Epitaph

William Knowlton Vaughan
(1921-1966)
U.S. Army World War II Veteran from Chicago, Illinois

Basic Data

Full Name at Birth: William Knowlton Vaughan

Gender at Birth: male

Date of Birth: 14 June 1921

Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois

My ID: A1

WikiTree ID: Vaughan-3998

FamilySearch ID: KWJ6-DCK

U.S. Military Service Number: 36361813

Alias: Bill

Father: William Swift Vaughan

Mother: Maud Osborn Knowlton

Only Sibling: Sidney Knowlton Vaughan

Only Spouse: Merle Mortensen

Date of Marriage: 24 March 1961

Place of Marriage: The Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah

Only Child of William Knowlton Vaughan and Merle Mortensen:
William Mortensen Vaughan

Biography

Childhood

William Knowlton Vaughan, also known as "Bill," was born to William Swift Vaughan and Maud Osborn Knowlton, in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, on June 14, 1921.

[At right: Sidney Knowlton Vaughan, Edna Osborn, and William Knowlton Vaughan, at "the Shacks at Channahon," dated 1927. Edna was the boys' maternal grandmother.]

Bill's only sibling, Sidney Knowlton Vaughan, was born on or about July 30 or 31, 1923, also in Chicago.

The Vaughans resided at 814 and/or 818 Hillside Avenue, in Glen Ellyn, Milton Township, DuPage County, Illinois in the 1920's, -30's, and -'40's.

Boy's Nature

The only photograph of Bill and Sid together, as children, that I have ever seen, is of them with their maternal grandmother, Edna Osborn, at "the Shacks in Channahon," courtesy of Dead Fred. These "Shacks" were probably a Hooverville, when Sid was about four years old; Bill, six; and Edna, fifty-eight. Edna died on December 20, 1931.

As children, Bill and Sid created a magazine they called "Boys' Nature," with colored pencils, pens, a typewriter, and acorn clips. My Uncle Sid mailed me the original copy, circa 2000.

High School and College

Bill probably attended a predecessor of Glenbard South High School, named Glen Ellyn High School, until 1938 or 1939, because his brother's obituary mentions that he (Sid) attended that high school. Born in 1921, Bill would have been seventeen or eighteen years old by then.

In 1941, a photograph of Bill appeared on page 47 of North Central College's yearbook. North Central College is located approximately ten miles from 814 Hillside Avenue, so Bill may have lived in Naperville, Illinois, where that college is located, or he may have continued living at home with his parents and brother.

By the time Bill registered for the World War II Draft, he indicated that he was a "Student," with a mailing address in Logan, Utah, where, according to my mother, he studied zoology at Utah State University, because he believed that they had the best zoology school in the U.S.A. By his first enlistment date, August 4, 1942, he had completed two years of college.

World War II

Bill entered active duty, in the U.S. Army, by March 11, 1943. He must have completed a college degree at North Cental College or Utah State University, because he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He served in the 49th Armored Infantry, a battalion subordinate to the 8th Armored Division during World War II. The 8th Armored Division arrived in France on January 5, 1945, approximately six months after D-Day, June 6, 1944. They fought the Nazis until Gestapo Chief Heinrich Himmler was captured; then they occupied Europe until they were officially "dismounted," on October 26, 1945, at Camp Phillip Morris, near Le Havre, France; they were inactivated, by Gen. Charles F. Colson, on November 13, 1945, at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia. Bill was discharged on April 21, 1946. He appears on the right, in the photograph below, which is, presumably, of his brother, Sid's wedding to Char. Sid is seen standing between Bill and Char; the woman on the left is, presumably, Char's sister. This wedding occurred on April 13, 1946, so Sid must have timed it so that his brother, Bill, could attend while on Terminal Leave from the U.S. Army, after returning from Europe.

