Jeptha B. Wray Vaughn was born at Wray, Colorado December 16, 1892, and in 1900 Wray he's 7, with sister Vilda L. 3. Father Enos H. March 1850 in Missouri is a loan agent, and Josephine F. born Feb 1865 in Missouri.
In 1900 Wray Vaughn is in the third grade at Wray Intermediate School.
November 1901




In 1910 Enos H. Vaughn is running a general store in Wray, 60, with Josephine 46, both born in Missouri. "Ray" is 17, daughter Villate L. 13, both born in Colorado.
1911 Wray "DeForest Cory of Alexandria, Nebraska, is in the city a guest at the home of Wray Vaughn, at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Vaughn. De Forrest is a cousin of Wray."
1911 Wray "Neal Edwards, who has been visiting his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Vaughn for several days, left Wednesday for his home at Alexandria, Nebraska. "

1912 Wray, Colorado "Wray Vaughn, who is a recent graduate of the Barnes Business College and his friend, Leo Pickens, of Denver came down from that city Monday evening, having made the trip on thoir motor cycles. Wray will visit here with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Vaughn, and his friend, Mr. Pickens will help in the harvest."
1914 "Druggist" Brunswick Missouri Instute of Pharmacy "J. Wray Vaughn and Jesse W. Grigsby visited their parents at Wray, Colorado."
December 1914 - Wray, Colorado "Wray Vaughn and sister, Miss Vilda, arrived home yesterday from Kansas City, Mo., where they are attending school, and will spend the holiday season at home with their parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Vaughn."
September 1916
He registered for WWI in Marshall, Missouri, a retail druggist.
May 15, 1919 "Mrs. Wray Vaughn and little daughter of Denver are guests of her husband's parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Vaughn of Wray."
Enos Vaughn 1850-1929 has a record of burial in Wray # 63429326.
Josephine is widowed, 66, living alone in 1930 Wray.
Josephine F. (Wid Enos H.) is at 634 Monroe in Denver in 1934.
In 1940 Josephine is living with her daughter Vilda Pickens, 43, and her husband J. Lee 46, a zone manager for Ford Motor Company. They have Jo 15 and Sue 14.
Josephine (Edwards) Vaughn 1864-1962 is also buried in Wray, daughter of Jeptha Dudley Edwards and Ann (Brock) Edwards.

In 1920 Denver, "S. Wray" Vaughn is 27, a car dealer, with Marguerite 29 and Gordon 1.
1922

The man who had hired Lindbergh, upon the recommendations of the Robertsons, was a Captain J. Wray Vaughn who wanted, as he had said, "a pilot with plenty of nerve who knows his business." He had never heard of Lindbergh before, and when he went to the Denver railway station to meet his new employee he saw no one get off the train who seemed likely to be his man. Not until the platform crowd thinned out did he notice "a tall, gangling kid in a misfit blue suit, about three sizes too small for him," wearing a worn cloth cap and carrying a cardboard suitcase and a duffel bag. He and the "kid" were virtually alone on the platform before the latter came up to ask in a hesitating, half-apologetic tone if he were Captain Vaughn.

"I am," said Vaughn,

"I'm Lindbergh."

Vaughn was perhaps openly dismayed. He later confessed that he said to himself, "If this kid is a pilot, I'm a horse." But "the first time I saw him in the air, I knew I was wrong," Vaughn went on. "There was never another like him."
From the Wray 100-Year book "In 1925 Charles A. Lindbergh visited Wray in a small plane, landing south of town on a buffalo grass pasture. He gave many persons their first airplane ride at $5.00 each, including Mrs. Ray Hildreth, then a Wray resident. Two years later he made his historic flight alone across the Atlantic to Paris."

1985 Denver "DENVER - An 85-year-old Colorado woman says she liked her second plane ride almost as much as her first, even though that one was in the open cockpit of a plane flown by an obscure barnstormer named Charles Lindbergh. "It was great, much more comfortable," Alma Hildreth said Friday -- six decades later -- of her second flight on Frontier Airlines from Denver to San Francisco Thursday.
She paid Lindbergh $5 for the ride around northeastern Colorado`s Yuma County in 1925, something considered very courageous in those days, especially for a young woman. It was the first time she had ever seen a plane.
Two years later, Lindbergh became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
"I went up with my cousin (a man) because my husband didn`t want to go up. It took a lot of nerve in those days because you never heard about planes. I hadn;t seen a plane before," Hildreth said from her niece's Menlo Park, California, home.
"It was just a little tiny plane," she said. "There was just room in it for the pilot and two others. We circled around Wray several times. It was a lot of fun. And he certainly was a nice man."
She said Thursday`s flight brought back memories of that first time, but she missed feeling the wind in her face. "

J.B. has a record in the Colorado Corrections database.

1925 "DENVER, Colo., Sept. 28. J. B. Wray Vaughn, Denver aviator, hopped off in an airplane for San Francisco, where he will turn about and make a transcontinental flight to Mitchell Field. N. Y.. to the naval aviation meet, which is to be held there next month. Vaughan is competing for the meet' award to the pilot who flies the longest distance in the shortest time to Mitchell Field."

