the Republican National Conventions, 1864, 1872 and 1876; delegate to the Tennessee state constitutional convention, 1865; county judge and judge of the first judicial circuit of Tennessee, 1865; chairman of the first state Republican executive committee of Tennessee; delegate to the Baltimore Border State Convention; elected as a Republican to the Fortieth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1867-March 3, 1875); chairman, Committee on the Militia (Forty-third Congress); censured by the House of Representatives on March 17, 1870, for corruption in regard to an appointment to West Point; unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Forty-fourth Congress in 1874; president of the Republican State conventions, 1869 and 1882; member of the Tennessee state house of representatives, 1879-1885; elected to the Fiftieth Congress (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1889); was not a candidate for renomination in 1888; resumed the practice of law; died in Mountain City, Johnson County, Tenn., August 18, 1902; interment in Mountain View Cemetery.
Jackson D. Carriger, son of Godfrey Carriger, Jr., was born March 8, 1821, and at the age of five years was left an orphan. He supplemented his public school education by study in the Duffield Academy and at the age of seventeen years took charge of the property which he inherited and afterward managed his own affairs in a very successful manner. He was sworn into a company in the secret service of the United States known as the East Tennessee Bridge Burners during the Civil war, under the order of Colonel Dan Stover, and assisted in burning the bridge at Bluff City, Tennessee, November 8, 1861. He was suspicioned as a bridge burner and had to seek refuge in the mountains, there suffering many hardships and exposure, from which he never fully recovered. He was finally captured and taken to Taylorsville, now Mountain City, Tennessee, for trial and would have been hanged but for the fact that one of the men before whom he was tried was a brother Mason [p.422] who interceded and saved his life. He was a trustee of the county, was gauger under federal appointment, justice of the peace for ten years and a member of the school board for many years. He took an active interest in public affairs, especially everything relating to the advancement of education and Christianity. He married Edna G. Dugger, who was born in Carter county, near the present site of Butler, April 8, 1838. She was a member of the Baptist church and her Christian spirit found frequent expression in her aid of those in distress. Her favorite passage of scripture was: “Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” Edna G. Dugger was a daughter of Samuel Dugger, who was born January 16, 1806, and died June 12, 1890. He married Hannah Potter, a descendant of John Potter, who was born and reared on the Catawba river in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, and by grant received hundreds of acres of land in both Tennessee and North Carolina. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and according to the records the land came to him in recognition of his services. The ancestry in the Dugger line can be traced back to Julius Dugger, who was of Scotch-Irish descent, and there is a strongly supported tradition that the first American ancestor of the family was Hackney McDuggen. The prefix “Mc” was dropped and the final “n” was changed to “r.” Julius Dugger had a brother Ben and one of his descendants, William Dugger, had in his possession a book printed in the Scottish dialect, upon the fly leaf of which appeared the name of the owner, Hackney McDuggen. The Dugger family was established near Petersburg, Virginia, and Julius Dugger emigrated to Tennessee with four brothers, and possibly others, and one sister who became Mrs. Mary Smith. Julius Dugger settled near what was later known as Dugger’s Bridge and afterward removed to Wilkes county, North Carolina, but later returned to Tennessee. His brother Ben settled in western North Carolina, while Daniel went on to Kentucky and William took up his abode below Dugger’s Bridge. Julius Dugger arrived about 1766 in company with Andrew Greer and they are believed to be the first white men who settled south of what was afterward the Virginia line. Family tradition has it that he served in the Revolutionary war and he was also in the War of 1812, serving two different times. He married Mary Hall of Rockbridge county, Virginia, believed to be an only daughter, but she had a brother Sam who left descendants (the Daugherty family) and a brother George, who was killed by the Indians. Julius Dugger owned slaves and land at the foot of Dugger’s mountain, in Caldwell county, North Carolina, the mountain and creek there being named for him and his kindred because they hunted in that locality. He seems to have been alone loyal to the country in the midst of a Tory neighborhood and to avoid trouble he returned with his family to Tennessee and helped to clear the land where Elizabethton now stands. He and his descendants are spoken of as men of intelligence and of notable foresight.
Transcribed from: Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1796-1923 by John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster published by S.J Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.
