Genesis 5, Genesis 11: Primeval Chronology

I have noticed some popular “primeval chronology” charts that find their way around the internet. They are designed to challenge the chronology of the Hebrew Masoretic Text, calling it “corrupted.” The Genesis 5 chronology also tweaks the LXX timeline to keep Methuselah from living through the flood. I have created this chart to remove those objectionable features while providing a comparison of the chronologies in the Hebrew Masoretic Text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Greek Septuagint (LXX) text. The color coding and other clarity is much better in the originals, and I apologize for the lack of crispness of the scans.

Note: In Quaestiones Hebraicae in Geneseos, Jerome describes having a Samaritan Pentateuch manuscript matching the MT regarding the years of Methuselah and Lamech. “It remains, then, that there is an error in number [i.e., in the LXX, rlv]. Indeed, in the books of the Hebrews and the Samaritans, I found it thus written, and Methuselah lived 187 years and begat Lamech. And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech 782 years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. And Lamech lived 182 years and begat Noah.”

You should be able to click on these to enlarge them for easier reading. I may have missed or confused the color coding at times, as I was doing this in the midst of distractions. If you have any comments, suggestions, or corrections, let me know.

Genealogy quotes

One of my hobbies of passion is genealogy, but I think I seldom mention it on this blog. I will try to rectify that a bit. Enjoy.

“Genealogy is a pursuit in which you confuse the dead and irritate the living.” -- Unknown

“A genealogist must have the patience of Job; the curiosity of a cat; the stubbornness of a mule; the eyesight of an eagle; be blessed with the luck of the Irish; and have the ability and stamina of a camel to go long hours without food or drink.” -- Unknown

“Every man is a quotation from his ancestors.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A modest acquaintance with one’s ancestry is a birthright, and one of which no one should wish to deprive himself.” -- Charles Edmundson

“The cheapest way to have your family tree traced is to run for a public office.” -- Unknown

“Why waste your money looking up your family tree? Just go into politics and your opponents will do it for you.” -- Mark Twain

“Now that I have a computer for my genealogical records, I find that my records are just as confused as before, however, now my confusion is better organized.” -- Jack W. Briscoe 

“Some family trees have beautiful leaves, and some have just a bunch of nuts. Remember, it is the nuts that make the tree worth shaking.” -- Unknown

“If you don’t know history, you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.” -- Michael Crichton

“If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten; Either write things worthy of reading, or do things worthy of writing.” -- Benjamin Franklin

“He who has no fools, knaves, or beggars in his family tree was begot by a flash of lightning.” -- Old English proverb

“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.” -- George Bernard Shaw

The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine. -- Abraham Lincoln

Links on my right sidebar

On my right sidebar, I have 16 links. I do not think I have ever written about this in any direct or specific way. Here is some explanation of what is there and why. One reason they are there is to make them easy for me to find. I hope it has the further benefit of making it easy for you!

Personal blogs, sites, and music interest

Two of the links are pages from this blog, About it (and me) and Guidelines for posting. Four others are sites I maintain (some not very well), and the other is our official or semi-official website for the Sacred Harp singings here in Texas.

• East Texas Sacred Harp - A site to promote the Sacred Harp Singings that we have in East Texas.
• Mt. Carmel blog - Includes the text of my history of the old Mount Carmel Baptist Church in southern Rusk County, Texas, as well as other Rusk County Baptist History (churches, people, places).
• Old Prospect Baptist Church - Our church website, not very well kept up. Not exactly my best skill set.
• Sacred Harp Singing in Texas - A website that promotes Sacred Harp Singings in Texas, with singing announcements, history, biography, and more. Maintained by Gaylon Powell.
• What’s Happening at Old Redland? - Information about the progress, or lack of progress, in maintaining the old Redland church house (aka we have no money).

Biblical and textual related blogs
Not all the posts on these blogs are about the Bible, but the defense of the Traditional Text of the Bible is a primary interest and topic of the owners and contributors. Each have a slightly different approach to the subject. Very helpful. 

• Standard Sacred Text.com - Blog of son and father Peter Van Kleeck, Jr. and Peter Van Kleeck, Sr., to promote and defend what they define as a Standard Sacred Text.
• Stylos - Blog of Jeff Riddle, pastor of Christ Reformed Baptist Church. Defense and promotion of the traditional original language texts and related issues.
• What is Truth? - Blog of Kent Brandenburg (Baptist missionary in Utah) and Thomas Ross (Baptist Mukwonago Baptist Church). Defense and promotion of the traditional language texts, the KJAV English translation, and related issues.

