Maj. George McCully Laughlin and Isabelle Bowman McKennan
Husband Maj. George McCully Laughlin 1 2 3
Born: 21 Oct 1842 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 3 4 Christened: Died: 11 Dec 1908 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 4 Buried:
Father: James Laughlin (1806/1807-1882) 5 6 Mother: Ann McCully Irwin (1813-1891) 5 7
Marriage: 16 Nov 1865 8 9
Wife Isabelle Bowman McKennan 1 8
AKA: Isabel B. McKannan 9 Born: 10 Oct 1843 10 Christened: Died: 5 Dec 1891 - New York City, NY 1 9 10 Buried:
Father: Judge William McKennan (1816-1893) 11 12 13 Mother: Pauline Gertrude de Fontevieux (1821-1886) 14 15
Children
1 M William McKennan Laughlin 16
Born: Mar 1868 10 Christened: Died: 12 May 1873 10 Buried:Spouse: Did Not Marry
2 M Irwin Boyle Laughlin 9 17
Born: 16 Apr 1871 17 Christened: Died: Buried:
3 M George M. Laughlin, Jr. 9 17
Born: 25 Feb 1873 17 Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: Henrietta Speer ( - ) 17
4 M Thomas K. Laughlin 9 17
Born: 16 Mar 1875 17 Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: Lucy H. Herron ( - ) 17 Marr: 3 Jan 1903 17
5 F Paulin Gertrude Laughlin 16
Born: Sep 1877 10 Christened: Died: 29 Jun 1880 10 Buried:Spouse: Did Not Marry
General Notes: Husband - Maj. George McCully Laughlin
He was educated in private schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in Washington and Jefferson College. He was a member of the class that completed the course in 1863, but at the close of his junior year left college to enlist as a volunteer in the Union army. He was mustered as a private, but immediately received from the governor a commission as second lieutenant of Company E, 155th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. This military service was begun in August, 1862, and continued without interruption until the surrender of Lee and the close of the war. He participated in every engagement of the Army of the Potomac from Antietam to Appomattox. His courageous performance of every duty in the campaigns and marches of the Fifth Army Corps won for him deserved promotion until he attained the rank of captain of Company E, 155th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and finally was brevetted major for "distinguished services" in the battle of Quaker Road, Virginia. His last year of service was on detached duty as member of the staff of Major General Charles Griffin, who was placed in command of the Fifth Army Corps by General Sheridan during the battle of Five Forks, and continued on staff duty to the close of the war.
Through the fortune of war, Major Laughlin was destined to perform, in the campaigns of General Grant, conspicuous service in both the opening and closing of the series of battles that practically ended the rebellion. On the morning of May 5, 1864, when the Fifth Army Corps, commanded by General Warren, leading the advance of the Union army, penetrated "The Wilderness", several companies of the 155th Regiment, with details from other regiments, were ordered to serve on the advance line, and Captain Laughlin was assigned to the important duty of commanding this advance. These skirmishers were slowly pushing their way through the many obstructions in the dense woods, unable to see the enemy concealed in the thick foliage. Up to this time no shot had been fired by either side. Captain Laughlin, hearing noises from unseen troops, ordered the men in his command to fire in the direction of the noises to check the advance of the enemy. The orders were promptly obeyed, and when firing opened the enemy responded and the battle then opened all along the line, and continued with great fury and heavy losses on both sides during the entire day. The distinction of ordering the first shot in the opening of the sanguinary battle of "The Wilderness" was thus earned by Captain Laughlin. At Appomattox, April 9, 1765, the 155th Regiment was in advance of the Fifth Army Corps in pursuit of the retreating Confederate Army under Generals Longstreet and Gordon. In the midst of the severe fire from infantry and artillery at the final stand made by the enemy, a mounted Confederate courier, with a flag of truce, rode rapidly across the space between the two armies, and reached that part of the skirmish line held by the 155th, and explaining his commission, was conducted to General Griffin, commanding the Fifth Army Corps. General Griffin directed Captain Laughlin, then serving on his staff, to ride out to the advance skirmish line, still under the enemy's fire, and order each regiment engaged to "cease firing". In discharging this hazardous duty, Captain Laughlin rode along the Union battle line under the continuous and severe fire of the Confederates, and, returning, reported to General Griffin, compliance with his orders. The Confederates not ceasing the heavy fire, the General at once ordered Captain Laughlin to return to the advance skirmish line and deliver to each command orders to "resume firing". These orders were delivered by Captain Laughlin and firing was at once resumed by the Union skirmishers and continued until the firing along the Confederate line ceased. Captain Laughlin was then dispatched to the battle line with General Griffin's final orders to all the regiments to "cease firing". No hostile shot was fired by either army after this last command had been delivered, and the peace at Appomattox was assured. It is thus a noteworthy fact, even amidst all the famous actions of a great war, that one individual should deliver the orders that opened and closed one of the greatest campaigns in history. General Griffin was one of the three commanders designated by General Grant to arrange the details of the surrender of Lee's army, and Captain Laughlin accompanied him as personal aide, and was therefore witness of the meeting between Generals Grant and Lee at the McLean House at Appomattox, where the terms of surrender were agreed upon. Captain Laughlin was mustered out with his regiment at Harrisburg in June, 1865.
