Thurston Vaughn’s case was appealed, eventually reaching the state supreme court, which upheld the lower court’s ruling. The case eventually reached the US Supreme Court. They affirmed his death sentence for 1912 conviction.
During his appeals, Vaughn was remanded back to the state penitentiary to await execution. While there, his mental state apparently started to deteriorate. His execution was held in abeyance while he underwent a psychiatric evaluation. Vaughn was deemed to be “insane” and was placed in the State Asylum on Bull Street in Columbia. Even though he remained silent for nearly a year, not everyone was convinced that he was insane.
While in the asylum, Vaughn befriended Sandel Beamguard, a nurse there. In 1919, Vaughn got word that he was to be re-evaluated, so he planned another escape…again. Somehow he got a key to the fire escape and was able to make his getaway. It was suspected that Beamguard had provided the key.
Vaughn made his way to Tampa, Florida. There he took the name T. A. Earle and he married the nurse Sandel Beamguard. When he was finally recaptured, he was teaching at a school under the new assumed name. In 1921 Vaughn was caught and held in Florida, awaiting extradition back to South Carolina.
But Vaughn would never see the electric chair. He wouldn’t even make it back to South Carolina. On April 8, 1921 he committed suicide by slicing his throat with a razor.
Vaughn’s remains were brought back to South Carolina and were interred on the grounds of the state penitentiary.
As I was doing the research on Vaughn I wondered what had happened to his first wife. She’s never mentioned by name in any of the news articles I found. Did they get divorced when all of this took place? Was he still married when he married Beamguard? What happened to the child that was mentioned in a previous article?
I finally found the answer on Find-a-Grave. I searched for Thurston E. Vaughn and found his listing. The website had links to two wives. The second was Sandal Edmonds “Eddie” Beamguard. In 1933 she remarried. Her Find-a-Grave listing has a copy of her marriage license to Bryant Washington Pullen, Jr. Eddie Pullen passed away in 1982. She had no children.
Find-a-Grave provided me the name of Vaughn’s first wife, Ella E. “Nanny” Neves. Neves was her maiden name prior to her marriage to Vaughn. Now that I had a name I could do some more searching. I found only one reference to her in the news articles. A 1912 Greenville News article said that Vaughn was transferring his property to Ella Neves Vaughn. I’m sure there was a divorce because she reverted back to her maiden name, but I haven’t been able to find a record of it. Ella died in 1965.
According to Find-a-Grave Thurston and Ella’s daughter was Ruth Neves Pollard. It looks like Ruth also changed her name to her mother’s new surname. She was born in 1910 and died in 1990. Both Ruth and her mother Ella are buried at Mush Creek Baptist Church in Travelers Rest, South Carolina.
As for the orphanage…
The Odd Fellows orphanage continued to operate throughout Vaughn’s trial and incarceration. Several different superintendents managed the facility after Vaughn’s arrest. The home went through several inspections and fund raisers, but eventually the Odd Fellows just wanted to be done with it. In 1923 they put out a request for proposals for a new orphanage in the state, but nothing seems to have come of it. There were several attempts by IOOF to sell the property, but they were not allowed to do so because of several technicalities.
In early 1927 the remaining children were sent to other orphanages in the state and the facility was closed. Still, IOOF was unable to make a sale, so they decided to rent the farm.
The property fell into disrepair. There were several attempts by the Order to reopen the orphanage. Several times they ran into legal problems with removing the tenant. In 1938 there was announcement about grand plans to reopen the orphanage.
Despite the announcement that it would reopen “during the coming week,” I could find no record in the news of the orphanage ever reopening.
Eventually bits of the Tanglewood-Mammoth Vineyard-Odd Fellows property were sold off. In 1955 the Carter Land Company purchased the property and tore down all but the old superintendent’s residence. The subdivision of Tanglewood developed around the one remaining house. What was left of the orphanage property went through several owners, some occupying the house, and others letting it just sit. At one point the house was subdivided and occupied by several tenents.
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