Godfrey Carriger, Jr., a son of Gotfried Kercher, was born May 13, 1767 or 1769. (The old German record is very dim and it is difficult to tell whether it is 67 or 69.) He was about thirteen years of age when the family home was established in Carter county, Tennessee. A soldier of the Revolution, he received a grant of land issued on a military warrant. He held the rank of major and was always known as Major Carriger. He acted as register of his county from July 4, 1796, to May 6, 1827, the date of his death, a period of thirty-one years, having the distinction of serving his county in this capacity longer than any other man. He was justice of the peace and member of the school board and took great interest in educational affairs. He and his brother Christian built the first schoolhouse east of Elizabethton in the territory including Johnson county and extending to the Virginia and North Carolina lines. This was built for school purposes and as a meeting house, according to the deed conveying the land which was donated by Godfrey Carriger, Jr. Five generations of his descendants have attended school here. The original building of brick was torn down in the year 1912 to give place to a new and larger building, but some of the material of the first building was used in the foundation of the new. Godfrey Carriger, Jr., married Mrs. Elizabeth Lovelace Crawley on the 27th of October, 1803, and they had seven sons and three daughters, all reaching adult age and marrying, save one daughter who died when young. The two-story log house which Godfrey Carriger, Jr., built in 1796 and in which he reared his family is still in good state of preservation. It was considered a mansion in that day, being the best residence in the Watauga settlement. His wife departed this life February 27, 1826.
Transcribed from: Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1796-1923 by John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster published by S.J Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.
Joseph C. Mast, son of Adam and Elizabeth (Cable) Mast, was born May 10, 1808, devoted his life to farming and was a devout Christian man of the Baptist faith. He married Celia Campbell, a granddaughter of Zachariah Campbell, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, who emigrated from County Tipperary, near Cork, Ireland, settling first in Virginia, where he married before removing to Carter county, Tennessee, where he was very prominent in early days, being a member of the county court when the county was organized July 4, 1796. He was one of the commissioners appointed to locate the county seat of justice. He was present and participated in the organization of the court of pleas and quarter sessions, July 4, 1796. Previous to his removal to Carter county he had served in the Revolutionary war. Two of his sons, Isaac and Jeremiah Campbell, were also soldiers of the Revolution and Isaac likewise participated in the War of 1812. Isaac Campbell enjoyed the well merited reputation of being a good citizen and just man. He married Susie Smith, daughter of Edward and Catherine Smith and they settled on the Watauga in Carter county, Tennessee. It was his daughter Celia who became the wife of Joseph C. Mast and the latter’s daughter, Louise Mast, became the wife of Joseph L. Vaught. They had a family of thirteen children, William McDonald being the seventh in order of birth. Those who reached adult age were Jacob S., Sarah C., Cordelia A., Celia Ella, William M., Nannie I., John M. and Edward J. Mrs. Louise (Mast) Vaught united with the Pleasant Grove Baptist church, January 2, 1854, and [p.420] has lived a consistent Christian life. She had one sister and six brothers and two of the latter were Confederate soldiers of the Civil war. While her husband was giving the best years of his young manhood to the Federal cause Mrs. Vaught underwent many hardships. She had three small children to protect, feed and clothe. She personally carried on the farm work and she raised flax and wool, from which were made the garments that clothed her little family. She still lives on a part of the original tract of land secured in 1792 by John Vaught, the pioneer of Johnson county. The post office of Vaughtsville was named in honor of the family and her husband was postmaster from the time of the establishment of the post office in 1886 until his death, which occurred May 16, 1897, since which time the daughter Ella has acted as postmistress. One son, Jacob S., is a prominent farmer and stockman, interested in sheep and cattle. He is also active in religious affairs, serving as treasurer of the church to which his father and grandfather belonged. John M. was also a successful farmer and business man, but met an untimely death June 16, 1912, having been kicked by a horse. His funeral was conducted on the day he would have been forty years of age. Another son, Edward J., attended the public schools of Johnson county, also Holly Springs College and Carson and Newman College, graduating from the last named with honors in May, 1897. After completing a course in the Lebanon Law School he began practice in Johnson City, Tennessee, and has a large clientele. He is also United States commissioner and he was presidential elector in 1916, supporting Charles E. Hughes for the presidency.
Transcribed from: Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1796-1923 by John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster published by S.J Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.
Adam Mast, son of Joseph and Eve (Bowers) Mast, was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, March 6, 1784, and in 1807 married Elizabeth Cable, who was born March 15, 1785, a daughter of Casper Cable, who was a Hessian soldier and was captured by Washington’s forces at Trenton, New Jersey, on Christmas day of 1776. On taking the oath of allegiance he was released and went to Pennsylvania, where he married a Miss Baker, and with his wife and her brother, John Baker, he emigrated to North Carolina, making a settlement on the Blue Ridge. Later they removed to the present site of Boone, where a number of their children were born, and in 1800 they took up their abode on a tract of land in what is now Johnson county, Tennessee. Cable was a leading citizen.
Transcribed from: Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1796-1923 by John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster published by S.J Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.