Upon returning home immediately after the close of the war, he associated himself with the firm of Jones & Laughlin in the iron and steel industry. His active participation in the affairs of this concern continued for thirty-five years. His retirement as vice-chairman of the board in 1900, marking the beginning of a period of comparative leisure, in which he indulged himself as the evening of life came on. For nearly two decades he was treasurer and vice-chairman of the old firm of Jones & Laughlin (Limited), retaining that position until the re-organization of the concern as the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company, when the active management of the affairs of the company were assumed by the second and third generations of the original founders. He remained, however, a director and member of the advisory board until his death. During all these years he was a power in the steel world, as the deaths of the founders, the late B. F. Jones and the late James Laughlin, threw the burden of the business on the second generation. Major Laughlin was also connected with some of the conspicuous financial organizations of Pittsburgh. He was one of the incorporators of the Keystone National Bank of Pittsburgh, and a director from its beginning until his death. He also served the bank as president from 1899 until his death. He was one of the incorporators of the Pittsburgh Trust Company, and a director from its organization until his death. "We bear testimony", declared the directors of the Trust Company at a meeting soon after his death, "that the responsibility of office was not lightly esteemed by him, and when in the city and able to be there, he was never absent from his place on the board. His mental gifts enabled him to quickly and accurately understand a proposition and the clearness of vision and open-mindedness with which he thoroughly analyzed every question, made his conclusions convincing. In our intercourse with him we found not only an ideal banker, but a most genial friend. We knew him in times of financial ease and financial stress, as never rendered careless by the former nor dismayed by the latter. His judgment was disinterested and sound, and we will miss his counsel more than language can express".
In religion he was a Presbyterian, and had been a member of the Shady Side Presbyterian Church for forty years, and was at one time a trustee. In politics he was a staunch Republican. Major Laughlin was most liberal in his charities and benefactions, and both during his life and after his death, charitable organizations and hospitals, as well as the worthy poor, benefited greatly by his quiet and unostentatious generosity. His old alma mater, Washington and Jefferson College, which he left as a young man to go to the front as a soldier, especially benefited by his liberality, for he willed to this institution a fund without designation, which, however, the college authorities after his death saw fit to employ as an endowment fund for two professorships to bear his name and that of his wife. In recognition of his patriotic services and business ability, no less than for his scholarship and personal character, the trustees of Washington and Jefferson College conferred on him the degree of master of arts.
Major Laughlin was a member of the Duquesne, Pittsburgh and Union Clubs, and of the Pittsburgh Golf Club. He had a membership in the National Arts Club of New York City, and was a member of the Manufacturers' Club of Philadelphia. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the Loyal Legion, and of the Sons of the Revolution.
1 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 101.
2 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 829.
3 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. IV (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 216.
4 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 834.
5 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 831, 947.
6 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. IV (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 214.
7 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. IV (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 215.
8 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 834, 1645.
9 John W. Jordan, LL.D, A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People, Vol. IV (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908), Pg 217.
10 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1645.
11 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 252.
12 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 99.
13 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 834, 1644.
14 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 100.
15 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1646.
16 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 837, 1645.
17
John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 837.
Home | Table of Contents | Surnames | Name List
This Web Site was Created 15 Apr 2023 with Legacy 9.0 from Millennia