| George W.
McLaughlin, one of Polk county's representative native sons and
one of her prosperous farmers, was born June 28, 1857. He is the son
of Robert McLaughlin, a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky, born
November 23, 1810, of Scotch ancestry. He removed to Missouri in
1835, and August 15, 1839, he married Miss Minerva Griffith. Soon
after their marriage they removed to Illinois and reared a family of
six children. In 1853, with his wife and children, Mr. McLaughlin
crossed the plains to Oregon and came direct to Polk county, where
he took up a donation claim, one mile north of Buena Vista. On this
land he built a little log cabin of the pioneer style and spent the
remainder of his life, He was successful and added to his land and
gave each of his sons 100 acres of land, except the youngest, on
whom he bestowed 220 acres. He had been a Christian from the
sixteenth year of his life, was a firm member of the Presbyterian
Church, and an upright, honest man. In his early life he had learned
the blacksmith trade, and in addition to his farming he had the
first shop in his section of country, and was largely instrumental
in the development of the county. He died in February, 1890, at the
ripe old age of eighty years, but his wife still survives him and
resides with her daughter, Mrs. Litherow, in Independence, a nice
old lady representative of the pioneer women of Oregon. Our subject, George W. McLaughlin, was the eldest son born in Oregon, and was followed by two others, making in all a family of ten children, all of whom are living and residing in Oregon, with the exception of one, who makes her home in California. One sister was born, older than he. Our subject was reared on the farm on which he was born, and was educated in the public schools. In 1881 he was married to Miss Sophia Hall, of Woodburn, Marion county, who was born March 13, 1859, daughter of B.F. and Mary (Johnson) Hall, the latter being a daughter of Neil Johnson, a Presbyterian minister. Mrs. McLaughlin is a Presbyterian, while Mr. McLaughlin is a Methodist in religious convictions. Mr. McLaughlin is socially connected with the I.O.O.F., being a member of the Grand Lodge. He is a Republican in politics. IN addition to his farming and stock-raising Mr. McLaughlin has turned his attention to horticulture. He is a reliable, intelligent and upright man, and is a credit to the county in which he was born and now resides. An
Illustrated history of the state of Oregon, Rev. H.K. Hines, Lewis Pub. Co.
1893 |