Joseph L. Vaught, son of John S. and Rebecca (Shoun) Vaught, was born in Johnson county, Tennessee, March 4, 1838. At the outbreak of the Civil war he joined the Federal army, serving as sergeant in Company M, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, and when victory had crowned the Union arms he resumed his agricultural pursuits in Johnson county. He also manufactured wagons, farming tools and implements, supplying the people of his community and surrounding districts. He served as justice of the peace and was on the school board for a number of years. He belonged to the Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternities and he took an active interest in the welfare and upbuilding of the community, while of the Pleasant Grove Baptist church he was a faithful and devoted member from December 24, 1853, until his death. He is survived by his widow, who is living, at the age of eighty-five years, in Vaughtsville, Tennessee, a place named in his honor. It was on the 29th of December, 1855, that he wedded Louise Mast, who was born in Johnson county, January 20, 1838, a daughter of Joseph C. and Celia (Campbell) Mast. She traces her ancestry in direct line back to John and Barbara Mast. The former was born in Switzerland in 1740 and came to America with his uncle, four sisters and his elder brother, Jacob Mast, who later became a bishop in the Amish Mennonite church. The party sailed from Rotterdam in the ship “Brotherhood,” John Thompson, captain, and landed at Philadelphia, March 3, 1750. Soon after reaching the age of twenty John Mast left his brother Jacob, then married and living near Elverson, Pennsylvania, and started out to find a suitable location. He wandered as a pedestrian through lonely forests and at length settled in Randolph county, North Carolina, in 1764. Tradition says that he never communicated with his relatives and it was not until 1898 that the relationship between the Masts of Pennsylvania and North Carolina was established. The North Carolina branch constitutes a large, substantial and progressive citizenship in that state and this is equally true of the Pennsylvania and Ohio branches.
Transcribed from: Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1796-1923 by John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster published by S.J Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.
John S. Vaught, son of Joseph and Nancy (Goodwin) Vaught, was born in Johnson county, June 16, 1810, and became a large landowner and slave owner, while he and his son, Joseph L., operated a forge, manufacturing “hammered” iron. A public-spirited man, he donated the land for the Pleasant Grove Baptist church, organized January 20, 1845, in Vaught’s schoolhouse. He was a prominent member of the church and provided most of the funds for the erection of a new brick church in 1853. This building was torn down in 1912 to clear the site for a larger and more modern building which was erected that year, the material in the old building being used in the new. While he owned many slaves, John S. Vaught believed in emancipation and used his influence in that direction. He married Rebecca Shoun, who was born June 4, 1813, a daughter of Leonard and Barbara (Schlemp) Shoun, the former born November 10, 1773, in Loudoun county, Virginia, and the latter in Washington county, Virginia, May 3, 1775. The descendants of Leonard Shoun have erected a monument to his memory at Shouns, Tennessee, which town was named in his honor. John S. and Rebecca Vaught had three sons and five daughters, all of [p.419] whom married and reared families save a daughter who died at the age of twelve. John S. Vaught passed away May 18, 1885.
Transcribed from: Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1796-1923 by John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster published by S.J Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.
Joseph Vaught, son of John and Esther Vaught, was born in what is now Smythe county, Virginia, in 1773, and went to Tennessee with his father, from whom he inherited a large tract of farm land and a number of slaves. He successfully cultivated his land and operated a mill, becoming one of the wealthy men of his day and giving to each of his children a large farm. He married Nancy Goodwin and they had two sons and three daughters. The father died November 22, 1830, aged fifty-seven years, and was buried in the Roane Creek Baptist churchyard at Shouns, Tennessee. This church was organized April 20, 1794–the first established in Johnson county.
Transcribed from: Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1796-1923 by John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster published by S.J Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.
William McDonald Vaught, educator and business man, now in charge of the Elizabethton office of the Watauga Power Company, was born in Johnson county, Tennessee, a son of Joseph L. and Louise (Mast) Vaught. His ancestral line can be traced back through several generations to John Vaught, who emigrated from Virginia and settled on Roane Creek, a tributary of the Watauga, in Johnson county, then Washington county, North Carolina. In the land office in Virginia is a record of a land survey to John Vaught for three hundred and ninety acres on the south fork of Holston river, dated February 28, 1775. There are also deeds in Jonesboro, dated July 17, 1792, conveying to John Vaught from Thomas Payne a tract of four hundred and fifty acres on Roane Creek and another of four hundred acres located on Flannery’s Fork of Roane Creek, since known as Vaught’s Creek. These lands were granted to Thomas Payne in November, 1784. John Vaught also purchased other lands adjacent from Reuben Stringer. He built and operated the first mill in this section and the forge on his place was one of the first to be established in the county. He donated land for the first schoolhouse in the community and assisted in erecting a log school building, which became known as Vaught’s schoolhouse and in which the Pleasant Grove Baptist church was organized. John Vaught was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and his great-grandson, John L. Vaught, at the time of his death in 1907, had a part of the uniform which John Vaught had worn in the service in the Continental Line. He was a justice of the peace and member of the first county court of Carter county, which he had assisted in organizing July 4, 1796. His wife’s name was Esther and they had two daughters, Elizabeth Heaton and Barbara Howard. His will, dated June 6, 1806, is on file in the courthouse in Elizabethton.