Other

• Baptist History Homepage - The Baptist History Homepage is a huge site for Baptist history, original Baptist documents, Baptist biographies, etc, maintained by Jim Duvall, Editor.
• Biblical Studies Blog - The blog of BiblicalStudies.org, an online host of Journals, Monographs and Lecture Series. The blog primarily consists of free downloads of public domain titles. Recent examples include Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations by Benjamin Blayney, Regnum Dei (Kingdom of God) by Archibald Robertson, and Treatise on the Use of the Tenses of Hebrew by Samuel Rolles Driver.
• Find-A-Grave - “Search or browse cemeteries and grave records for every-day and famous people from around the world.”
• Praisegod Barebones - “The online musings of Bart Barber,” a Southern Baptist pastor historian. Not very active anymore (as a personal blogger).
• The Baptist Sentinel - A pastor friend writes about the doctrines and books of the Bible, and preaching the Word of God, history of Christianity, and pastoral ministry.
• Viajando Ligera - Related to my daughter’s time in Costa Rica. Not currently active (i.e., no new posts are being added).

Check these out. Maybe you will find something that intrigues you.

The Family of J. R. Graves

James Robinson Graves (1820-1893) – preacher, author, publisher, debater – was probably one of the best-known Baptist preachers in the United States in the 19th century. He remains well known today in certain circles, and, of course, by religious historians and Baptist history buffs.

As an avid genealogist as well as a Baptist history buff, I noticed something that is a frequent problem among historians of the religious (or even the popular) – a tendency to ignore the families of the people they study. Even Graves’s son-in-law, Orren Luico Hailey in J. R. Graves: Life, Times and Teachings, spends precious little time writing about the family of Graves. Further, genealogists at Ancestry.com seem not to have connected that he had a family by his first marriage. I have spent a fair amount of time and effort in censuses, periodicals (both religious & secular), and other records trying to “reconstruct” the family of J. R. Graves so that we might know a little more about them. This includes (1) creating a “James Robinson Graves Family Tree” at Ancestry.com, (2) trying to add and link up the family members on Find-A-Grave, and (3) adding a section on the family of J. R. Graves at Wikipedia. (Note: the Ancestry family tree is set as public, so if you have an Ancestry.com account, you should be able to see it.)

The number of children of J. R. Graves should be substantially correct. The 1900 census cites Georgianna Graves as the mother of three children, and all three were living. Concerning the death of Louisa Jane Graves, a report in The Baptist mentions five children, all of whom are known. The deaths of the children of Lua Spencer Graves are reported in The Baptist. It hardly seems there could have been more than these four children in their brief marriage of about 5-1/2 years.

Parents
Zuinglius Calvin Graves (13 October 1790-4 April 1820) (son of Luther and Phebe Graves of Leominster, Massachusetts; also spelled Greaves)

Lois M. Snell Graves (ca. 1791-1867)

1st wife
Lucinda Ellen “Lua” Spencer Graves (1826-1851) married 1845 in Ashtabula County, Ohio

• Zuinglius Graves (1846–1846)
• Lua Ellen Graves (1847-1847)
• James Rollin Graves (1849-1849)
• Luella Kells Graves (1850-1860)

2nd wife
Louisa Jane Snider Graves (1838-1867) married in 1856 in Madison County, Tennessee, at Jackson

• Nora Snider Graves Hailey (1857–1933)
• James Robinson Graves (1860–1929)
• George S. Graves (1862–1886)
• Lois M. Graves Crutcher (1865–1897)
• Lou Ellen Turley Graves Wood (1867-1948)

3rd wife
Georgianna Snider Graves (1843-1932) married in 1869, probably at Memphis

• William Caruthers Graves (1870–1960)
• Lillian M. Graves (ca. 1876–1899)
• Infant Graves (1879–1979)
• Zuinglius Calvin Graves (1881–1926)

I close with this story about the mother of J. R. Graves, related in The Baptist.

[Lois M. Graves] had been reared under Congregational influences, but that when contemplating a profession of religion she demanded baptism on a profession of her faith, at the hands of Dr. Burnap, then pastor of the Congregational Church at Chester [Vermont], but subsequently of Lowell, Mass. Her views in regard to this ordinance were derived entirely from the reading of the Bible. She had never been thrown among Baptists, nor had read their works; and the reasonings by which the Congregational minister sought to removed her scruples as to the practice of his own communion, only confirmed her judgement in the correctness of her interpretation of the sacred oracles on this subject.  Upon the avowal of her determination to abide by her conviction of the divine teaching, the Doctor, though with evident reluctance, acceded to her demand to be buried with Christ in baptism, and himself administered the rite. Mrs. Graves was then about 34 years of age. Subsequently she came to entertain doubts as to the validity of the baptism thus administered, about 12 years ago was re-baptized by the Rev. Dr. J. M. Pendleton, at the First Baptist Church, Nashville.

From The Baptist (Memphis, Tennessee, Saturday 02 November 2, 1867, page 4)

[Note: The first wife of J. R. Graves was a sister of the wife of his brother, Zuinglius Calvin Graves, Jr. (1816-1901).]

Tidbits for Ancestry.com users

If you use Ancestry.com for genealogy, here are three links that might be useful to you.

