Vaughn Blake

Vaughn Blake

Biographical details
Born	(1887-01-12)January 12, 1887 Cuero, Texas, U.S.
Died	June 29, 1964(1964-06-29) (aged 77) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Playing career
1905–1908	Vanderbilt
Position(s)	End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1910	Birmingham
1911	Trenton HS (TN)
c. 1913	Bowen School (TN)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1910–1911	Birmingham
Head coaching record
Overall	2–3 (college)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
All-Southern (1908)

John Vaughn Blake (January 12, 1887 – June 29, 1964; often misspelled as Vaughan) was an American college football player, coach, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent.

Biography

Blake was born in 1888 in Cuero, Texas to Daniel Bigelow Blake Sr. and Mary Clara Weldon. Dan Sr. was a physician and once president of the Nashville Academy of Medicine.[1]

Blake played football for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores football teams with his brothers Dan and Bob. Dan, Bob, and Vaughn were captains of the 1906, 1907, and 1908 teams respectively. Blake was an end on the football team, selected All-Southern in 1908.[2]

Blake was the head football coach at Birmingham College in 1910.[3][4] From 1911 to around 1913, he was the head football coach for Trenton High School and the Bowen School.[5][6] After his coaching career, he spent time refereeing football games in Tennessee.[7]

Blake was later a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent assigned to FBI offices in Nashville, Tennessee, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and New Orleans.[8] In 1935, he had a role in the search for the FBI's "Public Enemy #1", Alvin Karpis.[9]

Blake committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning on June 29, 1964.[8]

Head coaching record

College

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Birmingham (Independent) (1910)
1910	Birmingham	2–3
Birmingham:		2–3
Total:		2–3

References

1. Charles Wells Moulton (1906). "Blake, Daniel Bigelow". The Doctor's Who's Who. 12. The Saalfield Publishing Co.
2. Spalding's Football Guide. Shawnee Mission, Kansas, NCAA Publishing Service. 1909. p. 75.
3. "Vaughan Blake". Birmingham Post-Herald. September 9, 1910. p. 10. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
4. "Birmingham Wins By Field Goal". The Commercial Appeal. October 8, 1910. p. 11. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
5. Rall, Spick (October 4, 1911). "Football Arena". The Tennessean. p. 8. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
6. "Untitled". Nashville Banner. November 8, 1913. p. 22. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
7. Dougherty, Henry F. (December 1, 1916). "Tenn. Held To Tie by Ky. State". The Atlanta Journal. p. 18. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
8. "VU Grid Great Found Dead". The Tennessean. June 30, 1964. p. 25. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
9. "Memorandum from E.A. Tamm to J. Edgar Hoover". Federal Bureau of Investigation. November 23, 1935. p. 18 (FOIA file on Barker/Karpis Gang Bremer Kidnapping).

External links

• Vaughn Blake at Find a Grave