As stated, the seventh child of the family was William McDonald Vaught, who after attending the public schools of Johnson county entered Holly Springs College at Butler, Tennessee, and was graduated A. B. in 1891, having the distinction of delivering the first graduating address for the first graduating class of that college. He was afterward professor of mathematics at his alma mater from 1891 until 1892, after which he spent two years in the state of Washington, teaching and attending the State Normal. Following his return to Tennessee in 1894 he taught in the schools of Watauga valley for four or five years and afterward at Elizabethton. In 1902 he was elected county superintendent of education for Carter county and served most acceptably and satisfactorily in that position for three years. He was then again teacher at Elizabethton from 1905 until 1907, after which he withdrew from educational work, taking up bookkeeping and office work. Since 1910 he has been connected with the Watauga Power Company at Elizabethton, first as bookkeeper and since 1912 as manager of the local office. This company owns and operates a hydro-electric power plant on the Watauga river, seven miles above Elizabethton, and furnishes electric current for lights and power for Elizabethton, Bristol and Bluff City. Mr. Vaught has proven a man of keen executive ability and his close application to the thing at hand has been a dominant factor in his continued success.
Mr. Vaught gives his political allegiance to the republican party, and although he has never sought nor desired political preferment, he is always interested in party affairs and never too busy to give his aid in furthering any movement for the benefit of the community. He served as a member of the board of aldermen from 1917 until 1919. Fraternally he is identified with the Odd Fellows and represented the local lodge in the grand lodge ofTennessee for two years. He also belongs to the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Patriotic Order of Sons of America. In September, 1887, he united with the Baptist church and he has served as clerk of the Watauga Baptist Association. For a number of years he has filled the position of church treasurer and always takes an active interest in the various lines of church work.
On the 16th of June, 1896, Mr. Vaught wedded Elizabeth C. Carriger, daughter of Jackson and Edna Carriger and a descendant of Gotfried Kercher (Godfrey Carriger, Sr.). The name was originally Gotfried Von Kaercher, but afterward the “Von” was dropped and later Godfrey Carriger, Sr., dropped the “a” from the name. The German pronunciation of “Kaercher” is “Carriger” and all deeds and other written documents, including his will, bearing date March 30, 1808, are signed in his own handwriting “Gotfried Kercher,” while in the body of all said deeds, documents and will his name is written “Godfrey Carriger, Sr.” He was born March 7, 1732, in Stuttgart, Germany, and in his seventh year came with his parents, brothers and sisters to Burks county, Pennsylvania, sailing on the vessel “Friendship,” Henry Beech, commander. They landed at Philadelphia, September [p.421] 20, 1738, and at that time the father, Michael Kercher, was forty-six years of age. He took the oath of allegiance to the province of Pennsylvania and he left his native land on account of religious persecution, being a Lutheran. His son, Gotfried Kercher, signed a memorial in 1779 against calling a convention for the purpose of aiding British rule, he being strongly in favor of American independence. His wife was Margaret Hanchpaugh, or Anspaugh, a very devout Christian woman. Their children were: Johan Nicholas, who was born February 28, 1761, and married a Miss Millard and emigrated to Middle Tennessee; Johan Michael, who was born April 26, 1764, and wedded Elizabeth Worley; Johan Lenhart, who was born January 3, 1766, and who was killed by the Indians in 1780; Gotfried, whose birth occurred May 13, 1767 or 1769, and who married Elizabeth Lovelace Crawley; Elizabeth, whose natal day was May 12, 1771, and who became the wife of John Nave; Johan Henrich, who was born February 26, 1774, and died in early life; Johan, who was born February 24, 1777, and wedded Margaret Elliott; and Christian, whose natal day was July 28, 1779, and who married Levisa Ward. Gotfried Kercher bought land in Brunswick township, Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1760 and also in 1765. In 1779 he sold his eight hundred and twenty-five acres and the following year removed to the Watauga settlement in Tennessee, traveling with four six-horse covered wagons, bringing his family and ten negro men and their families, together with thirty-two thousand dollars in money. He brought also the first cook stove ever used in the Watauga settlement, and it was such a great curiosity that the settlers came for many miles to see it. His son Leonard, while the family were en route to Tennessee, left the camp with his gun to hunt game and was killed by the Indians. Gotfried Kercher became the owner of much land on the Watauga and built and operated the first mill in the eastern part of the settlement. Legal documents show that he and his sons owned and operated a number of forges in upper East Tennessee. The Carrigers were leaders in church and school work and after coming to Tennessee united with the Baptists.
Transcribed from: Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1796-1923 by John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster published by S.J Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.