• Ancestry Hints® for the Wrong Person -- “When Ancestry Hints® are the wrong person in your tree, you can attach the record associated with the hint to the correct person.”
• Potential Mother and Father Hints -- “A potential mother or potential father on your family tree is a hint or collection of hints that point to a certain person. You can accept, ignore, or reject a potential parent suggestion.”
• How Ancestry Hints® are Updated -- “When we update your hints, we want to put the best hints we find at the top of your hints lists. You can find these lists on the Person Page, Hints tab, and the All Hints Page.”

Ways to handle contradicting genealogical evidence

Here are three simple ways to handle contradicting evidence:

Ask Questions. As you come across conflicting fragments of information in your research that you’re unsure how to handle, take a step back and consider the following questions:

• When and where was the record created?
• What information is missing or incomplete from the record?
• How was the information recorded?
• Who created the record?
• How reliable is the information in the record?

By asking these questions, you’ll begin to piece bits of information together while discovering what other research still needs to be done...

And then you make a research plan, and you keep a research log so you know where you’ve been and what you’ve found.

From How to Successfully Apply the Genealogical Proof Standard

What is the Genealogical Proof Standard?

What is the Genealogical Proof Standard?

The Genealogical Proof Standard is a process used by genealogists to demonstrate what the minimums are that genealogists must do for their work to be credible. Based off a book written by Christine Rose entitled Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case, this standard lays out five essential steps for accurate research:

1. Reasonably exhaustive research has been completed.
2. Each statement of fact has a complete and accurate source citation.
3. The evidence is reliable and has been skillfully correlated and interpreted.
4. Any contradictory evidence has been resolved.
5. The conclusion has been soundly reasoned and coherently written.

“The Genealogical Proof Standard isn’t a device per se,” says Ison, “but it’s a process that will help us to determine what we know, helps us decide what we want to learn, helps us explain our work to others, gives us confidence about the direction we’re going, is the basis for approaching difficult research problems using indirect evidence, and lastly, it helps us to feel secure and safe in our conclusions.”

Multiplying Ancestors

Starting with my two parents, I have:

• 4 grandparents
• 8 great grandparents
• 16 second great grandparents
• 32 third great grandparents
• 64 fourth great grandparents
• 128 fifth great grandparents
• 256 sixth great grandparents
• 512 seventh great grandparents
• 1024 eight great grandparents
• 2048 ninth great grandparents
• 4096 tenth great grandparents
• 8192 eleventh great grandparents

(Copied from Find-A-Grave member Mona Hura)

Intriguingly, the multiplication will somewhere stop and funnel back to two first parents, Adam and Eve.

Mrs. R. G. Burt, the KJV, and the RSV

In a December 5th issue of his newspaper, Editor Oliver Emmerich thought it would be interesting “to know the reaction of McComb ministers to the new Bible which was recently published” (that is, the Revised Standard Version). Concerning their reaction, Emmerich said it was not an effort to put them on the spot, but to get “an enlightened viewpoint from the local ministers who are close to our people.” I did not notice whether any local ministers replied. However, a prominent local lady did.[i]

Mrs. R. G. Burt (nee Fannie Crawford) responded.[ii] She said she was “neither a preacher nor a preacher’s son,” She was, however, “a Christian that believes the Word of God shall stand forever.” Mrs. Burt defended the Christians in Shelbyville, Tennessee who intended to burn a copy of the RSV, stating that they were “real Christians who believe the whole Bible and do not believe in committing the Jehudi Act [referring to Jeremiah 36:23, rlv] by cutting out things that prick their hearts.”[iii] She considered the new version “the interpretations and explanations of Modernists, Liberals, Evolutionists, Unitarians, and Infidels. This gang wants a new Bible because the King James Version embarrasses them and shows them up.”

Concerning “local pastors being put on the spot,” she thought it “their duty to tell all the people whom they were instrumental in getting them to purchase this unholy Bible that at last they were wrong in being so easily led themselves by this anti-Christ gang.” She complained, “Southern Baptist [who] used whole pages in their literature and different religious periodicals, recommending it in their state papers should also be ‘put on the spot’.” She thought a “real God-called preacher is always willing to acknowledge his error, or admit he had been misled or hoodwinked.”

She concludes in mentioning several things she finds wrong with the RSV. Concerning Isaiah 7:14, she states, “If Mary was merely a young woman and not a virgin she was guilty of adultery, which is attributed to her by the Christ haters of the Centuries.” Not fooled herself, she nevertheless asserts, “If I had been fooled into buying this false blasphemous Bible I would do as the people of Shelbyville did.”

“May God have mercy upon those who have meddled and tampered with the Word of God.”

Mrs. R. G. Burt, Sr., in “Readers’ Letters,” McComb Enterprise-Journal, Monday, December 15, 1952, p. 2

---

[i] “High-lights in the Headlines,” McComb Enterprise-Journal, Friday, December 5, 1952, p. 1.
[ii] Though she was not “a preacher’s son,” Fannie Estelle Crawford Burt was the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Baptist preachers – her grandfather being Benjamin Alexander Crawford. Fannie Burt and my wife are both descendants of preacher sons of Elder Jesse Howell Crawford, an early leader in the Mississippi Baptist Association.
[iii] In the end, the Shelbyville pastor decided against burning the RSV. Some others did burn it, or at least a page or pages from the RSV.

