Although the family name McGaughey appears in the 1840 Murray County Census, that Census did not list names of individuals in a household–only the name of the head of the household. So it is uncertain whether John McGaughey was the son of Samuel McGaughey whose name appeared in the 1840 Census.

The Census of 1850 lists John H. McGaughey (spelled Mccaughey), age 25, in the ome of James and Margaret Huff.

Confederate Army records indicate that J. McGaughey, of Murray County, Georgia, enlisted as a Private in Company B, 39th Ga. Cummings Volunteers on August 22, 1863. Three months after enlisting, McGaughey was captured by the Union Army at Missionary Ridge, Tennessee on November 25, 1863. He was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp at Rock Island, Illinois, where he died, February 2, 1864.

Murray County Families