James H. Laughlin (March 1, 1806 – December 18, 1882) was an Irish-American banker and capitalist, a pioneer of the iron and steel industry in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Early life
He was born near
Portaferry in
County Down, Ireland, the son of Jane (née Boyd) Laughlin (1763–1814) and James Laughlin, Sr. (1748–1831).[1] Among his siblings was brother Alexander Laughlin, whose son, Alexander J. Laughlin married Mary Franklin Jones (a daughter of his business partner
Benjamin Franklin Jones).[2]
He was educated at Belfast, and after leaving school he assisted his father in taking care of his estate until age twenty, when his mother died in 1814 and the family came to
America. Upon his arrival he entered into partnership with his brother Alexander.[2]
He was a founder of the Pennsylvania Female College,[3] which later became
Chatham University.
Personal life
In 1837, Laughlin was married to Ann McCully Irwin (1813–1891), a daughter of Boyle Irwin and Eliza (née McCully) Irwin.[9] Together, they were the parents of:
Henry Alexander Laughlin (1838–1922), who married Alice B. Denniston in 1860. After her death in 1873, he married Mary B. Reed, a daughter of Colin McFarquhar Reed, in 1876.[10]
Irwin Boyle Laughlin (1840–1871), who married Mary Wood Bissell, a daughter of John Bissell, in 1870.[11]
^Cutter, William Richard (1926).
American Biography: A New Cyclopedia. Pub. under the direction of the American Historical Society. p. 17. Retrieved 5 May 2023.