Kings County CA Archives Biographies.....McLaughlin, Stiles A. January 3, 1852 - May 17, 1928 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Steve Harrison raleighwood@juno.com May 12, 2010, 7:46 pm Source: History of Tulare and Kings Counties California with Biographical Sketches Author: Eugene L. Menefee “STILES A. McLAUGHLIN The McLaughlin family, to which belongs Stiles A. McLaughlin, originated in Scotland. His grandfather, John McLaughlin, lived in Pennsylvania. His father was William Harrison McLaughlin and was a native of Pennsylvania, where he grew up and learned the trade of carriage maker, later removing to Ohio. Following his trade there for a short time he engaged in merchandising and various other pursuits with varying success. It was in Ashtabula county, Ohio, that Stiles A. was born January 3, 1852. When he was about ten years old his parents moved to Pennsylvania, and after a residence there of six years they went to Illinois, where they remained for a like period. The changes of time brought the younger McLaughlin to California when he was about twenty-one years old. He worked in Yolo county about a year, then came to Lemoore, Kings county, and soon afterward acquired a land claim half a mile south of that town. He relinquished it, however, and bought forty acres, bounded on one side by the city line, which he planted to fruit trees and retained until 1902, when he sold it to advantage. He then bought forty acres west of the forty just referred to and eighty acres adjoining this last purchase. After having lived there six years, he sold forty acres of the property, retaining the eighty acres, forty of which is in vineyard, and moved to Lemoore. In these various real estate deals he was quite successful, gradually accumulating money and land until he has come to be considered one of the well-to-do men of that part of the county. He is a director of the First National Bank of Lemoore and has been in one way or another identified with several interests of importance. His public spirit impelled him to accept the nomination of his party for membership of the Board of Supervisors of Kings county. He was three times elected and served continuously from November, 1895, to December, 1906. Local lodges of Free & Accepted Masons, Woodmen of the World and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows include Mr. McLaughlin in their membership. In 1876 he married Mary Wright, daughter of Samuel Wright, a pioneer of 1868 in Kings county, who made his mark as a farmer and stockman. They have children as follows: Wilmot Wright, of Lemoore; Aimee, wife of Samuel McCorkle, of Dinuba; Mary, who is a clerk in the postoffice [sic] at Lemoore; and Elmira, a student in the high school. In April, 1912, Mr. McLaughlin completed his comfortable brick residence on West D street, which is up-to-date in every respect and adds greatly to the residence district of Lemoore, being most tasteful and attractive in design and appearance. The Wright family of which Mrs. McLaughlin is a member came originally from England and were old Virginia settlers, coming to Ohio in the early part of the nineteenth century. Later they removed to Iowa, whence Mrs. McLaughlin's parents, Samuel and Amelia A. (Orton) Wright, came overland to California in 1849. Mrs. Wright is of Scotch ancestry and is now making her home at Lemoore, bright and active at the advanced age of eighty-four.” END Additional Comments: History of Tulare and Kings Counties California with Biographical Sketches. Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1913. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/kings/bios/mclaughl921bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/ File size: 3.9 Kb