Bethany Baptist, 125 years

On Sunday November 17, 2019, I attended the 125th anniversary of Bethany Baptist Church, Oak Flat, Nacogdoches County, Texas. Bethany was organized in 1894 by Elder S. F. Baucom, with 10 charter members.[i] In 1895, E. D. Blankinship was pastor.[ii] The current pastor is Dale Weir.[iii]

It was the first time in their 125 years and my 60-something years that I have ever been there, though it is about 15 miles drive through the country from my home. The folks were nice and welcoming, and I enjoyed the visit. Songs were sung and prayers were made, but the focus of the afternoon was the history of the church. Jack Whitaker directed the service. Representatives of the Shelby-Doches Baptist Association and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention made brief talks. Ed Williamson, a former pastor and local resident, presented the history of the church.

Though I have never been to Bethany Church, our family has some intriguing connections to this community, church, and school. Coincidental in terms of topography and titles, we live in Oak Flat also, though in Rusk County.[iv] In 1896, our church, Smyrna Baptist Church in Rusk County, called J. R. Carmichael, “a young, unordained preacher from Bethany Church, Nacogdoches County...Bethany Church was requested to ordain Bro. Carmichael. Meantime, following the scruples of the time, the minutes explicitly stated that Bro. Carmichael was called ‘as supply until he has been ordained and then as our pastor for the next year.’”[v] Brother Carmichael’s wife was Ida Whitaker, who I believe is a relative of Jack Whitaker of Bethany Church, the person in charge of the anniversary program. After Brother Carmichael moved to the Smyrna area, his wife joined Smyrna Church upon an experience of grace for baptism. J. R. Carmichael was a distant relative of the Vaughns and Parkers of Smyrna Church, all being descendants of the large Parker family of Greene and Taliaferro counties in Georgia, who came to East Texas in the 1850s.[vi]

During the pastorate of young J. R. Carmichael (b. 1871), an older cousin, Marshall Lewis Vaughn (my great-grandfather, b. 1858), surrendered to the gospel ministry. He was licensed to preach during this time. When the Sulphur Springs Church called for his ordination, Smyrna ordained him October 17, 1897.[vii] Elders J. R. Carmichael and M. F. Spivey formed the presbytery, perhaps assisted by others whose names are no longer known.[viii]

According to Nacogdoches Baptist Association minutes, in 1906 Vincent Thornton Vaughn, Marshall’s older brother, pastored Bethany Church. In 1910, Marshall Vaughn pastored Bethany Church. When Marshall pastored the church, Robert P. Goldsberry was Bethany’s church clerk. R. P. Goldsberry in 1873 was a charter member of the Smyrna Church in Rusk County, and was a member of the earlier Mt. Carmel Church.[ix]

In the 1911-12 school year, Benjamin Lewis Vaughn, Marshall’s son, taught at the Oak Flat School in Nacogdoches County, which, according to the history presented by Ed Williamson, met in the same building as Bethany Church. As far as I know, this is the only place Uncle Ben taught school. After that school year, he died of typhoid fever on August 21, 1912. Two of his pupils, siblings Ruth and Glen Pearce, wrote a memorial for their teacher – which was published in a newspaper.[x] Sadly, 16-year old Glen died only a month after his teacher. Ruth (Mary Ruth Pearce Davis) died in 1977.

My regular readers may not find much of interest in this personal rambling. Nevertheless, I was impressed with the connections we have with a church to which I have never been before. What is it they say about six degrees of separation?

There is something fascinating about peering into the history of people, places, and institutions.

---

[i] According to the program, Bethany was organized at New Harmony and then later moved to Oak Flat. I do not know this first location, other than assuming it was apparently in the Cushing/Linn Flat vicinity.

[ii] “Texas Baptist Statistics - 1895,” East Texas Family Records, Volume 6, Number 2, Summer 1982, p. 9. E. D. Blankinship pastored Smyrna Baptist Church from 1899 to 1901.

[iii] “Bethany Baptist marks 125 years,” The Daily Sentinel, November 14, 2019.

[iv] Apparently, at some time a map-maker or other official dubbed this community “Oak Flats.” Those of us who live here call is Oak Flat, singular. We ought to know. It is our community.

[v] Centennial + 5: History of Smyrna Baptist Church, of Rusk County, Texas, 1873-1978, James Wyatt Griffith, Henderson, TX: Printing, 1978, p. 13.

[vi] J. R. Carmichael was the son of William M. Carmichael and Sarah Ann Brandon, and the grandson of Reuben Carmichael and Sydney Frances Parker.

[vii] Ibid, p. 15. Sulphur Springs is about halfway between Bethany and Smyrna.

