Born in Youngstown, Ohio, July 11, 1827. He received a common school education, studied law and began practice in Mansfield, Ohio. Coming to Iowa in 1852 he located at Oskaloosa where he practiced law. In 1856 he was elected on the Republican ticket to the State Senate, serving four years. In 1861 he was chosen judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, serving until January, 1867. He was elected to Congress in 1866 and twice reelected, being a member of the Fortieth, Forty-first and Forty-third Congresses.

Born in Youngstown - formerly Trumbull - Mahoning County, Ohio, July 11, 1827; he had the advantage of a common school education. During his minority he worked in his father's shop, gaining a practical knowledge of the business and studying law at every spare moment. In 1850 he entered the law office of Judge James Stewart, of Mansfield, Ohio, and the same year, at the fall term of the Supreme Court of Ohio, was admitted to the bar and practiced till April, 1852, when he formed a co-partnership in law with Gov. Mordica Bartley; subsequently he removed to Oskaloosa, Iowa, and engaged in the practice of law. In 1855 he was elected mayor of Oskaloosa, and in 1856 was elected to the State Senate. In 1856 Mr. Loughridge was married to Miss D. L. Jones, of London, Ohio, the daughter of a Buckeye mechanic. In 1861 he was appointed by Gov. Kirkwood to fill the vacancy on the bench occasioned by the resignation of Judge Stone, of the Sixth Judicial District; and at the fall election of the same year, he was elected to the same office, and re-elected in the fall of 1862, this time to a full term, and served on the bench till January, 1867. In 1866 he was elected by the Republicans as Representative in Congress for the then fourth Congressional district, embracing the counties of Appanoose, Monroe, Wapello, Keokuk, Mahaska, Marion, Jasper, Poweshiek, Iowa, Johnson, Benton and Tama, which was the most populous district in the United States. He was re-elected to the same office in 1868, and served to March 4, 1871. In 1872 he was again elected as Representative in Congress from the Sixth District, comprising the counties of Appanoose, Davis, Monroe, Wapello, Keokuk, Mahaska, Marion, and Jasper. During his services as member of Congress, Mr. Loughridge stood as an able exponent and defender of the policy of the Republican Party, and far above the average in the advocacy of the interests of the West.