Jay Vaughn McFall, Artist

Elementary student Vaughn McFall was listed as number 35 in the class photograph from 1883, taken on the steps of the old Sandusky High School on Adams Street. Jay Vaughn McFall was born in Sandusky, Ohio on December 4, 1877 to Mr. and Mrs. Jay Calvin McFall. His father worked in the family business, which was a men’s clothing store in Sandusky in the 1880s and 1890s.

After the death of  her husband, Mrs. McFall moved the family to Toledo, Ohio. In the 1900 U.S. Census, Jay Vaughn McFall listed his occupation as newspaper illustrator. In 1908, he married Adelaide Eddleman, and by 1910, he had his own art studio in Manhattan.  During his career as an artist, Jay Vaughn McFall did illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post, the Sunday Magazine of the Philadelphia Press, and the Chicago American. He died in 1912 from tuberculosis. His obituary (below) appeared in the New York Times:

Detroit Michigan, Dec. 5, 1912

Jay Vaughn McFall 34 years old, of New York, artist and magazine Illustrator died here today at the home of his mother of tuberculosis. McFall was a native of Sandusky, Ohio but began his Art work here. He went to New York as a member of the Art Students League and then to Chicago as an Illustrator for the Chicago American. Seven years ago he returned to New York and opened a studio illustrating for several magazines. His work was particularly known in the Saturday Evening Post.

Here is an illustration he did, from the January 19, 1908 issue of the Sunday Magazine of the Philadelphia Press:

This illustration appeared in the book, Prince or Chauffer? written by Lawrence Perry. (A.C. McClurg, 1911):