06/07/2026
The Murder of Nancy Birdsong
Part III: William Isom Vaughn
William Isom Vaughn, generally called “Isom” was born sometime between 1858 and 1864, though the precise year remains uncertain. During his 1897 testimony, Vaughn stated that he had been born in Cooper County, Missouri, thirty-two years earlier, suggesting a birth around 1864 or 1865. While his grave marker in Windsor, Missouri (Henry County) gives his birth year as 1858, he is not present on the 1860 census, making the 1864 date the more likely candidate.
He was the son of James H. Vaughn (1839 – bef. 1886) and Louisa Jane Vaughn (nee Birdsong). His mother tied him directly into the extensive Birdsong family network that resided along the Cooper and Moniteau County lines between Clarksburg and California. His great-grandfather was William Allen Birdsong (1798-1863), the younger brother of James Birdsong (1792–1878), father of William Birdsong, the husband of murder victim Nancy Birdsong.
His parents married on December 26, 1856 in Moniteau County and at least six children were born to the union. The oldest was Polly Ann Vaughn, who herself would marry a Birdsong cousin (William Franklin Birdsong, 1851-1899) in April 1876. Isom had three younger siblings as well, Sarah Elizabeth, Stewart, and Susan. The 1870 census places Isom’s age at approximately six years of age, lending more credibility to the 1864 birthdate.
The family underwent a significant amount of upheaval as the decade of the 1870s gave way to the 1880s. There are numerous James Vaughn’s in the 1880 census, but Isom’s mother – Louisa Jane – is listed “J. Vaughn” and is also listed as widowed. While some records give circumstantial evidence of divorce, the census marking indicates that she was widowed. Whether through death or divorce, the marriage had clearly ended by 1880. Polly is married and out of the home, leaving Isom and his younger siblings in the care of his mother.
During the ensuing years, Isom worked as a farm hand, including several stints with William and Nancy Birdsong. Both William Birdsong and Isom Vaughn identified that he worked for the family 10 to 11 years before the event, placing those years around 1884-1885. Vaughn reportedly lived in the Birdsong household during this period, indicating a level of familiarity and trust between the families. His employment with them ended when he got married, which occurred on October 4, 1885. He married Martha “Mattie” Jane Williams, the daughter of a man named Charles B. Williams.
Not long after this, another marriage took place. Isom’s mother remarried on March 11, 1886, this time to James Birdsong. Her new husband was a widow and the father of five children. His wife, Louisa Dee Dowell, died in 1882. James was the brother of William Birdsong and therefore the brother-in-law of Nancy Birdsong. The marriage deepened the already complicated kinship between the Vaughns and Birdsongs helps explain why Nancy may have been referred to within the family as ‘Aunt Nan.’
By December 1896, Isom and Mattie had six children: Walter (b. 1886), Rosa (b. 1887), William (b. 1888), Alonzo (b. 1892), Alexander (b. 1894), and Leona (b. 1896). Evidence from local newspapers and court testimony indicates that the Vaughns were poor and that they had only been back in town for about three weeks, having recently resided in Miller County. There, rumor had it, he had been in some trouble with the law. It may well only have been rumor. At the time of this writing, no details on his name attached to any newsworthy crime have appeared.
Whatever brought their return to the Montieau-Cooper line – an area many of the locals called Pigeon Roost – the family continued to struggle. On December 2, 1896, he went to see his brother, Stewart, who was working at James Green Hill’s farm and had fallen ill. Isom, Stewart later recalled, wanted to borrow some money. Isom detailed that he crossed through the backcountry routes, traversing various properties with familiar ease – walking along rail lines, fields, creek bottoms, and farm paths.
Isom repeatedly borrowed guns, ammunition, and money, sought hunting dogs, and asked acquaintances whether they were saving any money. By his own account that December, he was hard up and needed money badly. The family lived in the home of Mrs. John Nantrop where they rented two rooms. During the second week of December in 1896, the rent had not been paid.
That was the same week of Nancy Birdsong’s murder. In the days leading up to Friday, Isom worked for Jim Hume, spent time on the Kiely farm, and hunted rabbits and wild turkey for food. Joe Cain and Jacob Bollinger attested to seeing him about the fields.
On the day of December 11, 1896 – according to his own story to papers and later courtroom testimony he hunted with two of his sons – though this could not have been done the entire day. Much of his evening movements remain known only through his own later testimony, and his sons do not otherwise appear in surviving accounts. Isom stated that he continued to hunt rabbits and turkeys. What is not in dispute is that just before 9:00 p.m. he turned up at the John Pennington residence. He was looking for a dog to help track a turkey that he said he had shot.
Vaughn entered the house and looked at the clock, noting the time. He sat down, put his head in his hands and acted – Pennington said - peculiar. What exactly this meant was to be important later on, but it is worth noting that he was not described as terrified nor frantic; nor was he described as being covered in blood. He simply looked tired. The Penningtons noted that Vaughn stayed around 30 minutes. He asked John to accompany outside and once again – asked a neighbor if he had any money. The previous week more than suggested that Isom Vaughn was in desperate need of money. It is unclear whether or not he received any.
After leaving the Pennington’s, Isom traveled home via the state road. He carried a double barrel shot gun, one barrel of which remained loaded. He shot at a can near Frank Norman’s place and then put caps on the tubes to keep them from rusting. At approximately midnight he returned home. He stated that he dressed the rabbits and then went to bed just as the clock struck 1:00 a.m.
He rose around sunrise and went about his morning routine. Mrs. Bantrop, the lady from whom his family rented two rooms saw him at the woodpile sawing or chopping wood. Just like any other normal day. Later that morning he went up town into California and heard people talking about the murder. He inquired about who and what the matter was, but stated no one would say a word to him about it. He continued his day like normal with no sign of flight or that anything was amiss.
By Saturday afternoon, the situation had changed. Newspapers detailed that much of the change was at the behest of his father-in-law, Charles Williams. Papers stated that Vaughn had come home and told his family that he had murdered a woman and that Williams responded by contacting officers. Papers specified that Vaughn and Williams did not get along and there had long been trouble between the two. Whatever had been seen or said, Isom Vaughn now became the prime suspect.
At 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 12, 1896 Sheriff Charles E. Born and Deputy George H. Fountain arrested Vaughn. Reports suggest that he surrendered quietly and offered no resistance or attempt to escape. As news spread of his arrest, a mob formed. Their intent was easy to discern. Convinced of Isom’s guilt, they intended to lynch him. Fearing this possible outcome, Sheriff Born had Vaughn moved to Jefferson City for safekeeping.
What had happened on Saturday that steered suspicious so quickly towards Isom Vaughn? He remained in jail through the next several weeks. On December 31 it was noted that he was incarcerated at Jefferson City and that there had not yet been a preliminary examination. The grand jury was to assemble in January and investigate the charges against him. On January 21, 1897 the
California Democrat finally announced an indictment against him. He was appointed according to that same paper three of the best available attorneys as council: J.W. Moore, L.F. Wood (he was the trial for Carbollo in 1883 Tipton Printers Homicide), and Edmund Burke. The reputation of these men insured that every aspect of the case would be investigated thoroughly. On January 28, Judge Shackleford set the case for trial on February 23rd.
The story of Isom Vaughn’s movements on December 11 would become the very center of the dispute over his innocence or guilt.
Up next: The Trial of William Isom Vaughn
