{"id":1046,"date":"2023-05-20T22:22:01","date_gmt":"2023-05-21T03:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lawrence\/?p=1046"},"modified":"2025-12-07T10:34:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T16:34:17","slug":"james-d-vaughan-publishing-company-and-school-of-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lawrence\/james-d-vaughan-publishing-company-and-school-of-music\/","title":{"rendered":"James D. Vaughan Publishing Company and School of Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

Compiled and contributed by Reita Jones Burress<\/em><\/p>\n

Founder of Southern Gospel Music<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In 1902 James D. Vaughan moved his family to Lawrenceburg, Tn. from Giles County Co., Tn. where he was a teacher. A short while later he opened his publishing house on the Public Square in Lawrenceburg to furnish a complete gospel music service.<\/p>\n

The Vaughan Music Company published his first song book, Gospel Chimes<\/em>, in 1900. Business grew steadily, and in 1909 he sold 30,000 songbooks. James D. came up with an idea in May 1910 to promote the books, and the first professional all-male Southern Gospel Quartet in America hit the road.<\/p>\n

The first year on the road the Quartet doubled sales of songbooks to 60,000. The next year they sold 75,000 and in 1912 they sold 85,000. In 1911, Vaughan started the famed Vaughan School of Music. Each year students came from across the United States to study rudiments, harmony, sight-singing, class directing, and participate in private lessons for piano and voice.<\/p>\n

In 1912 Mr. Vaughan also published the monthly Newsletter called Vaughan\u2019s Family Visitor<\/em> to announce new books and singing schools. One of Lawrence County’s newspapers went out of business, and Mr. Vaughan took it over and began weekly publications of The Lawrence News<\/em> on October 1, 1919.<\/p>\n

He pioneered in mass media, opening Tennessee\u2019s first radio station, WOAN (\u201cWatch Our Annual Normal\u201d) in 1922, for the purpose of spreading his music. The station operated for two years with 150-watt transmitters used during the session of the Vaughan School of Music received by thirty-five states and Canada. On January 1, 1925 WOAN was stepped-up to 500 watts. WOAN divided time with Nashville\u2019s WSM on the same dial reading. Later WSM received full time on the dial when WOAN was discontinued.<\/p>\n

In 1921 he started the first Southern based Record Company, Vaughan Phonograph Records. The first song recorded was I Couldn\u2019t Hear Nobody Pray<\/em>, and on the other side was Look for Me<\/em>, written by V.O. Stamps, who worked for Vaughan until he started the successful Stamps Music Company.<\/p>\n

Another aspect of James D. Vaughan\u2019s music business was the promotion of the Vaughan Singing Convention or The National Gospel Singing Convention that had its beginning during the 1936 session of the Alabama State Singing Convention, which still meets once a year in different states.<\/p>\n

During the years, Mr. Vaughan wrote the words or music to many beautiful gospel songs; some remembered best:<\/p>\n