[viii] Milton F. Spivey was the son of Harvey Reddick Milton Spivey and Lucinda Catherine Heaslet. The parents are buried in the Walnut Grove Cemetery at Wonders, near Garrison. M. F. Spivey died in 1903, but I do not know where he was buried.

[ix] He was Elder S. F. Baucom’s father-in-law, though by 1910 Goldsberry’s daughter had died and Baucom had remarried. S. F. Baucom was the son of FNU and Francis Baucom. After her husband’s death, Francis Baucom married Edward T. Parker.

[x] Perry Rawlinson of Cushing gave me the clipping that I have. A Cushing or Nacogdoches newspaper probably printed it.

BillionGraves and Find-A-Grave

Billion Graves and Find-A-Grave are two important burial and genealogical resources online. As far as most people are concerned, they are basically the same. Billion Graves states, “Our Goal...is to preserve precious records found in cemeteries throughout the world.” “Find a Grave’s mission is to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present final disposition information as a virtual cemetery experience.” The goals of both resources have a great degree of overlap, but a quite different approach in several ways.

The blog post What is the Difference Between BillionGraves and Find A Grave? Part I: For Researchers is helpful in delineating some of the differences. Billion Graves puts it this way: “Find A Grave’s stated objective is to create memorials. It was not started as a genealogical site, so it makes sense that how they acquire data does not put emphasis on following the Genealogical Proof Standard.” This article is very helpful, though on one hand the writer goes after it like one of two vendors vying for the same commercial sale. Perhaps they are!

From the user standpoint, however, the genealogist will benefit from BOTH sites. First, there is a big difference in quantity. According to the blog post, Find-A-Grave has 180 million+ memorials while Billion Graves has 30 million+ memorials. What they lack in quantity, Billion Graves intends to make up in quality. The piece cites that all their records have gravestone images and GPS coordinates. That is a clear advantage, as far as it goes, making Billion Graves the generally more reliable resource. A downside is that not even every known burial has a gravestone, and that sometimes a gravestone does not mark an actual burial.

The blog relates a tragic story in which an individual traveled 2000 miles to see a headstone, based on a memorial on the Find-A-Grave site. The headstone did not exist in the cemetery, and “later…the record had been removed altogether from Find A Grave without mention.” That is certainly regrettable, and tells the tale that every entry on Find-A-Grave is not reliable. It should also caution one against making such a trip without checking with cemetery personal or some other source, if possible. It should not frighten people away from using Find-A-Grave altogether.

Read the above linked blog article and get all the good you can. Spend time to figure out how both Billion Graves and Find-A-Grave work. Use the strengths of each to your advantage in your research. Be cautious of the disadvantages. Verify with multiple sources.

Happy Graving!

From A. J. Whitten

Appointments of I. J. Taylor, North Carolina.

If the Lord’s will, will preach at Bethel (of Suwannee, Fla., Association) January 10; Hebron, 11; Prospect, 12; Salem, lo; Mt. Zion, 14; Little Spring, 15; New Hope, 16 and 17; Shady Grove, 18, 19 and 20; Etoinah, 21; Union Grove, 22. He will need conveyance. The Georgia appointments were too late for insertion in December issue, as were Eld. Hancks’, of Alabama, and Eld. Stuckey’s, of Louisiana.

The Primitive Baptist Church at Fellowship, Tallapoosa county, Ala., on Saturday before the fourth Sunday in November, 1887, after preaching by Elders J. J. Cleveland and L. C. Peters, while in Conference, declared unanimously that they would not hold in fellowship any members that allied themselves with any secret institution; and made it also my duty to inform you, and to request its publication in The Gospel Messenger.

Your little brother, if one at all. A. J. WHITTEN, Sr.

The Gospel Messenger, Volume 10, No. 1, January 1888, inside front cover

Wyatt Vaughn

The following genealogical information was written by me, and is taken from page 419 of Rusk County History by the Rusk County Historical Commission. I have made a minor edits with updated information.

Wyatt Vaughn came to Texas before the Civil War. Wyatt came from Greene County, Georgia and settled in Rusk County. He had a half-sister, Rebecca Astin. Wyatt bought land in the Stockman League in October of 1854 from Clinton D. Holleman, and again in February 1860 from James King.[i]

Wyatt Vaughn married Eliza Jane Parker while they lived in Georgia. Wyatt was born January 11, 1820, and Eliza was born February 22, 1829, with daughter of William Parker and Eunice Jane Nelson. Rebecca Astin married Edwin S. Parker, a brother of Eliza. In Georgia (Greene County) they were members of Smyrna (now Siloam) Baptist Church and White Plains Baptist Church.

Eight children were born to Wyatt and Eliza: John W., December 1, 1845; Susan E., March 5, 1851; Vincent Thornton, November 10, 1848; Olenza Burma, June 5, 1851 (all in Georgia); and Nancy Jane, February 24, 1854; William Thomas, May 1, 1856; Marshall Lewis, May 24, 1858; and Jabez C., February 26, 1861 (all in Texas).

