Earl W. Vaughn

Earl Wray Vaughn (June 17, 1928 – April 1, 1986) was an American lawyer, politician and jurist. He served for five terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives, the last as Speaker. He then served for almost sixteen years as a Judge, and later Chief Judge, of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He was appointed to the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1985, but only served seven months before having to retire due to a sudden diagnosis of terminal lung and brain cancer. Early life, military service and education Earl Wray Vaughn was born on June 17, 1928, to John H. and Lelia F. Vaughn in their farmhouse in the Oregon Hill community of Rockingham County, North Carolina. He was the youngest of eleven children. While in school, Vaughn assisted with tobacco work on his parents’ farm. He attended Ruffin High School and graduated in 1945. To earn extra money during high school he drove a school bus. He then entered Pfeiffer Junior College in Misenheimer, North Carolina, as the first in his family to attend college. He enrolled as a "self-help student," which meant he worked at the school to pay his way. Part of his duties teamed him with fellow student and future North Carolina General Representative Samuel H. Johnson, requiring them to rise at 3:30 a.m. each morning to tend to the campus boiler before attending morning classes. During his second year at Pfeiffer, Vaughn dropped out in order to enter military service in the United States Army. He served for two years, spending time in Korea, before he was honorably discharged as a sergeant.