John McLaughlin ^{2 3 4 5 6}

  General Notes:

Brief Life History of John McLaughlin

When John McLaughlin was born in July 1835, in Pennsylvania, United States, his father, James McLaughlin, was 20 and his mother, Elizabeth Smith, was 22. He married Jane Davis on 22 May 1882, in Rains, Texas, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 2 daughters. He lived in West Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States in 1850. He died on 31 December 1921, in Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa, United States, at the age of 86, and was buried in Oakland Cemetery, Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa, United States.
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It is interesting to note that the census records indicates that both John McLaughlin and his sister, Mary, were both born in Pennsylvania as was her husband, Robert Amlong. This suggests that the McLaughlin family was centered in Pennsylvania in the 1840s. Somehow, John McLaughlin ended up in Texas while Mary and her husband went to Muscatine County, Iowa. Additional research shows that what is believed to be the entire McLaughlin family moved to Johnson County, Iowa. The parents and three of the sons appeared in the 1870 US Census in Johnson County, Iowa. How and why John McLaughlin ended up in Texas remains a mystery.
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Neither John McLaughlin nor Jane Davis are shown on the 1880 US Census of Rains County, Texas. There are no McLaughlins listed at all and the name Jane Davis does not appear there at all. Because John's marriage to Jane Davis in Emory, Texas did not occur until May of 1882, it must be assumed that both he and she lived elsewhere prior to the 1880 US Census and only came to Rains County Texas sometime between 1880 and May of 1882 when they were married there. I have no information to indicate why they would have been in Rains County as verbal family history says that Jane Davis was from the Dallas area and the McLaughlin family is known to have been in Pennsylvania around 1840 and moved to Johnson County, Iowa sometime before 1870.

Following the death of his wife, Jane Davis, who died about 6 weeks after the birth of James Samuel McLaughlin in 1890, both daughters Katherine and Mary McLaughlin were sent to Muscatine, Iowa to live with an aunt, Mary Anna McLaughlin-Amlong. James Samuel McLaughlin was sent to live with his uncle, Samuel McLaughlin in Johnson County, Iowa. It is not clear what the father, John McLaughlin, continued to do but it appears that he may have stayed in Texas to work the farm where he eventually died and is probably buried somewhere in Rains County, Texas. He may also traveled with his daughters back to Iowa where he died and may be buried back with his parents in Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City, Iowa.

If John McLaughlin stayed in the Emory, Texas area following the death of his wife, the following articles were discovered in the local newspaper issues which may help indicate that date of his death:

The Rains County Texas Leader newspaper of 26 Jan 1912 indicates that a John McLaughlin sold land to R. J. Cooke on 17 Jan 1912. It was described as "part of the J. F. Phillip Survey beginning at the SW Corner of a 190 acre tract."

The Rains County Texas Leader newspaper of 13 Dec 1912 indicates that "J. S. McLaughlin was the guest of his uncle here, Mr. John McLaughlin, Monday and Tuesday". I wonder if this was his son, James Samuel McLaughlin, who would have been 22 years old at the time. Perhaps the newspaper got the relationship wrong and described John as an uncle instead of a father. James Samuel McLaughlin was raised by his uncle, Samuel McLaughlin of Johnson County, Iowa.

The Rains County Texas Leader newspaper of 2 Feb 1917 indicates that "Uncle John McLaughlin is reported right sick". I have no information as to why the newspaper called him "uncle" and their is no evidence that the editor or newspaper reporter was actually related. Perhaps this was a commonly used term of endearment or a local custom to refer to elderly settlers as "uncles".

In Jan 2002, I walked through the local Emory City Cemetery and could not find any gravestones for John McLaughlin or his wife, Jane Davis. There were many gravestones in broken and scattered condition and several that were well worn away and no longer readable.
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A 1900 US Census record from Rains County, Texas shows a "John McLaughlin" living with the Martin family as a "border". If this is the same John McLaughlin, then his age is quite older than I expected. With a birth date of 1890 for his son, James Samuel McLaughlin, then the father's age was 55 at the time of James' birth, an age which is not totally unreasonable, but nonetheless somewhat older than one would expect. His marital status as widowed certainly indicates that it is the correct person.

When his wife, Jane Davis, died in 1890, he would have been 55 years old and perhaps thought himself too old to care for the infant and other children at home. Thus the reason for him sending the children to live with relatives.
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One of the difficulties in tracing just what happened to John McLaughlin following the death of his wife, Jane Davis, is that there were several John McLaughlin's born in Pennsylvania in 1835 and at least one born in July matching the supposed birth date of this John McLaughlin. Subsequent census records from 1910 onwards all show these McLaughlins still in Pennsylvania. So unless this John McLaughlin returned back to Pennsylvania, there is no record of him elsewhere.
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New information surfaced in Sep 2014 from the RootsWeb site of Mary Hitchcock, (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=m9hitchcock&id=I6412) which claims that John was remarried to Miranda Cline and had two additional children: Bertie E. McLaughlin, b. 23 Dec 1867 and Ingemisca McLaughlin, b. 1871. She also claims that John died 31 Dec 1921 in Iowa City, IA and is buried at the Oakland Cemetery there.

But the Iowa Death Certificate for that John McLaughlin who died in Iowa City on 31 Dec 1921 may not be for the correct John McLaughlin. It does say that this guy who died in 1921 was widowed and that matches what we would expect.

