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EDGAR S. VAUGHT
Vol. 3, p. 1146
Book has photo

This prominent and successful lawyer of Oklahoma City had his
introduction to Oklahoma in the capacity of an educator and his
valuable service in behalf of the schools of Oklahoma City and of the
state during the years immediately preceding state work will also
deserve some mention in local history and form an important chapter in
his own career. Though still very much interested in educational
affairs, Mr. Vaught devotes his time chiefly to the practice of law,
and is now senior member of the firm of Vaught & Ready, one of the
strongest law partnerships in the capital city. His offices are in the
Majestic Building.

Edgar S. Vaught was born in Wythe County, in Southwestern Virginia, in
1873, a son of Noah T. and Minerva J. (ATKINS) Vaught. His ancestors
were from Holland, and found homes among the pioneers of the noted
mountain district of Western Virginia and eastern Kentucky and
Tennessee. They possessed the same qualities which have made the men
and women from that region conspicuous in American society, noted for
their loyalty and valor in the war and for strength of purpose and
high mental caliber. Several generations of the Vaught family had
lived in Wythe County, one of the most picturesque districts of old
Virginia. Mr. Vaught's great-grandfather built the first flour mill
(sick) there. Noah T. Vaught, his father, was a veteran of the Civil
war, having served as second lieutenant of the Sixty-third Virginia
Infantry in the Confederate army. He was in the strife from the
beginning to the end, and with the cessation of hostilities returned
to his farm, and is still living in the East. Minerva J. Atkins, his
wife, was also a Virginian but of English descent, and she died in
1901.

Edgar S. Vaught claims as his alma mater one of the old and prominent
small colleges of Eastern Tennessee, the Carson-Newman College of
Jefferson City. This institution conferred upon him the degree of
Bachelor of Science in 1899. In the meantime he had also attended the
Emory & Henry College of Virginia. Like many of the young men in that
part of the country, his opportunities for getting a higher education
were subject to his own ambition and energies, and in the intervals of
attending college he taught school. In 1896 he was elected to the
office of county superintendent of schools of Jefferson County,
Tennessee, was re-elected for the two succeeding terms, and at the
same time was carrying on studies in Carson-Newman College and was
also equipping himself for the profession of law. Mr. Vaught was
admitted to the bar at Dandridge, Tennessee, in 1898, and had some
experience as a lawyer in Dandridge before coming to Oklahoma.

In 1901 Mr. Vaught came to Oklahoma City to accept the post of
principal of the city high schools. In less than a year he was made
superintendent of the Oklahoma City schools, and guided the destinies
of the local schools during those important years from 1901 to 1906.
His services attracted the attention of the territorial government of
Oklahoma, as coincident with his service as city school superintendent
he was from 1902 to 1906 a member of the territorial board of
education. In May 1907, Governor Frantz appointed him a member of the
board of regents of the territorial normal schools, three in number,
and his membership on that board was terminated by the entrance of
Oklahoma into the Union on November 16, 1907.

In 1906, after severing his active relations with the public schools
of Oklahoma City, Mr. Vaught formed a law partnership with John E.
DuMars and Samuel A. Calhoun, under the firm name of DuMars, Vaught &
Calhoun. It was a successful association of three strong lawyers, and
in a short time was conceded to have as large a practice as any other
firm in Oklahoma City. In 1907 the firm became DuMars & Vaught,
continuing as such until 1912, when it was dissolved. At that time Mr.
Vaught became associated with James H. READY, making the firm Vaught &
Ready, as it is at the present time. Mr. Vaught has the proper
temperament and natural qualifications for the successful lawyer and
by his thorough training and broad experience has well fortified his
rank as one of the leaders of the Oklahoma bar.

Mr. Vaught in 1914 was vice president of the Oklahoma City Chamber of
Commerce, and is a member of the Oklahoma City Men's Dinner Club.
Fraternally a Mason, he affiliates with Siloam Lodge No. 276, A.F. &
A.M. at Oklahoma City; with the Royal Arch Chapter at Jefferson City,
Tennessee; and with Oklahoma Commandery No. 3, K.T. Mr. Vaught and
family reside at 427 East Park Place in Oklahoma City. In 1899 he was
married at Dandridge, Tennessee, to Miss Mary HOLTSINGER. Her father,
G. W. Holtsinger, of Dandridge, was a captain in the Union army during
the Civil war, and later for a number of years served as clerk and
master of the Chancery Court at Dandridge. Mr. and Mrs. Vaught are the
parents of three children: Eleanor, Edgar S., Jr., and Ruth.

Typed for OKGenWeb by: Earline Sparks Barger, December 27, 1999.