Hines, H. K. "An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon." Chicago: Lewis
Pub. Co. 1893.  p. 705.
 
HON. ROBERT R. LAUGHLIN

     A representative citizen of North Yam Hill, and an Oregon pioneer of 1847,
is a native of the State of Missouri, born October 23, 1828.  Of his life and
ancestry we make the following record:
     Samuel Laughlin, his father, was born in South Carolina, December 2, 1791.
The Laughlins, are of Irish ancestry.  Three brothers emigrated from the Emerald
Isle to America in 1650, and settled in the South.  One of these three was the
ancestor of our subject.  Grandfather James Laughlin was born in the South,
there married a Miss Dalrymple, and had a family of eight of nine children, of
whom Samuel was the oldest.  They emigrated to Kentucky, and later to Missouri,
where in 1815, Samuel Laughlin married Miss Naomi Morrow.  He continued to
reside in Missouri until 1847, when he and his family, with the exception of
three sons and a married daughter, came to Oregon.  Robert R. spent his
birthday, October 23, 1847, on a raft on his way down the Columbia river.  Some
of the company had the measles.  Two men belonging to their party who went in
advance of the others, were overpowered by the Indians, had their guns and
clothes stolen, and were turned loose naked.  A few of the emigrants' animals
were stolen, but aside from this they came through unmolested.  They came direct
to North Yam Hill, and the father purchased a squatter's right to a section of
land, located two miles and a half north of where the town is now situated.
Here he improved his farm and spent the rest of his life.  His death occurred on
the 22d of June, 1869.  Our subject's mother died when he was two weeks old, and
the father married a second wife.  By each he had seven children.  The second
wife died in Oregon of consumption, a year and a half after their arrival here.
Samuel Laughlin, although a Southern gentleman and a Jackson Democrat, detested
human slavery, and when the Republican party was formed in Oregon he became an
active worker in its ranks.  He was a man of the highest moral integrity, and
was one of Oregon's most honored pioneers.
     In the West at that time a broad field of action was afforded to the
ambitious and adventurous young man, and the subject of our sketch was a
participant in many a thrilling adventure.  When the Cayuse war broke out he
enlisted in Captain Burnett's company, and aided in running the Indians out of
the State.  During the gold excitement in California he went overland to the
mining districts, but was taken sick and came near dying.  After his recovery he
was engaged in teaming from Stockton to the mines, and was also for a time
interested in the stock business, driving cattle to the mines.  In 1851 he
returned to Oregon, making the journey by water, and in June of the following
year purchased the Snowden donation claim.  Mr. Snowden had built a cabin on it
in 1846, and had sold out to a Mr. Gates, of whom Mr. Laughlin made his
purchase.  He has since continued to reside on this place.  At first he had only
160 acres, and from time to time he has added to this until he had 404 acres.
He now has 324 acres, having given eighty acres to his oldest son.  As the
country developed he built a warehouse, and in addition to his farming
operations was engaged in buying and shipping grain.  He has been prosperous in
his undertakings, and is now in affluent circumstances.  He is a stockholder in
the McMinnville National Bank, and has built a commodious and attractive
residence on his farm, adjoined North Yam Hill.
     November 10, 1852, Mr. Laughlin married Miss Nancy L. Griffin.  They had
two children:  one of whom, W. Wirt Laughlin, now resides near his father; the
other having died.  Mrs. Laughlin departed this life March 19, 1879, on May 21,
1871, Mr. Laughlin married Miss Anna M. Willis.  Of their seven children, two
are deceased, one dying at the age of three months and the other at eleven
years.  Those living are Clarence C., Ella Maud, Chester Willis, Edna Bell and
Inez Cleopatra.
     Mr. Laughlin has been a Republican since the organization of that party.
During the late war he raised and drilled a company of volunteers, and was
commissioned Captain by Governor Gibbs.  In 1866 he was elected a member of the
Oregon State Legislature, and during his term of service it was his privilege to
vote for the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
     Soon after the adjournment of this Legislature, Mrs. Laughlin's health
being very poor, Mr. Laughlin started to the Eastern States with her, but she
became worse and had to return home from San Francisco.  Mr. Laughlin continued
on his journey, going by way of Panama, and on returning to his Oregon home he
brought with him his wife's sister and family, Mrs. Warner, two daughters and a
son, from Kansas, arriving March 9, 1867.
     Again, in 1876, Mr. Laughlin went East a second time, this time taking with
him his second wife.  They visited many places, including Canada, the country of
his wife's birth, and spent two weeks at the great Centennial Exposition at
Philadelphia.  Being there on the Fourth of July, they heard the new bell ring
at Independence Hall for the first time for the new century.  Leaving that city
on the 5th of July, they arrived home on the 21st.
     Mr. Laughlin has also served two years as a Justice of the Peace.  In 1886
he was again elected to the State Legislature, and was re-elected in 1888.
During the last term he served on several important committees.  Mr. Laughlin
was one of the organizers of the North Yam Hill Grange, and was Master of the
order for three and a half years.  He is also a member of the Indian War
Veterans, of which he served as Captain one year.  Mr. Laughlin is a man of more
than ordinary intelligence and ability, and has made a record in the history of
his State, of which he has reason to be proud

*******************

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