James C. McLaughlin

Who was James C. McLaughlin?

James Campbell McLaughlin was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.

McLaughlin was born in Beardstown, Illinois. His parents, David and Isabella McLaughlin, had come from Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1851 and settled in Beardstown. The family moved to Muskegon, Michigan, in 1864, and David became a leading attorney in Muskegon. He served on the Muskegon School Board for 25 years and was the secretary for 19 years.

McLaughlin attended the public schools of Muskegon and graduated from high school in 1876. After a preparatory course, he entered the literary department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the fall of 1878, but did not graduate. He became an assistant to his father and later worked at a bank. In the summer of 1880, he worked as an office clerk and bookkeeper in a law office, and studied the law. He entered the law department of the University of Michigan in the fall of 1881 and graduated in 1883. In the same year, he was admitted to the bar, and joined his father's law firm in Muskegon.

After his father's death in 1891, he had his own practice until 1899, when he formed the firm, J.C. & J.A. McLaughlin, with a cousin as the junior partner.