1926

This is not Yuma County, but is a colorful depiction of Vaughn.







May 1927 Wray Gazette "Captain Charlerf (Slim) Lindbergh, the lone flyer contending for victory in the Trans-Atlantic New York to Paris flight, was during 1925 and 1926 one of J. B. Wra> Vaughn's acrobatic stunt aviators in his Mile Hi Flying Corps, giving exhibition flights at fairs, etc., through out the West. He accompanied J. B. Wray Vaughn on his trans-continental flight from San Francisco to New York, in the Pulitzer Trophy Race which terminated disastrously in a fire destroying greater part of the Vaughn airplane at Lambert field, St. Louis.
There are many Wray people who will remember Lindbergh as he vsited here with Mr. Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn has now retired from active participation in the flying game, having become an implement dealer in Wray. He still owns several planes and expects to have one at Wray in the near future."

1927 Wray Gazette "Captain Charles (Slim) Lindbergh who has made himself the most talked of man in the world by his New York to Paris flight will find the publicity resulting from his amazing feat very distasteful, according to J. B. Wray Vaughn of Wray.
Mr. Vaughn was closely associated with Lindbergh over a period of several years when "Lucky Slim" as Lindbergh is called, was a stunt flier with Mr. Vaughn's Mile-Hi Flying Circus. Captain Lindbergh neither drinks nor smokes and he finds the company of the fair sex not to his liking," said Mr. Vaughn. "He prefers the company of his plane to the adulation of crowds." Mr. Vaughn went to Denver Monday morning where he was called to meet with the Denver Aero club and with the Denver chapter of the National Aeronautics club in regard to securing Captain Lindbergh for the Denver balloon races this summer. Mr. Vaughn will also consider a contract to make personal appearances with other members of the MilHi Circus at a Denver theatre. Mr. Vaughn expects to return to Wray the latter part of this week."



The Pueblo, Colorado library was very kind to provide a reprint of a 1928 article about "Captain Vaughn".
The Chicago Tribune wrote in 1928




When Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis to Denver in 1928, he was expected to stop in Wray, but stopped in Bird City, Kansas, instead.

April 1928 "Press reports from Denver the first of this week, telling of the surprise visit of Col. Chas. A. Lindbergh to that city, conveyed the information that J. B. Wray Vaughn, his wife and their 10-year-old son Gordon were among those who escorted the Lone Eagle about town while he was in Denver. According to the informtaion contained in the press reports, Mr. Vaughn is president of the Rocky Mountain Air Lines, Inc. Mr. Vaughn is a former Wray man, the son of Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Vaughn of this city. He has been interested in aviation for years. Several years ago when Mr. Vaughn was operating commercial planes, Lindbergh came to Wray with him and piloted the plane for many passengers while here."

In 1929 the El Paso Texas newspaper "WANTED-High class salesmen, experienced in securities, stocks and bonds, building and loan insurance. High commissions. Prospects not confined to any one class. Write or call of J. B. Wray Vaughn, Franciscan Hotel, Albuquerque."

1930 Talbotton, Georgia

1931 Texas

The 1936 Denver directory has J.B. Wray Vaughn (Marguerite) living at 647 Clermont, with an office in the U.S. National Bank Building.
Marguerite was the daughter of Frank Ivet Smith and Mattie Clay. In 1916 Mattie Clay Smith was the vice president of the Colorado W.C.T.U.

August 4, 1927

Gordon Wray Vaughn 1918-2007 is buried in Honolulu National # 72587875.
He was born in Denver July 27, 1918 to J.W. Vaughn and Marguerite Smith.

In 1930 Denver, Gordon was living with his grandparents Frank I. 76 and Mattie C. 70 Smith and his aunt Vivienne 28.
In 1952 Gordon was in Beverly Hills, California, married to Mary B. (Evans) Vaughn. Mary's parents David R. Evans was a long-time pastor in Somerville, New Jersey.
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Vilda
November 16, 1916
1922 Wray "Mrs. Sam Harger arrived Monday evening from her home in California for a visit at the Enos Vaughn home and with other relatives in and near Wray. Mrs. Harger formerly lived in Wray, but of late years has been residing in California."

1922 Wray "Mrs. Lee Pickens, who was formerly Miss Vilda Vaughn, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Vaughn, motored from Denver the latter part of last week for a short visit with her parents. Mrs. Pickens is driving a new Dodge sedan recently purchased from Harvey Speicher, the local Dodge dealer."


In 1975 the Greeley, Colorado newspaper wrote "When Gene Aplin was younger, he flew in an airplane with a young daredevil pilot. Four years later, the same pilot flew across the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. His name was Charles A. Lindbergh. Aplin, now mayor of Evans, Colorado, grew up at Rocky Ford, southeast of Pueblo. His father ran a taxi service with a 1921 Nash touring car and Aplin drove for him. The Mil-Hi Airways and Flying Circus of Denver came from the El Capitan Hotel in Rocky Ford every day," Aplin said. "I ran errands for them; I was anxious to do anything I could for them." About four miles outside of Rocky Ford was the air strip."

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