Vaughan

(submitted by Robert Vaughan)

In 1927 John and Ella Vaughan left Wales on the SS Regina with seven children. They arrived in Halifax, then came to a tobacco farm near Thedford. After that they moved to Toronto. John had been a coal miner in Wales. He brought his family to Canada so the boys would not have to work in coal mines.

John and Ella’s daughter Millie worked in Arkona for Dr. Robinson. She married Howard Meadows in 1929. They lived about half a mile south of Arkona at Lot 25, Con. 5 NER.

John and Ella’s son Emrys (Amos) came to Warwick Twp. when he was 13. He married Leila Barnes in 1941. Emrys and Leila and their family lived in the log house (still standing in 2008) on Lot 21, Con. 4 NER, Warwick Twp. until 1975. This is the log house in which Leila, the daughter of Hiram and Rachel Barnes, was born. It is estimated the house was built in the 1850s. In their early years Emrys and Leila grew berries. He ran a fruit stand at Northville. Emrys was very musical; he played the violin, the mouth organ, the guitar, and sang. In 1945 he was crippled with rheumatoid arthritis.

Emrys’ sister Olive Vaughan married Fred Cadman of Warwick Twp. The Cadmans lived at Lot 29, Con. 5 NER until they moved to Montreal.

Robert J. Vaughan (1945–), son of Emrys and Leila, worked at Birnam Store from 1961 to 1966 when it was run by Ken and Doris Hair. In 1966 he married Patricia Marriott, the daughter of Jack Marriott, a boiler maker in Arkona.

In 1971 Bob and Pat bought the Arkona Legion from the Arkona Lions Club for $4,000 and started a grocery store. They built a new store in 1974, with a section being added in 1988. It was first connected to the Superior chain, owned by Elliot and Marr, from 1971 to 1982. It then became an EMA owned by Oshawa Foods, and later Knechtels.

In 1996, on the 25^th anniversary of the store, the Vaughans sold the business. They repurchased it in 2001 (it became Food Town) and sold it again in 2005.

Bob also cash cropped on Birnam Line from 1974 until the present. He is a past member of the Arkona Lions Club and a past Councillor of Warwick Township.

Bob and Pat have three children: Sheri (1971–), Robbie (1974–), and Jonathan (1984 –).

Emrys Vaughan family, c. 1950. Leila (Barnes) Vaughan holding Donald; Emrys holding David; Robert Vaughan standing. Courtesy R Vaughan.

Chapter 24 of 25 - Vaughan Family

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