G.I. Bill

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed "the G.I. Bill" into law, on June 22, 1944. Bill must have taken advantage of this, and started attending the University of California at Berkeley as soon as he was discharged, in 1946. Bill's name is listed among the Bachelors in their Eighty-Seventh Commencement, published four years after his Honorable Discharge. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley on June 16, 1950, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology.

Australia

According to my mother, Bill served an L.D.S. Mission in Australia. She showed me a picture of him standing, in a suit and tie, with a koala in each hand. According to Bill's own account, in "Academic Freedom From the Inside," he lived in Australia for two years, from 1950 to 1952, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley.

Little Black Sambo and the Pinkos

Bill was a writer, and at least one of his articles, about Little Black Sambo, politics, and "pinkos," titled "Academic Freedom From the Inside," was published by American Mercury magazine, in September, 1954.

B.Y.U.

According to my mother's engagement announcement, which was published in the Deseret News, Bill studied at Brigham Young University, as well as Utah State University and the University of California at Berkeley.

Courtship

Bill met my mother in a crosswalk between Temple Square and the Hotel Utah, in Salt Lake City, Utah, circa 1960 - probably during the General Conference in the fall of 1960. A "return Missionary," he was probably studying at B.Y.U., in Provo, working on his "M.R.S." Degree. What better place to find a Mormon wife? What better place to meet young, Mormon women than Temple Square during General Conference?

For more details about their relationship, see The Biography of Merle Mortensen.

Bill's Few, Final Years

According to my "Utah Certificate of Live Birth," my father was a "white" man named "William Knowlton Vaughan," who worked as a "Guard," at "Thiokol." He was forty-one years old (born circa 1921), in "Chicago, Ill."

My mother was a "white" woman named "Merle Mortensen," who resided at the "Wishing Well Motel, Rt. 2, Willard, Box Elder County, Utah." According to my mother, who raised me until I was eighteen years old, she and her husband, Bill, lived in a trailer home, in Willard, and worked picking berries during the harvest when I was born, on October 5, 1962.

My father's nickname was "Bill." My nickname was "Willie." I never learned to answer to "Bill."

According to my mother, soon after I was born, my father moved with us, to the Midwestern United States, near the Great Lakes, such as Lake Michigan, where we remained until my father died, when I was three years old.

Some of my earliest memories are of my father. I remember him taking us to Dairy Queen, which was founded in Joliet, Illinois, in 1940. My favorite treat from Dairy Queen was chocolate covered ice cream on a Popsicle stick, in the form of a disc, like an extra large lollypop.

We also liked Life Savers. Our favorite flavors were spearmint and Wint-O-Green. One day, my father gave me two, brand new rolls of Life Savers - one in each of our favorite flavors. By the time he asked for one, I had lost both rolls. I felt bad all day. Luckily, later that day, I found them. I discovered that there was a hole in my pants pocket, and they had slipped through this hole, but had not fallen out the bottom of the pant leg, because it was tight enough to keep them pressed against my leg.

My father took me to a basketball game once. I remember crying at that game. My mother told me that my father thought it was because the game ended, and I wanted the players to keep playing.

Some of my earliest memories are of the books my father gave me. My mother told me that he started reading to me as soon as he got me out of the hospital, after I was born. Perhaps my favorite book was A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. I liked that book so much that I wore it out, and my parents gave me another copy of it.

Bill gave me another book, titled Little Black Sambo, which he mentioned in "Academic Freedom From the Inside." (See above.)

I remember sitting between my parents on the front seat of their car, as they were parked in the shade, near the beach, presumably, at Lake Michigan. I remember gathering the silver bodies of dead fish on the beach, because they appeared to be silver, and I thought that they were valuable, and that I was becoming rich.

I remember my parents taking me to church. We were Mormons. One day, in the foyer of our chapel, I saw another child running the little, black, rubber wheels of a purple Matchbox car over an upholstered "easy chair." I asked the child to let me do that. Apparently, he had been taught to share his toys, so he let me run the wheels of his car over the easy chair.