Wyatt and his son John joined the Texas State Guards (Company B), and both died of typhoid fever at Galveston (March 28 and March 25, 1864, respectively) during the Civil War. Eliza Vaughn died January 8, 1887 and was buried in the Shiloh Cemetery.

The church was the center of interest for many of the Vaughns. The children of Wyatt and Eliza were active members of the Smyrna Baptist Church in the Oak Flat Community. V. T. and M. L. were ministers, and W. T. (called “Bud”) was a deacon. William W. Vaughn, son of V. T.; Benjamin L., son of M. L.; Raymond R. Scruggs, son of Olenza Vaughn Scruggs; and Roe T. Holleman, son of Nancy Jane Vaughn Holleman, were Baptist ministers. John F. Vaughn, son of W. T., was a deacon at Smyrna. M. L. Vaughn had two grandsons who served as deacons at Smyrna and one grandson who was a Baptist preacher (all now deceased). There are also two living great-grandsons and one great-great grandson of M. L. who are Baptist ministers.

John W. is buried at Galveston. Susan E. married Wylie M. Pierce and is believed to be buried at Shiloh Cemetery in an unmarked grave. V. T. Vaughn is buried at Shiloh. Burma, Jane, W. T., M. L., and Jabez are buried at Holleman Cemetery.

At the time this history was written, the oldest living descendant of Wyatt Vaughn was Simeon Levi Vaughn, son of M. L., and the youngest Vaughn descendant was Zechariah, great-great-grandson of M. L. Vaughn. Uncle Levi has since passed away, and others have been born.

---

[i] “Brother Wiatt Vaun” applied for letters of dismission from White Plains Church for himself and Eliza on November 12, 1852. Since he both bought land and had a daughter born in Texas in 1854, we might guess that they lived with relatives until they were able to purchase land and build a home. Vincent Thornton Vaughn was named after Baptist preacher Vincent Thornton.

Family of Vincent Thornton Vaughn

Chronogenealogy in Genesis 5

My Biblical timeline from Creation to Christ is based on a literal reading of the chrono-genealogies of Genesis chapter 5 and chapter 11. Even others who also take an historical view of Genesis do not all agree on the completeness of the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11. Because some biblical genealogies are gapped or telescoped -- that is, skip some generations in the genealogy -- they posit that they are gaps in the genealogies of Genesis 5 and Genesis 11. One major difference is that the known gapped genealogies have other biblical testimony to corroborate that fact. Those who posit this for Genesis 5 and 11 do so without biblical evidence and usually for the reason of lengthening biblical history to correspond with the so-called long age of earth's existence according to evolutionary theory. In addition, it seems some people engage in speculation with little or no life or genealogical experience.

For example, John Millam writes, "At the time of David, there were three head temple musicians, one from each of the 3 divisions of the Levites.  There is Heman of the Kohathite division (verses 33-38), Asaph of the Gershonite division (verses 39-42), and Ethan of the Merarite division (verses 44-47).  In each case, the genealogies start with Levi, who was the father of Kohath, Gershon, and Merari and ancestor of these three men.  So, we have three genealogies side-by-side extending from Levi to the time of King David, yet the genealogies contain 21, 15, and 14 names respectively for exactly the same span of time.  This suggests that at least the latter two genealogies are highly telescoped." That someone would believe that various family generations correspond chronologically leaves me aghast. My father was almost the same age as my wife's maternal grandfather, and my maternal grandfather was old enough to have been a grandfather of my wife's grandfather. Three of my father's great-grandfathers were Civil War veterans. A pastor friend who was only a few years older than my father was the SON of a Confederate veteran. Genealogies just don't correspond the way Millam seems to think, and such gaps as he supposes are merely imaginary without any supporting evidence.

Many Bible students have tried to add thousands of years to the chrono-genealogy of Genesis chapter 5, hoping to increase the earth's age to something that satisfies some scientists and their sycophants. It doesn't work. Of all the explanations proffered for gaps in Genesis 5, none can offer any reasonable explanation of why the writer would even bother with a chronology here if he is merely relating genealogy. 

It is interesting that the narrative supplies extra information that ties certain sons directly to their fathers, without any gaps.

• Genesis 4:25-26 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.
• Genesis 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
• Genesis 5:28-29 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.
• Jude 14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, (Enoch is the 7th generation from Adam in Genesis 5)

This extra supplied information leaves only a couple of spots that gaps could even exist. Even if gaps are granted for the sake of argument, it becomes evident that those looking for more time do not solve their problem. The hope is to insert a new meaning in the text. That is, a certain patriarch begat a son that became the ancestor of the next person names. The writing itself limits the time, even if that hope is granted. If "Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch" becomes "Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat [a child who became the ancestor of] Enoch" -- there is still the small problem that he was 162 years old when this happened.

The best approach is to accept the text as written and let the scientific chips fall where they may.

