Gaston, Joseph.  "The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912."  Vol. 3. 
Chicago, Clarke Publishing Co., 1912. p. 151.
 
WILLIAM LAUGHLIN

     who is living retired in Yamhill, was for many years successfully
identified with general agricultural pursuits in this state and is now the owner
of seven hundred and forty acres of valuable land.  His birth occurred in
Missouri on the 13th of October, 1830, his parents being Samuel and Nancy (Doty)
Laughlin, who were natives of South Carolina and North Carolina respectively.
They were married in Missouri and remained residents of that state for nineteen
years or until 1847, when they came across the plains to Oregon, stopping on
Wapato lake in Yamhill county.  Subsequently Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin each took up
a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres but the latter died before
proving up her claim and, owing to a new law which was passed about that time,
her land was returned to the government.  Samuel Laughlin, however, resided on
his claim and successfully carried on farming until called to his final rest in
1869.  Unto him and his wife were born seven children, as follows:  William, or
this review; Lee, who is a resident of Yamhill; Samuel, who passed away in 1911
at the age of seventy-six years; Delia, who is also deceased; Nancy, who is the
widow of Jacob Capps and resides in Portland, Oregon; and Lucinda and Mary, both
of whom have passed away.
     William Laughlin acquired but a limited education in his youth but
constantly augmented his knowledge by reading, experience and observation until
he became a well informed man.  When eighteen years of age he left the parental
roof and in 1849 made his way to California in search of the precious metal,
remaining in the Golden state for two years and three months.  On the expiration
of that period, in 1851, he returned to Oregon and took up a donation claim in
Yamhill county, disposing of the property, however, four years later.  He next
bought a tract of two hundred acres and was actively engaged in its cultivation
for a period of thirty-five years.  At the end of that time he purchased and
took up his abode on a farm of one hundred and ninety-five acres, residing on
the property for twelve years and then selling it to one of his sons.  Since
that time he has lived retired, making his home on a tract of fifteen acres in
Yamhill, where he owns a fine residence.  His holding embrace seven hundred and
forty acres of well improved land, tow hundred and fifty acres thereof being
under a high state of cultivation.
     In April, 1857, Mr. Laughlin was united in marriage to Miss Phoebe Roberts,
a native of Indiana and a daughter of Henry and Dinah (Behart) Roberts, who were
born in Pennsylvania and Indiana respectively.  In 1848 they began the journey
across the plains to Oregon, intending to settle in Yamhill county, but the
mother passed away when within a hundred miles of their destination.  Henry
Roberts took up a donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres near what is
now Yamhill, continuing to reside thereon until his death in 1872.  His
surviving children are two in number, namely:  Mrs. Laughlin; and Jacob, living
in Wasco county, Oregon.
     Unto our subject and his wife were born sixteen children, as follows:
Bedford Henry, fifty-three years of age, who resides at Forest Grove, Oregon;
Charles, who is fifty-one years old and makes his home near Roseburg, Oregon;
George, forty-nine years of age, who is a resident of Fairbanks, Alaska;
Abraham, forty-four years old, who is living in Yamhill county, this state;
Mary, forty-three years of age, who is the widow of William P. Tait and resides
in Roseburg, Oregon; William R., who is forty years old and lives on the
homestead; Samuel, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work;
Benjamin F., who makes his home in Yamhill county and is thirty-six years of
age; Alice, thirty-four years of age, who is the wife of Carl Trullinger, of
Yamhill; Leona, thirty-two years old, who is the wife of M. A. Holder and makes
her home in California; Delia, thirty years of age, who is the wife of A. L.
Richardson, of Portland; Crystal, twenty-nine years of age, who also makes her
home in Portland; Effie, Elmer and Edith, all of whom are deceased; and one who
died in infancy.  All of the children enjoyed excellent educational advantages,
some of them being graduates of the State Normal School at Monmouth and
following the profession of teaching.
     Mr. Laughlin is a stanch republican in politics but has never sought nor
desired office as a reward for his party fealty.  He has now passed the
eighty-first milestone on life's journey and enjoys the respect and veneration
which should ever be accorded one who has traveled thus far on his earthly
pilgrimage and whose career has been at all times upright and honorable.  Coming
to the west when a youth of seventeen, he has since remained in this part of the
country and has gained an enviable measure of success in the utilization of its
opportunities.


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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2007 by Diana Smith. Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.