However, there are some problems. First is the fact that his age of 75 years at death would put his birth year at about 1846. It is thought that John McLaughlin was born in 1835 in Pennsylvania. According to the 1870 US Census in Iowa City, he was living next door to his parents and his birth year was about 1836 according to that census. According to the 1900 US Census in Rains County, TX, the John McLaughlin there was born in Jul 1835. He was shown as widowed on that census so we are assuming that this was the correct John McLaughlin. Neither of those census records match the age on the death certificate from 1921.

The next big problem is that the guy who died in 1921 was supposedly born in Ireland. This does NOT match with what we would expect. We believe that the correct John McLaughlin was born in Pennsylvania.

And finally, the name of the informant was Joe Vitosh which is a name not recognized as any relative of John McLaughlin. It could have been a well-meaning neighbor who did not know all of John's birth dates or location.
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Nov 2019: Jean Doris Lightfoot, granddaughter of John McLaughlin talked about stories that she heard from her mother, Mary Elizabeth McLaughlin, daughter of John McLaughlin. She said that John McLaughlin did not "send" his three daughters to Iowa to be raised by relatives following the death of his wife, Jane Davis, in 1890 in Texas but rather took all three of them to Iowa himself.

Apparently he shut down all his farming and cotton growing interests in Texas and moved to Iowa. For some reason, either financial or emotional, he was unable to raise the daughters on his own so he then had them raised by other siblings in Muscatine and nearby Johnson County, Iowa. He remained in the Muscatine County, Iowa area for a number of years. When his daughter Mary was married in 1904, he lived with or near Mary and her husband Lee Lightfoot. She recalled that John would frequently wander off and family members would have to go looking for him.

His daughter Mary and her new husband, Lee Lightfoot, actually moved to Emory, Texas to attempt to run the cotton farm land that was owned and abandoned by John McLaughlin. That venture must have lasted only a few years at the most and they soon returned to Muscatine.

The stories about what ever happened to John McLaughlin are lost to history; apparently he was in ill health and somewhat of a vagabond. Nobody knows for sure where he died or was buried.
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Update 24 Jan 2021:
John McLaughlin is buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City, Block 23, Lot 1, Space 14. Apparently there is no grave marker thus there never was any memorial made at Find A Grave. New memorial 306160926. ⁷

  Baptism Notes:

13 October 1836
Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

North Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia
The register of Baptisms gives his birth date as something that is different from what family records show, 1 May 1836 instead of Jul 1835. It also gives his baptism date as 13 Oct 1836.

This record is considered insufficient evidence for proof that this is the correct person especially considering the surname McLaughlin was very common in Philadelphia.
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  Death Notes:

Name: John Mc Laughlin
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 31 Dec 1921
Event Place: Iowa, Iowa, United States
Event Place: Iowa City
Gender: Male
Age: 75
Birth Year (Estimated): 1846
Certificate Number: 52294

Citing this Record
"Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q248-919L : 8 November 2017), John Mc Laughlin, 31 Dec 1921, Iowa, Iowa, United States; citing certificate #52294, State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines; FamilySearch digital folder 101784561.
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  Burial Notes:

Find a Grave Memorial ID: 306160926
Block 23, Lot 1, Space 14; No visible marker
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/306160926/john-mclaughlin: accessed 28 Aug 2026), memorial page for John McLaughlin (Jul 1835\'9631 Dec 1921), Find a Grave Memorial ID 306160926, citing Oakland Cemetery, Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa, USA; Maintained by Brian Lightfoot (contributor 47796377).
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  Noted events in his life were:

1. 1850 US Census, 14 September 1850, West Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. ³ 1850 US Census
Page 554B, Family 810, Roll 823
West Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
John Mclaughlin..14..Pennsylvania

(Living with parents.)

2. 1870 US Census, 8 August 1870, Liberty Township, Johnson, Iowa, United States. ⁴ 1870 US Census
Page 433, Family 97, Roll 400
Liberty Township, Johnson, Iowa
John McLaughlin..36..PA

(Living with the John and Mary Crothers family. His parents lived next door.)

NOTE - If his birth date was in Jul 1835, then his age should have been 34 instead of 36.

3. 1900 US Census, 1900, Rains, Texas, United States. ⁵ 1900 US Census
Sheet 1A, District 74, Family 7
Justice Precinct 1, Rains , Texas
John McLaughlin..Boarder..Jul 1835..65..PA..Widowed..Past Master (?)

(Living with the Horace W. Martin family as a "border".)

John married Jane Davis on 22 May 1882 in Rains, Texas, United States.¹ (Jane Davis was born about 1860 in Texas, United States and died in 1890 in Rains, Texas, United States.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

1. Marriage Image, 22 May 1882, Rains, Texas, United States.

  Marriage Notes:

Although her birth name was supposedly Jane, most records show her name as "Jennie".
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Family Archive #398
Marriage Index: Texas, "CD-ROM"
McLaughlin, John
Spouse: Davis, Jane
Marriage Date: May 22, 1882
County: Rains
Source: Library of Congress reference number (book); Reference Number : 976.4 275V2a.
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There is not much known about the McLaughlin family or where they came from. Only the census records show that Mary McLaughlin had a sister and a brother who were also sent to Iowa to live with or near an Aunt who was living there. What happened to their father, John McLaughlin, after his wife died in 1890 remains a little clouded. There are several John McLaughlins who show up in various areas including the Iowa area but without knowing any other family history, it is impossible to know for sure if he was one of them.

And practically nothing is known at all about the Davis family history. Only family rumors indicate that she was from the Dallas, TX area. But trying to trace a person with the name of Davis in Texas without knowing any specifics is impossible. The name is just too common.
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