Then some grown-ups took him away from me, before I could return his car. There I stood, age three or younger, with someone else's property in my hands, understanding that I had a moral obligation to return that property to its rightful owner. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.

It seems like we were parked in the driveway at the child's house. I don't know how I knew where I was, but I remember struggling to explain to my parents that I had a toy which belonged to the child who lived there.

Later, as I sat between them on the front seat of our car, they discovered the toy car, and asked each other how it came into my possession.

Unfortunately, the mystery was never solved, and that purple Matchbox car remained in my possession until I was about ten years old, and had started collecting Hot Wheels instead.

The Day My Dad Died

My father loved me, and I loved him; of this, there was never any doubt. I still remember how rough his unshaven neck felt against my tender skin when he came home from work and hugged me.

We did odd things together. He drank water from our toilet, and served it to me in a little, blue plastic cup. Seeing us drink toilet water upset my mother, but we did it anyway; it was "a guy thing." However, we preferred grape juice.

My mother told me that the following memories spanned weeks, or at least days, but I remember the day my father died, of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Before my father met my mother, he had been working as a stocker, and something heavy had fallen off a shelf, and hit him in the head. The doctor told him that he was "living on borrowed time." He didn't have long to live, and could die at any moment.

My father had told my mother about this before they were married, in case she didn't want be become a young widow. She married him anyway.

Bill had always wanted to teach school. The week before he died, he obtained the job of his dreams at a school for boys. His new employers gave him a tour, of the school and its grounds, and his classroom, where he was going to teach. He was scheduled to start the next school day, after the weekend. It was near the end of August, 1966, so that was probably Friday, August 26th, and the school year was probably going to start Monday, August 29th.

One morning, presumably Monday, August 29th, blood was dripping out of my father's eyes, ears, and mouth, and he couldn't swallow anything - not even water, or the grape juice that my mother served him.

Needless to say, my mother was very alarmed, and sent me outside to play with my kittens. I had two "Minx" or Manx kittens; one was black, and the other, orange. As I sat playing with them on our porch, I sensed that someone was watching me, so I looked up. There was a window in the upper part of the door, and I could see my father smiling down at me. My mother was trying to force him away from the door, but he was still too strong for her to overpower him.

I'll never forget that look on his face. I knew that he was happy, and I knew that he loved me and my mother.

Finally, he allowed my mother to escort him away from the window. That was the last time I saw him alive.

This experience taught me a valuable lesson: If you live a good life, full of love, you can die happy.

Research Notes

According to "Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1949," "Wm. Knowlton Vaughan" was born, to "Wm. R. [sic] Vaughan" and "Maud Knowlton," on June 14, 1921, in "Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States." William's father was forty-one years old, and his mother, twenty-eight, born circa 1880 and 1893, respectively.

Although the photo of Sid, Edna, and Bill, above, is dated 1927, I suspect that it was taken in 1929, and that "the Shacks" were a Hooverville.

According to the U.S. Census of 1930, "William R. [sic]," "Maud K.," William K.," and "Sidney K. Vaughn [sic]" resided at 818 Hillside Avenue, Glen Ellyn Village, Milton Township, DuPage County, Illinois. The elder William's middle initial should have been "S." for "Swift," his middle name, and the maiden name of his mother, Mary Catharine Swift. "William R." had been born in Kansas, and was fifty years old (born circa 1880). Maud and the boys had been born in Illinois. Maud was thirty-seven years old (born circa 1893), and William and Sidney were eight and six years old (born circa 1922 and 1924, respectively). The "K." stood for Maud's maiden name, "Knowlton."

According to the U.S. Census of 1940, "William," "Maud K.," William K.," and "Sydney K. Vaughan" resided at 814 Hillside Avenue, Glen Ellyn Village, Milton Township, DuPage County, Illinois. William was sixty years old (born circa 1880). Maud and the boys were thirty-seven, eighteen, and sixteen years old (born circa 1893, 1922 and 1924, respectively).

