Gaston, Joseph.  "Oregon Pictorial and Biographical."  Chicago: S. J. Clarke
Publishing Co., 1912. p. 435.
 
LEE LAUGHLIN

     is one whose life interests have been closely associated with the progress
and development of Yamhill county.  His activity in the business and political
affairs of Yamhill, where he now resides, has shown that he is not wanting in
those essential features of judgment and integrity which win the success due to
the man displaying them.  The intimate connection he has had with the
development of Yamhill has proved his foresight, sound judgment and altruism.
     Mr. Laughlin was born in Lincoln county, Missouri, January 17, 1833.  His
father, Samuel Laughlin, was a native of Pendleton district, South Carolina,
while his mother, Nancy (Doughty) Laughlin was a native of Buncombe county,
North Carolina.  They were married in Missouri, where they lived for seventeen
years.  The father had been previously married and had lived in Missouri seven
years.  By his first union there were seven children, all of whom are now
deceased.  In 1847, crossing the plains to Oregon, Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin settled
in Yamhill county and each took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty
acres.  Mrs. Laughlin's death occurred before she had proved her claim and it
reverted to the government under the ruling of the donation law.  Mr. Laughlin,
however, lived upon his original three hundred and twenty acres throughout the
remainder of his life, engaging in farming and stock-raising.  By his second
marriage he also had seven children, namely:  William, living retired in
Yamhill, Oregon; Lee, the subject of this sketch; Samuel, who died in 1911 at
the age of seventy-six years; Delia, who married William Smith and both are now
deceased; Nancy, the widow of J. D. Capps, of Portland; Lucinda, who married J.
W. Sapington but both have now passed away; and Mary, the deceased wife of G. W.
Sapington, also deceased.
     When but sixteen years old Lee Laughlin started to make his own way in the
world.  Lured by the report of gold in California, he and a number of companions
eventually worked their way to Trinity river after various prospecting trips.
the rainy season began after he had worked about two and one-half months and Mr.
Laughlin found himself without employment in a strange country and without the
provisions necessary for existence.  Forced by these conditions, he walked the
greater part of the way to San Francisco, from which place he set sail in a
bark, the Ann Smith, of which Captain Flandres was master, for Portland and
proceeded north by ocean to the mouth of the Columbia river.  Reaching home, he
remained there until 1851, but gold mining again seemed to make a stronger
appeal than farming and for the second time Mr. Laughlin set out for California.
He found however that there was little gold to be dug at Yreka and was soon back
home in Oregon.  After farming for one year he took a three years' course of
study at the Tualitin Academy and the Pacific University.  About the time he
finished this work the Indian war broke out and his love of adventure led him to
enlist as a volunteer in that treacherous war.  He actively served for three
months.
     On October 8, 1856, Mr. Laughlin was married to Emma Stewart, a daughter of
Benjamin and Ann (Crumbaker) Stewart, of Putnam county, Ohio, who crossed the
plains with their family in 1847.  Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were both born in
Pennsylvania and died in Oregon.  They were the parents of eight children:  Mrs.
Laughlin; David C., deceased; Eminger, who resides in Grant county, Oregon;
James and Orville, both deceased; Montgomery, of Monmouth, Oregon; Frances A.,
deceased, who was the wife of John Fox, of Astoria; and Eva, the wife of John
Stewart.
     After his marriage Mr. Laughlin located on a donation claim of one hundred
and sixty acres which he had previously taken up.  He lived upon this for eight
years and then removed to Idaho, where he remained for two years.  After his
return he sold his claim and embarked in the general merchandise business in
North Yamhill.  With his partner, Francis Hauswirth, he carried on this business
successfully for eight years, but in 1874 he sold his interest and now that
leisure was again his, he started on another trip.  This time he went toward the
center of that civilization which he had helped to advance in its progress in
the west.  After visiting various points of interest he attended the Centennial
Exposition, then being held in Philadelphia.
     Upon his return to Oregon Mr. Laughlin purchased a farm of one hundred and
eighty acres, immediately adjoining the town of Yamhill.  This was a business
deal, contracted purely as such, for instead of engaging in agricultural
pursuits upon it he sold it in a very short time in two separate tracts.  In
1877 he again engaged in mercantile business, entering into a partnership in
Yamhill, which connection lasted for nine years.  At the end of that time he
sold out and built himself the very substantial and comfortable residence which
he now occupies.  The discontinuance of this business undertaking marked the
close of his mercantile activities.
     In politics Mr. Laughlin is an enthusiastic and vigorous supporter of the
republican party.  His first vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln.  In 1860 he
began serving his party by accepting offices.  His first position was that of
county assessor of Yamhill county and he acted in that capacity during 1860 and
1861.  In 1870 he was elected to the Oregon state legislature and again to the
same office in 1874.  His third election to the legislative body of his state
took place in 1880 and again her served a full term.  He introduced a resolution
before the house of representatives to amend the state constitution, striking
out the work "male" from the qualification of the electors, thus giving woman
equal suffrage with man.  This resolution was passed by the house and
subsequently by the senate but when finally submitted to the vote of the people
of the state was defeated.
     In his own city he showed his public spirit and interest in the general
welfare by an active support of the public schools, serving for many years as
director.  He also acted as president of the city council for several terms.  In
March, 1888, Mr. Laughlin was one of the organizers of the McMinnville National
Bank at McMinnville, Oregon, and was its first vice president.  This office he
held for eight years and upon the death of the president was unanimously elected
to fill the vacancy, an office which he was particularly well qualified to hold.
After eleven years' service as president, Mr. Laughlin felt that the arduous
duties of the position were too great for him to assume any longer and he
retired from the presidency but is still a director.
     In 1901 Mr. Laughlin was called upon to mourn the death of his first wife,
who died February 11, at the age of sixty-three years.  In 1904 he married Miss
Ama Brown and by this union has one child, Lee Laughlin, Jr., born October 23,
1905.  The family now reside in a very fine home, which is one of the most
beautiful residences of Yamhill and adds much to the attractiveness of the city.
     Mr. Laughlin's influence has been felt throughout the state of Oregon.  As
an agriculturist, a merchant, a banker, a politician, a legislator, and as a
citizen he has held the confidence of all with whom he came in contact, and this
confidence has never been misplaced.  To such men as Mr. Laughlin a community
and a state owe a lasting debt which can be partially eradicated by grateful
appreciation and by a continuance of the valuable and broad lines of work their
activities have established.
 
 
Transcriber's additional notes:
 
This same biography appears in:
 
 
"The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811 - 1912"
Author: Joseph Gaston
S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.; Chicago; 1912
Vol. 4, Page 92


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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in December 2006 by Diana Smith. Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.