NOTES

 

Hi,I am a descendant of a Fountain Pitts, he was the son of Dr. Josiah Pitts from Tennessee.The family immigrated to Brazil after the civil war.Fountain Pitts was married to Sarah Vaugham in the city of Santarem, state of Para, Brazil.The Rev.Fountain Elliot Pitts was the rev. for a church by the name of West End Church, he died of pneumony 12 miles from Louisville, he was a colonel in the 61 Tennessee Regiment and fought at Vicksburg; buried in Mt. Olivet Nashville; Methodist, Nashville Union and American, 24 May 1874.There is a colony of about 200 thousand descendants of Confederate families in Sao Paulo, Brazil.You can find them on the Web, just look under Confederados no Brazil or Confederates in Brazil.I hope this can help you.My grandmother's name was Thelma Pitts, daughter of Sarah Vaugham and Fountain Pitts (they called him Alfonso in Brazil) son of Dr. Josiah Pitts, son of Fountain Elliot Pitts.

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Hi Caroline,

The first thing I need to clarify is that Elizabeth Brett/Britt was James' 3rd wife. I don't worry about wife #2 because it seems that there was no children from the marriage. Did she die? I don't know. It is irrelevant for me to spend time researching her life.


 

Notes 3

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[JENNINGS] Jennings/Vaughan families of Brazil - Translation from book - Confederates in Santarem, Brazil

Andersen

6/1/2002, 3:42:56 PM

Families - Jennings-Vaughan

The couple James Vaughan-Elizabeth Britt Jennings Wilson Vaughan, with their 12 children, came to Brazil making part of the group Hastings. They were originally from Silver Springs, Lebanon Pike, TN.

Mr. Vaughan was a farmer in his homeland. In Santarem, he, his step-children, and children dedicated themselves, as did others, first to  agriculture in general, after that to planting sugar cane. After that to raising cattle, and a few years later the family initiated an industry of building steam boats. Mr. Vaughan was a mason. (the house that belonged to my aunt Lillian Vaughan/Pitts Franklin was sold and it is a Mason Temple in Santarem).

Before coming to Brazil Mrs. Vaughan had a dream, where she saw herself living in a primitive house, covered by some material that was unknown to her. When the family arrived at the place where they were going to reside, and when she saw the house covered with straw (palha) where she was going to call home, the poor woman started to cry, saying:

"This was the house in my dreams!"

In the trip to Brazil, Mrs. Vaughan was wearing a belt containing sterling silver in gold. This was all the family had to start a new life in a strange land. However, when the boat (Red Gauntlet) stopped at the island of St. Thomas, like other families, they were asked to lend money to the captain of the ship. They were never reimbursed. (This happened to all of the families, it seems like there were some dishonest people in charge of these trips).

In Santarem, the Vaughan family settled in Diamantino, after they had lived in temporary quarters provided by the government. After, they moved to Mararu, and a few years later they acquired property in Piquiatuba. (I was in James Vaughan farm when I went to Santarem, the farm is a few miles from Santarem).

The pioneer Mr. Vaughan installed in Diamantino (engenho) a wheel moved by water, and he built a log house covered by straw.

Many years later, the Vaughan family, in their property at Piquiatuba, built a steam wheel to process rum and built a saw mill.

Besides his children with Mrs. Vaughan, Mr. Vaughan brought to Brazilhis step children. Mrs. Vaughan was in her third nuptials with Mr. Vaughan. From her first husband she had no children (this must been John R. Wilson which was her 2nd husband) . The second husband by the name of Jennings (Clem Jennings Jr. II was her first husband) and with him she had the following children: Guilherme (William), Jorge (George Clem), Afonso (Fountain), and Diogo (James).

With Mr. Vaughan she had 10 children. The oldest that was named Johnson (Johnson was James' son by his first wife this is incorrect), stayed in the USA, where he later married and had children. His descendants live in this country. The 9 remaining children of the Vaughan couple were: Charles (was James' son by his first wife Mary Oldham), Felix (son of James' with first wife), Benjamin (son by first wife), Edward and Willis (were twins), Sallie (Sarah my great grandmother), Mattie (Martha Amelia), Clemencia (Clementine), and Hardieth. In Brazil, they adopted two english girls, Rebecca and Amy Grey, because the parents had died (parents were British, there were three British families that joined the american colony).