Genesis Chronology and Genealogy

Those few of you who follow this blog might remember that I posted a (brief) Biblical timeline from creation in 2009. This is a subject of interest to me, though not one that is without controversy. Even among those who take an historical view of Genesis, all are not agreed on the completeness of the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11. Here are some links to articles that discuss the subject from different angles.

• Are There Gaps in the Genesis Genealogies? -- “Chronologists working from the Bible consistently get 2,000 years between Adam and Abraham. Few would dispute that Abraham lived around 2000 B.C.”
• Are the Genealogies in Genesis 5 Complete? -- “There is a controversy whether the genealogies in Genesis 5 are complete.”
• Are There Gaps in the Biblical Genealogies? -- “On these various grounds we conclude that the Scriptures furnish no data for a chronological computation prior to the life of Abraham...
• Biblical timeline from Creation to Christ -- "Dating is from biblical creation, rather than correlated to historical BCE dating."
• Do the Genesis Genealogies Contain Gaps? -- “...the occurrence of fluidity in some genealogies does not prove fluidity in all genealogies.”
• How Young Is the Earth? Applying Simple Math to Data Provided in Genesis -- “Genesis 5:3 states that Adam was 130 years old when Seth was "begotten." How old was Adam when he begot Seth? Adam was 130. Does it matter whether Seth was Adam's son, grandson, great-grandson, or an even later descendant? No, the answer is the same: 130.”
• Infeasibility of Gaps in the Genesis Genealogies -- “In the Genesis 5 and 11 lists, however, additional biographical information makes them ‘tighter’ than any other genealogy.”
• Mind the Gap -- “The author of Genesis perhaps had many reasons to include ages - to show declining lifespans after the flood, perhaps to indicate the distance between primeval human life and his present.”
• Primeval Chronology -- “Our current chronology is based upon the prima facie impression of these genealogies.”
• The Biblical Genealogies Were Known To Have Gaps -- “Although the genealogies are accurate and representative, I don't believe Moses or his contemporaries viewed them as being complete.”
• The Genesis Genealogies -- “In modern times, genealogies are for the purpose of communicating detailed information about history and family relations.”
• The Meaning of the Chronogenealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 -- “At present [1980] there are two major historical interpretations, i.e., interpretations that do not dismiss the figures in Genesis 5 and 11 as non-historical.”
• The Selective Genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 -- “As is common in ancient genealogies, it is apparent that this genealogy contains gaps.”
• Who Was Born When Enosh Was 90? A Semantic Reevaluation of William Henry Green’s Chronological Gaps -- “Chronological computation has always been so inviting because Gen 5 and 11 specify the age of each patriarch at the birth of his descendant, unlike any other genealogies in Scripture or in extant ancient Near Eastern writings.”

Tracing the genealogy of Jesus, 2

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; 4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; 5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; 8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; 11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: 12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; 13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; 14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; 15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Tracing a genealogy through the mother is unusual. I do not know of any biblical instance of it, other than in Luke Chapter 3.[i] In Matthew’s Gospel, the genealogy of Jesus is traced from Abraham to Jesus, through his legal representative Joseph. Matthew’s wording in verse 16 is clear that Jesus is born of Mary and not Joseph – he goes on to explain that in Matthew 1:18-25. The circumstance of Jesus’s birth – born of a virgin – was unique, designed by God to fulfill his promise.

Though Matthew 1:1-17 does not trace the genealogy through the mother, it testifies that Jesus was born of one named Mary. Besides Mary, Matthew references four other women: Thamar/Tamar, Rachab/Rahab[ii], Ruth, and her that had been the wife of Urias/Bathsheba. Each of these four adds interesting flavor to the earthly ancestry of the Jesus the Christ.[iii] Tamar bore children by her father-in-law Judah by posing as a wayside harlot – after he had failed to fulfill the custom of giving her another of his sons to marry. Rahab was the harlot in Jericho who hid the Israelite spies and cast her lot with the people of God. Ruth was a foreigner, a Moabite woman, whose second marriage to Boaz yielded the grandfather of David the future king. Bathsheba was an adulteress who married the king David after he connived to have her soldier husband (his loyal subject) killed in battle. If one of us were telling the story, we might had left out some of the references to unpleasant details!

On the surface the genealogies of the Bible – including the New Testament genealogy of Jesus – may seem boring, but they are included with skillful purpose.

Jesus’s genealogy integrally links the Old and New Covenants. In the first verse of the New Testament, introducing Jesus the Christ, Matthew immediately ties him to the covenants of Abraham and David and begins to narrate his descent. As one compares to the Old Testament the genealogies – providing the physical descent and legal succession – demonstrate that the Christ Jesus is of the nation, tribe and family out of which the Messiah was promised (e.g. Abraham, Judah, David). The genealogy apprises us that the Christ Jesus took on our human nature (the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us). Jesus completely identified with our fallen condition, as seen in the fallen condition of his human forebears. Matthew Henry notes that when “we read the names in his genealogy, we should not forget how low the Lord of glory stooped to save the human race.” His human ancestors were fallen; he identified with them, yet Jesus was completely without sin (Cf. Romans 8:3). And, though much of the Old Testament deals with God’s promise made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Matthew’s inclusion of the Gentile women emphasizes that God is not God of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles and that his covenant of salvation reaches the end of the earth.

