Born in Mercer County, Penn., February 13, 1829. He came to Iowa in the spring of 1854. He returned to Pennsylvania in the fall of that year. He came to DeWitt, Clinton County, in 1860, and then soon after came to Van Buren and engaged in the mercantile business, shipping stock, and marble business. He came to Preston when the town was laid out in 1870. He kept the Preston House one year, then engaged in the mercantile business and shipping stock. He married Esther Traver, native of Medina County, Ohio, July 16, 1857. Mr. McLaughlin went to Maquoketa in 1867, where he engaged in the mercantile business and marble trade about three years. He has been Justice of the Peace in Clinton and Jackson Counties for sixteen years. He was also a member of the Eleventh General Assembly elected in 1866.