Joseph "Joe" F. Vaughn (claimed to be Frank James)

Joseph "Joe" F. Vaughn Biography

FindAGrave.com, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20280056

Joe Vaughn was the husband of Nancy Richardson-Vaughn. Together they raised eleven children. Their names are; Dora, Samuel, James, Sarah, Ebb, Will, John, George & Marion, (twins), Charlie & Nancy Lee.

Joe told his children in the last few years before his death that when he died he wanted his 'real' name put on his tombstone. When the children asked what name that would be if Joe Vaughn wasn't the right one, Joe replied that he wanted 'Frank James' on his stone.

In the last years of his life, Joe wrote a 134 page book detailing his life as the infamous outlaw and half brother of Jesse James. This book tells of his life from that of a young man in the beginning years of the Civil War fighting beside Quantral and Jesse up to the time he left the Indian Territory, what is now Oklahoma,and made his way to the Ozark Mountains. Having left behind the Indian Territory he also left behind the life he lead and the name he was born with, Frank James, and used the alias that he'd used at other times through out his life, the name of Joe Vaughn.

When asked after his death about the 'man' Joe Vaughn, friends and neighbors county wide had all gotten the impression that he was not a meer farmer. He had been known to handle a hand gun in a manner that the everyday man wouldn't have the expertise of.

He served Newton County, Arkansas as a surveyor for a number of years. Joe was a member of the Masons, Buffalo Lodge #366.

His stone bears the name he wanted, Frank James alias Joe Vaughn.

This is the information on the book: Title: "This was Frank James" Author: Columbus Vaughn, Sarah Snow, and Lester Snow (see timeline entry for more detail on the book)