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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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J. W. Mc Laughlin J.
W. McLaughlin, an influential businessman of Newton, was born Bear Beaver Falls,
Lawrence County, PA, May 27, 1852. His parents, Robert and Amanda (Wilson)
McLaughlin, were natives of Lawrence County and were of Scotch-Irish lineage.
The history of both families dates back to a very early day in the
settlement of this county. Grandfather James McLaughlin was born in Pennsylvania, and
followed the occupation of a farmer until his death, which occurred in the
Keystone State. Jeremiah
Wilson, our subject's maternal grandfather, was born in Pennsylvania and there
followed the occupation of farming in connection with his trade of a stonemason
until his death, which occurred about 1852. The grandmothers on both sides came
to Jasper County, where both died about 1872.
Robert McLaughlin, father of our subject, was born in Lawrence County,
PA, and was the youngest of five brothers, the others being James, William,
Daniel and John. James served in
the Mexican War; William, who was a soldier in the Civil War, went to Florida
shortly after the close of that struggle and died in that State; Daniel came to
Jasper County and died prior to the opening of the war; of John, the next to the
youngest, we have no record for more than forty years. In
1856 the brothers, James, William, Daniel and Robert, and both grandmothers of
our subject came from Pennsylvania to Iowa and settled at Newton, where Robert
worked at his trade of a carpenter until 1860. He then, with his family and his
brothers James and William, went to Kansas and located near Garnett, Anderson
County, where he built the first frame house erected in that town.
In 1861, at the first call for troops, he enlisted in the fifth Kansas
Cavalry as a private, and served faithfully for three years. He was wounded at Helena, AR, and from the effects of the
wound died in a hospital at Little Rock in 1864. The
death of the father left the widowed mother with four small children and with
but limited means. Our subject, the
only son, although but twelve years old at the time of the father's death, aided
his mother in the work of managing the farm.
Some four years afterward his mother married H. Harbison, and during the
same year (1868) he started out to make his own way in the world. Of his sisters
we note the following: The eldest, Almina, married K H. Downer and died to
Leavenworth, KS, in 1878; Lydia is the wife of Dr. D. C. Craig, a prominent
physician of Garnett, KS; Phena is unmarried and lives with her mother, who is
now a resident of Kansas City, MO. In
1868, when our subject started out to make his way in the world, he found that
he had very limited education. He
returned to Newton, Iowa, where he had relatives, and set out to equip himself
with more thorough education. He
entered the Hazel Dell Academy, and while he was but a boy and without means he
possessed an abundance of will power and determination and knew no such word as
“fail.” For three years he was
an industrious student, clerking
in a store during vacations in
order to defray his expenses. His education was finally completed in a private
school in Newton, and directly afterward he obtained a position in the office of
the Jasper County Coal & Railroad Company, with which he remained for five
years. He then entered the store of
Barns & Condit, where he held a position for four years.
With the earnings he had meantime accumulated, he entered into business
with Willis McColloms under the firm name of Mc Laughlin & McColloms.
Their grocery store was opened in 1879, and the partnership continued
until l885, when our subject bought out his partner's interest and has since
continued the business himself. From a small beginning be has established the
most extensive and profitable business in his line in Jasper County. While
devoting his attention principally to his grocery, Mr. McLaughlin has also been
interested in other enterprises. In
the year 1884, when the Newton Canning Company was organized, he was one of the
original stockholders, and in 1887, when the company was reorganized, he was
elected Secretary of the company, a position he has since held.
At a meeting in January 1893, be was elected both Secretary and Manager,
although he had virtually been manager prior to that time. The company transits
an extensive business and sells annually more than a half-million cans of
products. In
December 1880, occurred the marriage of Mr. McLaughlin and Miss Dell, the
accomplished daughter of the late J. W. Wilson,
who was a prominent attorney of Newton. In
his political affiliations our subject is liberal in his views, but inclines
toward the Republican Party. An influential Mason
and Knight Templar, he served the blue lodge as Master and was at the time the
youngest man who bad filled that important position. He has also been High Priest of the chapter and Eminent
Commander of the Commandery. He
was one of the charter members of the Knights of Pythias. In his social circles
he is general favorite, and is a pleasant, entertaining companion.
While all the early representatives of his family were identified with
the Old Presbyterian Church, he is not connected with any religious
organization, his contributions, however, have aided in the work of the various
churches, and he is a liberal supporter of benevolent and charitable projects. Portrait and Biographical Record, Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, IA, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, IL, 1894, p. 204. |
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