James '40 Acres' McLaughlin (1821-1911)
James McLaughlin was one of nine children born to William McLaughlin Sr. (1793-1853) and Molly Quigley (1796-1856) in Ireland. Their home was on the western shore of the peninsula of Inishowen on the east shore of Lough Swilly (pronounced Sooley) in the hamlet of Linsfort Glebe in the Parish of Desertegny in County Donegal, 14 miles from the city of Londonderry.

James McLaughlin (1821-1911) was the first member of his family to leave Ireland for the United States, emigrating in 1848, then sending for his wife, Ann McKinney (1822-1888). By the time she left for the United States all three of their young children were dead, starvation victims during the potato famine. James and Ann McLaughlin settled in Skaneateles, NY. He bought 40 acres in Skaneateles, started a teasel business, and picked up a new nickname. After his son, James Jr., was born, "40 Acres" McLaughlin also became known as James McLaughlin Sr.

(There was another James McLaughlin in Skaneateles at the time, also from County Donegal. He probably was a first cousin of "40 Acres" McLaughlin, and a very interesting character whose death kicked off a legal battle.)

The eleven children of James and Ann include Mary, Donald and William, all of whom died in Ireland, and eight who were born in the United States – sons James Jr., Dennis, William, John, Daniel, Hugh and Cornelius, and daughter Margaret. For some there are more detailed family trees on separate pages.

Photo of James McLaughlin (right) is from "Notable Men of Central New York," Dwight J. Stoddard, publisher (1903)

This is the cemetery in Linsfort Glebe where the three young children of James and Ann McLaughlin are buried. The photo was taken in 2002 by Maureen McLaughlin Lester, youngest daughter of Edward F. McLaughlin.

William McLaughlin (1853-1914)
William McLaughlin was the second son of James "40 Acres" McLaughlin and his wife, Ann McKinney to be so named. The first William was born and died in Ireland during the potato famine. Two other McLaughlin children born in Ireland also died.

As for this Skaneateles-born William McLaughlin, I found no mention of him in "The History of the McLaughlin Family," which is strange because he was the central figure in one of the most tragic and bizarre stories in the family's American experience. Eventually this story had a happy twist, at least in the newspaper telling, but unfortunately the tale is like an iceberg – most of it lies well below the surface. For what is known, read "William McLaughlin was lost for 19 years".

There also seems to be confusion over two Williams McLaughlins who were about the same age. The other one was born in Ireland and was the son Cornelius McLaughlin who returned to Ireland and left the teenaged William in the care of his brother, James "40 Acres" McLaughlin. This William McLaughlin is mentioned in the book about the McLaughlin family.

The family tree that follows, such as it is, belongs to the forgotten William McLaughlin. By 1880, according to that year's census, this William was married to Anna Conroy (1854-1942) and at that time had two children.

A complete list of their children is an educated guess, based on St. Mary's Cemetery Records, the 1880 census and a newspaper account of William McLaughlin's 20-year disappearance. The newspaper account and the cemetery date for the death of the fourth McLaughlin child (in a five-year period) do not agree, nor does the age of William McLaughlin, who, according to the newspaper story, was born in 1860 (again reflecting confusion between the two Williams who grew up in the home of James "40 Acres" McLaughlin.)

Anna and William McLaughlin had a tragic life, losing four of their six children within four years. This series of tragedies was offered as an explanation for William McLaughlin's state of mind when he abruptly deserted his family.

However, no story of his disappearance accounts for the children who survived, or that Anna McLaughlin was pregnant with her seventh child at the time. Shortly after her husband's disappearance, she left Skaneateles and moved to Fulton, New York.

After William was found by his brother, James McLaughlin Jr., he and his wife were reunited and lived in Fulton. After his death in 1914, she moved to Syracuse.

Their children:

John McLaughlin Sr. (1854-1934)
John McLaughlin was a partner in the McLaughlin Brothers teasel firm. He also was mayor of Skaneateles in 1903. He and James McLaughlin Jr. and Dennis McLaughlin arranged for the installation of electrical power at the Glenside Woolen Mills in Skaneateles Falls. Dennis was the engineer in charge at Glenside. At the same time John McLaughlin arranged for installation of transmittal lines to supply electrical power to the village of Skaneateles, which led to the formation of the Skaneateles Municipal Power Company.

John McLaughlin and Elizabeth "Libby" Kerwin (1857-1939) were married December 11, 1878. They had two sons:

Margaret McLaughlin (1859-1910)
Margaret married Dr. Dennis J. McLaughlin (1857-1909). They moved to Philadelphia, where Dennis J. McLaughlin was born.

His father was Hugh McLaughlin, who was born in Ireland about 1830 and emigrated to Philadelphia with his wife, Catherine. Their son, Dennis J. McLaughlin, became a doctor, practicing for awhile in Skaneateles Falls, New York, where he lived with James "40 Acres" McLaughlin and his family, which included Margaret McLaughlin.

Margaret and Dr. Dennis J. McLaughlin had seven children. Their first born, Daniel, also became a doctor, but died in 1906, at the age of 25. His father died just three years later, and nine months after that Margaret passed away. (Obituaries follow.)

Subject of the following obituary is a grandson of Margaret and Dr. Dennis J. McLaughlin. Among his survivors are five grandchildren not included in the family tree above.