According to the application for his tombstone, William Knowlton Vaughan served with the 49th Armored Infantry Battalion, 8th Armored Division, and attained the rank of Second Lieutenant, in the U.S. Army, during World War II. He studied at several colleges, and received a Bachelor of Letters and Science Degree in Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley; his portrait is in their 1950 yearbook, and his name is listed among the graduates, on page 67 of their 87th Commencement, dated June 16, 1950. He also attended North Central College, in Naperville, Illinois; his portrait is on page 47 of their 1941 yearbook. According to my mother, and the announcement of their engagement, in the Deseret News, March 6, 1961, he attended Utah State University, in Logan, Utah. According to his Selective Service Registration for World War II, he was a "Student" who resided at 814 Hillside Avenue, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, with his next of kin, "Wm. S. Vaughan," but his mailing address was 357 E. 5 N. Logan, Utah, and his phone number was on the "Logan" "Exchange." Presumably, he transferred from North Central College to Utah State University, where he earned a degree by the time he was drafted into the U.S. Army, on March 11, 1943, which is why he was subsequently commissioned as an Officer.

Unfortunately, there isn't a date on Bill's World War II Draft Registration Card. The record of his Enlistment indicates that he enlisted on August 4, 1942, at which time, it indicates, he had completed two years of college. His Service Number was 36361813. The first digit indicates that he was drafted; the second, that he entered the Service in Illinois, Wisconsin, or Michigan.

DNA Corroboration

According to FamilyTreeDNA, I have a Y-DNA match, who believes that he is descended from a man named Dewitt Rutherford Vaughan, who was born, in Iowa, on February 16, 1877, and died, in Pinellas County, Florida, in June, 1960. Before my DNA was tested, my Uncle Sid e-mailed me information, circa 2000, which he had about our forebears. He indicated that Luther Clay Vaughan had five children: "Vincent Sylvester Vaughan," who was born "3 Nov 1862," and died in 1925; "John Franklin Vaughan," who was born on "28 Mar 1874"; Maud Emily Vaughan, who was born on "29 Oct 1875"; Rutherford DeWitt Vaughan [no dates of birth, marriage, or death]; and "William Swift Vaughan," who was born on "12 July 1879." Sid listed Rutherford DeWitt Vaughan between Maud, born in 1875; and William Swift Vaughan, born in 1879, so he was probably born circa 1877, and is almost certainly the Dewitt Rutherford Vaughan that my Y-DNA match believes is his forebear.

Personal Notes

As I research the genealogy of my forebears, the most important question that comes to my mind is, perhaps, "What makes me think that this person is the child of whoever I think their parents are?" The purpose of the Research and Personal Notes sections is to answer this question and similar questions.

What makes me think that William Knowlton Vaughan was my father?

I lived with my father from the time I was born, until approximately five weeks before my fourth birthday. I lived with my mother, his only wife, until I was eighteen years old and graduated from high school. I have remained in contact with my mother and her relatives throughout my life - at least, until 2020.

My mother is a "born in the Covenant," Utah Mormon. Mormons, they might say, have "written the book" on genealogy. Their genealogical library in Salt Lake City, Utah, has become known as the largest in the world; it has been listed as such by the Guinness Book of World Records. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) also created the GEDCOM, the file type used to transfer soft copies of family trees between websites and genealogical applications. They also own and operate one of the most popular, free, genealogical websites in the world: www.FamilySearch.org

As a Mormon and a Daughter of the Utah Pioneers, my mother kept what Mormons call Books of Remembrance. These were binders that were a standard size, perhaps 8 1/2 inches tall by 14 inches wide; the bound edge was one of the short edges. The Church sells these binders in various colors and designs, and in various levels of quality, at corresponding costs. The Church also sells various types of pages to fit perfectly in them, each page having two holes for the two Acorn clips or perhaps steel or aluminum binding posts, depending on the quality of the particular book. The most typical type of page for these binders is, perhaps, the blank pedigree chart. These books are essentially scrapbooks, primarily about genealogy. These are ideal for situations in which one's family Bible doesn't have enough flyleaves upon which to record the births, marriages, and deaths of everyone in the family.

