William McLaughlin, who is now filling the office of county supervisor, has been almost continuously in the public service since 1880, and has also been the promoter of many enterprises having direct bearing upon the material progress and prsperity of the state. For almost a half century he has resided in California, and regarded as a citizen he belongs to that public-spirited, useful and helpful type of men whose ambitions and desires are centered and directed in those channels through which flows the greatest and most permanent good to the grestest number. It is therefore consistent with the purpose and plan of this work that his record be given among those of the representative men of the central portion of the state. He is numbered among the adopted sons of California that the emerald Isle has furnished to the new world.

Born is Ireland on the 14th of February, 1842, William McLaughlin is a son of George and Susan (Bonner) Mclaughlin, who were also natives of that land. The father, following the occupation of farming there, died about 1857, while hs wife passed away about 1876. The son pursued his education in the public schools of his native country, where he remained until 1859, when as a youth of seventeen he crossed the Atlantic imbued with a resolute purpose of enjoying the opportunities of the new world and utilizing all means at hand for the acquirement of an honorable competence. He located first in Philadelphia and for seven years was employed in a gas-meter shop. He came to California in 1865 by way of the isthmus of Panama, located in Sacramento, and at once engaged in the business of trucking, which he has since followed, being a ioneer in this enterprise in the central portion of the state. He has also been connected with various other business enterprises, including the Pacific Mutual Insurance Company, becoming one of the director of the local organization. He is now financially interested in the California Fruit Canners' Association, the Consumers Mutual Supply Company, the San Jacinto Mining Company, of which he was one of the first stockholders and directors, and was one of the first directors of the Key City Mining Company, owning and operating mining properties in British Company. He is likewise one of the directors of the Sutter Mining Company, composed exclusively of residents of Sacramento, and is a stockholder in the John breuner Company, of San Francisco. His business activities and investments have thus extended to various lines of enterprises and diversified industries and have brought to him an excellent financial return.

In was in 1876 in Sacramento that Mr. McLaughlin was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ferrell, who was born in Philadelphia and is a daughter of Thomas Ferrell, a bookkeeper employed in a wholesale house of this city and a representative of an old American family. Four children have been born of this union, one son and three daughters; Elwood, Ethel, Elouise and Eleanor. Mr. McLaughlin is recognized as one of the leading representatives of Democracy in Sacramento county, and has been almost continuously in office since 1880. During the past twenty years he has been to every county and state convention of his party, and in 1883-4 served as supervisor of the county. He was also elected city trustee under the old charter, when only three members composed the city council, holding the office from 1888 until 1891, inclusive. In the fall of 1896 he was elected county supervisor for four years and was re-elected in 1900 for another term of four years. He has been very active in managing county affairs, and his efforts have been exerted along progressive yet practical lines that have proved of mateiral benefit to his section of the state. He is a Mason, having attained the Knight Templar degree of the order, and is a popular citizen. He has through his own exertions attained an honorable position and marked prestige among the representative men of his adopted county, and with signal consistency it may be said that he is the architect of his own fortunes and one whose success amply justifies the application of the somewhat hackneyed but most expressive title--a self-made man.

Source: History of the New California Its Resources and People, Volume I

The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905
Edited by Leigh H. Irvine