Guilherme (William), was the oldest son of Mrs. Eliza. He married in Santarem the daughter of a portuguese man, by the name of Maria Lima (nickname Mariquinha). William lived close to the shores of the Amazon River. His mother, the step father, and his youngest siblings went to visit him at one occasion and to stay with him. The boat where the family was traveling sunken and they lost all of their documents and possessions. Fortunately, at this exact moment, a canoe full of black slaves appeared. They were saved by these slaves, saving all from drowning. It is interesting to see the hand of destiny, for the southerners fled their country motivated by racial discrimination and the divine providence used the slaves to free them from death. Even little Hardieth was saved, when she was floating in the river wrapped in a blanket, the customary way the american mothers covered their babies. (According to one of the letters in possession of Mrs. Casey or Sue Howell the story is different).

Using some of his money, William built a shop to build steam boats, it was situated in the place where now is the Municipal Market in Santarem. William was one of the first pioneers to use this art in the city. He did very well in this business, accumulating a small fortune. Hetraveled to the USA many times because of his business. He had three steam boats: Perereca, Williams, and the Colony. These boats made trips to the lower Amazon.

William was an important businessman and member of the community of Santarem. In the year 1895, during the festivities of the Proclamation of the Republic, William was honored when the American Colony was honored by his presence. Mr. Jennings, responded to this honor that was bestowed upon him, and he gave a speech about the "liberty that he foundin this new land and the one that he knew from his homeland, the violence and persecutions that brought pain in his soul, for in truth, he was one of its victims . . ." (1).

Eventually, Guilherme (William) moved back to the USA. In this country, he built a factory of razor blades (shaving) that got to be known worldwide as "Williams," named after his name. After his death, his widow returned to Santarem. Their 3 children, Euclides, Zulmira, and

Arlindo, stayed in the USA with their families and lived there with their descendants. (Apparently they stayed and still live in the USA, I don't know who his descendants are).

George Clement Jennings, William's brother, married one of the sisters of his sister-in-law, Adriana Lima, in 1879. They had two children, Almerinda (I think it is a girl) and Adriano ( a boy - Adrian). After awhile, George Clement became a widower, and later, he married the sister of his first wife, Antonia Lima. With the second wife he had four children: Raimundo (Raymond), Alvina ( a girl), Hilario (Hilariao means a big Hilario, this name is like Hillary but it is a man's name), and Consuelo( a girl). Raimundo and Hilariao are dead, but the two daughters, which are very old now, reside in Belem, Para (Belem is the capital of the state of Para, this state is right next to the Amazon state).

George Clement had two steam boats, "Chata" (which can mean flat or it can mean a woman that is boring, drags, etc.) and "Sereia" (which means a mermaid). When he was doing well financially, he purchased a boat from the USA which was big and comfortable. After the first trip, when it was transporting a shipment of rubber (latex), the boat got stuck and sunk. Fortunately, no one drowned, only the shipment and the boat were lost.

George Clement had inherited from his mother-in-law some land by the Amazon basin. His residence in Santarem was located at Benjamin Constant street.

All of the children of George Clement converted to the protestant religion after becoming adults, even though they were raised by their mother to be Catholics.

The brother of William and George Clement, Fountain Jennings, preferred to return to the USA when he was still a young man. There he married and left many descendants, their cousins from Santarem have no knowledge of their whereabouts.

The fourth Jennings brother, Diogo (James), married a woman from Santarem and they had one son which they named James also. James Jennings died tragically in a ship wreck..

About the Vaughan brothers, Charles, the oldest of the Vaughans that had gone to Brazil, he married Lilla Riker, and the young couple moved back to the USA. (Glenda told me that he lived in Nashville, around Wilson County, the original place of the James Vaughan family - he was a farmer).

Sarah (Sallie, she is my great grandmother) Vaughan was born January 26, 1861. She married in Santarem to Fountain (E.) Pitts, son of Doctor Josiah Pitts in April 20, 1884. She dies in 1944, at the age of 83 years. They left many descendants.

Martha (Mattie) Vaughan, also known as Amelia, was born June 22, 1862. She married in Santarem with a man from Ceara (this is a state in the northeast of Brazil), by the name of Joao Machado September 21, 1889. She died in 1944, at the age of 82 years. The couple left many descendants.

Felix Vaughan married Betty Pitts Nov. 22, 1879. They had many children. They raised cattle, and the costume at that time was to milk the cow as the milk was sold door to door in front of the customer. Later on, they sold their property in Maica to Herbert Riker and they moved to the city of Manaus (capital of the Amazon).

Eduardo (Edward) and Willis Vaughan were twin brothers. They were born July 1869 ( I believe this date should be 1859 for they were the first children born to James and Elizabeth, and Sarah was not born until 1861 I have a census from 1860 and they are babies). Willis died of influenza in June 29, 1898. (my mother says it was called Spanish Fever and her grandfather Fountain also died from this epidemic).

