John McLaughlin and his twin sister, Helen (aka Ellen) McLaughlin (see below), were children of Molly Quigley and William McLaughlin Sr. The 1880 US census lists John McLaughlin as a blacksmith born in Ireland.

Notes in a Bible belonging to Rose McLaughlin Major say John McLaughlin married Mary McGrory, also from Desertegny, and that they sailed for the United States in 1851, arriving in New York on December 7 aboard a ship called Vanguard. They settled in Skaneateles, but moved to Louisville, KY, in 1858.

They had a son, Willie McLaughlin, who survived only 11 days after he was born, Dec. 12, 1858. Mary McGrory McLaughlin died in Louisville in 1864 at the age of 30. She and Willie are buried in Louisville's Portland Cemetery.

John McLaughlin returned to Skaneateles in 1868. His second wife was Mary Casey (1842-1907). They are buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Skaneateles, NY. They had five children:

Will the real John McLaughlin
please identify himself?
One thing that jumps out at anyone researching Irish ancestors is how many people in the every extended family shared the same name. While looking for articles about my maternal great-grandfather, John McLaughlin (above), I came upon this article. I'm not sure whether — or how — all these John McLaughlins were related, but I wouldn't be surprised if all of them could be found on branches of the same family tree.

Helen McLaughlin is identified in "This History of the McLaughlin Family" as Mary Ellen McLaughlin, which likely is a mistake because that would have given her parents, Anna Quigley and William McLaughlin Sr., two daughters named Mary. It is possible she was named Ellen, though her name appears more often as Helen.

"This History of the McLaughlin Family" also says she and husband Timothy Donohue (1833-1913) and lived in Schenectady. That is not correct, though their son, Timothy E. Donohue, left his native Skaneateles and settled in Schenectady, where he worked for General Electric. In keeping with the It's-a-Small-World-After-All theme of this family project, Timothy E. Donohue was married to Margaret Major, a daughter of Charles J. and Margaret (Mallon) Major.

Helen McLaughlin Donohue and her husband remained in Skaneateles. Their other three children were sons, John P. (or T.) Donohue, who settled in Fulton, and Robert D. Donohue, who moved to New York City, and daughter, Anna, who remained in Skaneateles and lived with her parents, though she later moved to Utica. A few years after her husband's death (obituary below), Helen McLaughlin Donohue moved to Schenectady and lived with her son, Timothy.

Helen McLaughlin Donohue died in Schenectady on January 31, 1922, about 10 weeks before the death of her twin brother, John McLaughlin (1832-1922).

In 1915 Skaneateles staged an elaborate Old Home Week celebration. Among the activities was an Oldest Resident Contest. An article in the Syracuse Post-Standard (Friday, August 20, 1915) mentioned Mrs. Timothy Donohue, who thought she had resided continuously in Skaneateles longer than any other person — 61 years.

However, contest judges found other residents who had been there longer. The winner was Mortimer Newell, born in Skaneateles in 1832 and who claimed he was never absent from the town more than 20 days at a stretch.