According to information recorded in these books, my mother's name was "Merle Mortensen," and my father's, "William Knowlton Vaughan," the son of William Swift Vaughan, the son of Luther Clay Vaughan. Allegedly, my father was born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 14, 1921. Luther Clay had allegedly migrated on a boat from Wales, to the U.S.A., although I discovered years later, that he was probably born, in Indiana, to John Vaughan and Louisa Hensley, who were born in Kentucky and Indiana, respectively.

To the best of my knowledge, William only had one sibling, who was a younger brother, named Sidney Knowlton Vaughan, also known as "Sid." William was known as "Bill." William only had one wife, Merle Mortensen; and neither of them had but one child, William Mortensen Vaughan.

According to my mother, Bill studied zoology at Utah State University, in Logan, Utah, because he had heard that U.S.U. had the best zoology program. That's where his landlady introduced him to Mormonism. Presumably, he graduated from North Central College or U.S.U. by March 11, 1943, when he was drafted, according to the application for his tombstone.

I inherited some of Bill's military insignia and appurtenances, including his Garrison Cap and "butter bar," as well as an Armor patch, and three medals:

The World War II Victory Medal
The American Campaign Medal
The European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal

Upon researching the 49th Armored Infantry Battalion, I discovered that it was subordinate to the 8th Armored Division, during World War II, and that Division's personnel typically received both of the Campaign Medals listed above.

Mistaken Identities

Based on data at Fold3.com, men identified as "William K. Vaughan" have been serving in the U.S. Military since the Civil War. There were at least three men, including my father, identified as "William K. Vaughan," who served during World War II:

William K. Vaughan (my father)
Army Serial Number: 36361813
Born: 14 Jun 1921, in Chicago, Illinois
Died: 30 Aug 1966, in Winthrop, Illinois
Enlisted: 4 Aug 1942

William K. Vaughan
Service Number: O27333
Born: 6 Oct 1922, in N.J.
Died: 27 Mar 2012
Last 4: 3574
B.S., U.S.M.A.: " 45"
1 lt. A. U.S. 27 Nov 4
Cadet M.A. 8 Aug 42
2 lt. of Cavalry 5 Jun 45

William K. Vaughan
Army Serial Number: 06287636
Born: 1911
Enlisted: 19 Nov 1945

Discrepancies

Although the record of William Knowlton Vaughan's birth identifies his father as "Wm. R. Vaughan," other records indicate that William's father was "William S." or "William Swift Vaughan,"in keeping with the tradition of using the mother's maiden name as her child's second, given name. William Swift Vaughan's mother was Mary Catharine Swift.

The U.S. Census of 1930 indicates that the Vaughans lived at 818 Hillside Avenue, in Glen Ellyn, DuPage County, Illinois; the U.S. Census of 1940 indicates that they lived at 814... When Bill and Sid registered for the World War II Draft, they both listed their residence as 814...

There seems to be a discrepancy in the dates of Bill's Enlistment, but he probably registered for the Draft in 1941, or early 1942, after transferring from North Central College to Utah State University; he was probably sworn in, on August 4, 1942, then reported for duty, on March 11, 1943, after receiving a college degree from U.S.U. It is uncertain who gave him what college degree before he became a Lieutenant, but it is evident from his tombstone and the military records associated with him, that he was a Second Lieutenant, and he did serve with the 49th Armored Infantry, in the U.S. Army between 1943 and 1946. The application for his tombstone lists the date of his Discharge as April 21, 1946.

The Genealogy of William Mortensen Vaughan

Saturday, February 19, 2022

The Biography of World War II U.S. Army Second Lieutenant William Knowlton Vaughan