Remember when I wondered if Baby James was still alive when his brother Henry Lewis was baptized?[cm_custom_footnote id=”12″] Well, I have an answer now.

About eight years ago, my second cousin, once removed from Alabama (grandson of Viola “Vyla” Prudence Vaughan) had come to visit and to research here in Texas and unearthed some fabulous family photos.[cm_custom_footnote id=”13″] While visiting a mutual Vaughan cousin of ours, he interviewed her. And in the interview our mutual cousin (granddaughter of Henry Lewis Vaughan) mentioned that Annie had had a family Bible that she’d written in. She also mentioned that last she knew my Great Aunt Anne had possession of it and had planned to will it to one of her nephews, which would mean one of my uncles.[cm_custom_footnote id=”14″]

Over the years, I’ve nonchalantly asked here and there about it to some cousins I’m close to, but none had heard about it. So, I had horrible thoughts it had been lost…

Until…

Last summer, one of my first cousins messaged me on Facebook and said he had been helping his dad with a bunch of old stuff in storage, and he’d found that his dad had an old family Bible that appeared to be our Great Aunt Anne’s. Then he proceeded to share images he took with his phone of the cover and all the pages with family information on them. He also sent more family photos I hadn’t seen before!

*dramatic pause*

After I picked myself up off the floor, I thanked him profusely and asked if he’d send images of the title and publishing pages so I could see when it was published.

Cousins are fabulous, aren’t they?

I’m still analyzing handwriting and comparing it to other documents that I have to try and figure out who wrote what and when, but I thought I’d share what I have found out about Baby James.

He is mentioned in three places in the bible. The first being on the page titled, “Family Register.” It reads:

James Cornelius died of membranance croop [sic] at the age of fifteen months.[cm_custom_footnote id=”16″]

Second, he appears on the page titled, “Family Register: Births,” and he is listed as “James” below all of his siblings.[cm_custom_footnote id=”16″]

The third and last appearance James makes in the bible is on the page titled, “Deaths.” It reads:

James Vaughn born January 7 — 1876

Departed this life March 12 — 1877 —

Laid to rest in Galveston.[cm_custom_footnote id=”16″]

I can’t imagine the pain and heartbreak Daniel and Annie felt when he passed away at just 15 months.

So, it appears James wasn’t alive when Daniel and Annie were crossing over on the ferry from Pt. Bolivar to Galveston Island to get little Henry Lewis baptized in 1878. They had already laid Baby James to rest. I imagine whoever was holding Henry — Daniel or Annie — they possibly held on to him just a little tighter.

Of course, now I want to know where Baby James was laid to rest on an island that has so many cemeteries, or maybe he was buried on Pt. Bolivar. The Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston—Houston Archives does not have a burial record for him.[cm_custom_footnote id=”17″] So, now that I have a death date, I’ll re-check death records and cemetery records the next time I’m on the island for research. Because I’ve got to know…where was Baby James laid to rest?