The son of William L. McGaughey, John D. McGaughey (1868-1942) worked for his family’s cattle business in Hood County, Texas, before moving to Austin in the early 1900s. McGaughey was employed as a title specialist for the General Land Office in Austin. In 1913, he was convicted of murdering H. F. Beauchamp, despite his claim of self-defense. Following McGaughey’s incarceration for several years, he moved to El Paso, where he worked in the title and insurance industry.
Composed of correspondence, telegrams, financial records, legal documents, circulars, and newspaper clippings, the John D. McGaughey Papers, 1889-1949, chronicle McGaughey’s ranching operations, business affairs, as well as his trial and murder conviction. Correspondence concerns the cattle business, familial affairs, and the murder conviction, while financial records include receipts and insurance payments relating to his business endeavors in Austin and El Paso. Legal documents consist of land deeds, court orders, insurance policies, as well as other papers relating to the murder case and his work for the Texas General Land Office. Additionally, circulars consist of advertisements for different products and newspaper clippings contain obituary notices on his father and other acquaintances.
This collection is open for research use.
John D. McGaughey Papers, 1889-1942, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s