---

[i] And even then it traces through the male ancestors.

[ii] It is generally believed, but not beyond controversy, that this was Rahab the harlot of Jericho. The events in the book of Ruth occur in the times of the Judges (and Ruth 1:1 may suggest that the earliest times are meant).

[iii] And the fifth is exceptional from all the rest.

Tracing the genealogy of Jesus, 1

Those willing to admit it might tell us that they hasten through certain parts of the Bible because they are “boring.” The genealogies of the Bible often receive that label.[i] They are full of hard to pronounce names that go on and on. But these genealogies are included for a reason. God made a promise, beginning in Genesis 3:15, about a descendant of Eve (Abraham, Judah, David, and so on). The Bible focuses on this descendant. So, by tracing a part of the human family from Adam and Eve forward, the Bible funnels us down to the one descendant who fulfills the prophecies about that one.

The New Testament provides two accounts of the lineage of Jesus – one in Matthew 1:1-17 and the other in Luke 3:23-38.[ii] Matthew starts with Abraham. Luke begins (chronologically) with Adam.[iii] The lists are identical between Abraham and David,[iv] but differ from that point moving to Jesus. Matthew traces the lineage through David’s son Solomon (Matthew 1:6-7), while Luke traces the lineage through David’s son Nathan (Luke 3:31).

Are these errors in the Bible and the genealogy of Jesus? Those who reject the inspiration and preservation of the biblical record are quick to say so,[v] but the differences are easily explained.[vi] Matthew records Jesus’s legal line, through Joseph (though not his biological father, Joseph was recognized as Jesus’s legal father). This line descends from David through his son Solomon. Luke records Jesus’s biological (or blood) line through his mother Mary. This line descends from David through his son Nathan. Both legally and biologically, Jesus is a son of David. Luke called Joseph the “son of Heli” due to his marriage to Mary, who was Heli’s daughter.[vii] Tracing a genealogy through the mother is unusual. I do not know of any other biblical instance of it. But the circumstance of Jesus’s birth – born of a virgin – was unique. There is none other like it! We are clued to the difference in this genealogy through Luke’s explanation is that Jesus being “(as was supposed)” the son of Joseph, (Luke 3:23).

This will not satisfy those who reject the authority of the Bible, but simple Christians have no problem with this explanation.

---

[i] The genealogies of the Bible fall into two styles, ascending and descending. Descending genealogies begin in the present and trace backward to some person (as in Luke 3; Cf. Ezra 7:1-5). Ascending genealogies start with a particular person in the past and move forward to the present (as in Matthew 1; Cf. Genesis 5:1-32; Ruth 4:18-22). Biblical ascending genealogies are more likely to include extra information, while descending genealogies tend to be linked lists of names.

[ii] The gospels of Mark and John begin with Jesus as an adult, while Matthew and Luke begin with his birth. It is logical those two would recite the lineage and the other two would not.

[iii] Since Luke starts at the present and works backward, he technically ends with Adam.

[iv] The male ancestors are identical; Matthew includes some details not in Luke.

[v] Even if one rejects Holy Spirit inspiration and providential preservation, it is strange to believe that both those who wrote and those who compiled the books of the New Testament overlooked what would have been such a blatant contradiction in the genealogies – suggesting they understood the differences. Thomas Paine, in The Age of Reason, claimed Matthew’s and Luke’s genealogies “contradict each other in every particular” (they do not) and that this “proves falsehood absolutely.” Yet, if the disciples of Jesus fabricated a genealogy of Jesus to prove the point of his being David’s son, it is inexplicable that they would have deliberately included two contradictory accounts!

[vi] The church historian Eusebius, referring to Julius Africanus in his epistle to Aristides, gives a different harmony of the genealogies – according to nature and according to the law.  Evidently he believed that Matthew was tracing the biological line and that Luke was taking into account what we call “levirate marriage”. In The Virgin Birth of Christ, J. Gresham Machen argues that Joseph is the legal heir of Jacob, who died without issue, and that Joseph is the son of Jacob’s brother Heli. So, according to Machen, Matthew gives the legal descent and Luke the physical one. “…the Lucan genealogy traces the actual physical ancestors of Joseph back to David, while the Matthæan genealogy enumerates the successive heirs to the Davidic throne.” (p. 207) Under this explanation, Matthan and Matthat would be different spellings for the same person – Joseph’s grandfather.

[vii] I have been taught that there was no Greek word for “son-in-law,” but have made no personal investigation of the subject. God’s promise was made to David. Jesus was a legal heir of Joseph (a descendant of David), but was not the son of Joseph. Therefore, it is important to show that his mother Mary was also a descendant of David.