Benjamin Vaughan was sent back to the USA to finish his studies, however, some time after being in this country, he asked his parents to let him return to Brazil, because he could no longer adjust to life in America. Later on, he married in Santarem to a woman that lived closeto his families' property in Piquiatuba. Her name was Ana Maria and she came from a modest background. The couple had 8 children. All of the children were raised in Piquiatuba. The house was big, with wood floors, made of taipa (kind of wood) and covered with straw. They liked this kind of roof because it was more appropriate to the climate of the region. Mr. Benjamin Vaughan never taught english to his children. In truth, he seemed to despise it, even though he had an english accent all of his life. Nobody knows why, but he would only speak english when he talked to his domestic animals. After Mr. Benjamin's death in 1912, the property in Piquiatuba was sold in auction. (I was told that this property was the farm that originally belonged to James Vaughan – his father, I went to this farm while I was in Santarem, the Mendonca family and the Corps of Engineers are in a law suit about this land that belongs to the Mendonca family).

Clemencia (Clementine) Vaughan died single. Her sister Hardieth (Hardy) died single also. Clemencia was sent to the USA when she was still a child to study. Just like her brother, she also asked to return to the land of Santarem which she loved so much.

Mr. James Vaughan, the pioneer, died in Santarem July 11, 1879. Information from his descendants tell us that he was buried in his farm. ( I asked Mrs. Mendonca if she knew of any graves in her land or where the original Vaughan house was, but she did not know, she said that she would try to look for a grave in her land. The only place around the area where James Vaughan's farm is located that anyone was buried is at the Serra Piroca which has been cut into two by the Corps of Engineers. A Confederate Cemetery marked by a huge cross on top of this mountain used to exist, but at this time no one knows if the cemetery was destroyed when the mountain was cut in two so the airplanes could fly over without hitting the huge cross). His wife outlived him by 17 years. Eliza died at the age of 69 years old, March 9, 1896, and she was buried at the public cemetery of Santarem, at that time non-catholics were allowed to be buried at the local cemetery. (I visited the local cemetery and I did not find any of my Pitts or Vaughan descendants. I believe that she was probably buried at the same mountain, but I have no proof).

In the end, remained in Santarem more the Jennings name than the Vaughan name, even though the last ones were more in numbers in the beginning.Both left many descendants in Santarem. (the name Vaughan has been changed to be spelled Wanghon, I saw this at the cemetery in Santarem. The family is trying to fix this problem with the local authorities. If the brazilian government was trying to spell the name Vaughan to be written easier in portuguese it would be spelled Von).

Telma

………………………….

One of the children of the Jennings-Vaugham couple, Jorge Clemente Jennings, remained in Santarém and perpetuated the family name in the local community, dedicating himself to the exploitation of rubber as a rubber tapper (in the photo above, sitting Jorge Jennings and his wife).

Mrs. Sarah Riker (pictured above) and her children went on trips to visit their homeland. According to Odete Guilhon, Mrs. Riker never got used to the change of country and lived her years in Brazil sadly, dying, still young, in 1877. Four years later, Robert H. Riker lost his eldest son , Robert, only 29 years old. The eldest daughter Lilla married Charles Vaughan, from another immigrant family and returned to the United States. The other sister, Virginia, followed suit. Patriarch Robert H. Riker died in 1883.

However, their two sons David and Herbert continued the family's business in the city. The farm in Diamantino was sold by David in 1910 (in the photo above, the farm's headquarters when it was still in the family's possession)

In 1871, Robert Henry Riker  arrived in Santarém and bought land from the government of Pará. Riker together with his brother Herbert, made the first rubber plantations in the Amazon. A curious detail is that decades later, the American industrialist Henry Ford tried to grow the plant in the same area, on the banks of the Tapajós river.

Robert Henry Riker was a railroad entrepreneur in the United States and was at Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina, when the first southerners shot that started the Civil War was fired. Riker came to Brazil with his wife and 5 children (a nine-month-old baby died on the trip). For the family, with aristocratic habits and a member of Charleston's high society, living in a rustic area and where neighbors were distant, was undoubtedly difficult. The Riker couple even had a son here in Brazil, called Marlin Amazonas. However, the boy was born with disabilities and had to be supported by the other brothers until adulthood.

David Riker left a written account where he refers to the Wickham family, of English origin, who maintained a school in the city of Santarém. One of its members was Henry Wickham, known for taking the seeds of the rubber tree to the Kew Botanical Garden in London. They were then transplanted to Malaysia, where they were domesticated. This fact led to the collapse of rubber production in the Amazon, at the beginning of the 20th century.