Thomas Cowden Laughlin (1868 - 1945)

Born 26 Mar 1868 in Millwood Township, Guernsey, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Died 21 Aug 1945 at age 77 in Seattle, King, Washington, United States

Biography

Son of John Wilson Laughlin and Margaret Jane Cowden. Never married. His birth date is given as 1868, 1870 and 1876. The 1868 birth date fits with the 1870 Census and the date on his death certificate.

Dr. Thomas Wilson Cowden trained as a Biblical scholar and taught at various schools. About 1923 he gave up his teaching and academic career and came to Vashon Island in western Washington to raise lilies.

He attended the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. He is listed in the Harvard Alumni Directory as having received a divinity degree in 1897-1898.

He attended Princeton Theological Seminary, which is a Presbyterian school. Ph. D. Thesis, Princeton University, 1902: "The Solecisms of the Apocalypse." "The Pastoral Epistles in the light of one Roman imprisonment," 1905 by T. Cowden Laughlin [Thomas Cowden, b. 1870]

After receiving his doctorate from Princeton he studied Greek in Germany. Details have not been found.

After receiving his doctorate he taught at various schools. "Dr. Cowden Laughlin is ably holding up Princeton's end at the Shattuck School, Fairbault, Minn., one of the finest schools in the Northwest. Laughlin has had wide teaching experience since graduation, including mathematics at Parsons College, Iowa; Greek at Kenyon College, Ohio; Biblical Literature at Princeton, New Testament Literature at Pacific Seminary, California; and German at Evanston Academy and at Lake Forest Academy, Illinois. Since 1918 he has been teaching German and French at Shattuck. After graduation from Princeton Seminary, Laughlin studied two years in Germany. He received his Ph.D. degree from Princeton in 1902." Princeton Alumni Weekly, vol. 20 online at Google Books.

Why did he give his teaching and academic career? His health may be the answer. In 1933 he wrote to the Princeton Alumni Directory from his lily farm on Vashon Island, saying "I never felt better." In December 1923 he planted a row of fir trees on his five acres. He noted that lilies are a luxury, and that they were expensive to raise; he also noted that his business partner, his brother Lester, was teaching in Bellingham and was able to come only on vacation, so the bulk of the work fell to Thomas. Princeton Alumni Weekly, Vol. 33, online at Google Books.

He was with his siblings on Vashon Island, Washington, by 19 Jan 1933, according to this report by the Vashon Island News-Record: "Mistletoe On Vashon Island – It is not generally known that the mistletoe grows here. North of the Vashon high school and a few rods east of the Goodwill Farm is an area of about four or five acres where there are no trees but a real bog of a species of beautiful golden sphagnum moss, two to four feet deep. On the northeast corner of this bog is a leaning fir tree, stretching its length over the moss and so low that you can reach the branches. This tree was covered with mistletoe when I last saw it. Several years ago Dr. Cowden Laughlin, his brother Lester, his sister, Miss Emma Laughlin, and I, were exploring this bog, when Miss Emma exclaimed: “Look at the mistletoe.” The old tree was covered with the plants, a vigorous growth and full of berries. Miss Laughlin, by the way, is a thoroughly equipped botanist and teaches the science in some eastern institution. – Steven J. Harmeling." ^[1]

In 1930 he was a horticulturist involved in lily bulbs, living in Quartermaster Precinct, King County, Washington, age 62. ^[2]

In 1940 he was a nurseryman involved in agriculture, living in Ellisport, King County, Washington, age 72. ^[3]

Died of cardiac failure due to post-operative shock. Died at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. ^[4]

Obituary in the Quaker City, Ohio Home Towner August 1945 Cowden Laughlin buried 23 Aug 1945 at Vashon Island Cemetery, King County, Washington ^[5]

Grave marker has 1876 birth date which is wrong. Death certificate has 26 Mar 1868 birthdate. ^[6]

Census Records

1870 Census, Millwood Township, Guernsey, Ohio: ^[7]

1880 Census, Warren, Belmont, Ohio: Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

John W Laughlin Self Male 43 Ohio, United States

Margart J Laughlin Wife Female 40 Ohio, United States

Emma E Laughlin Daughter Female 13 Ohio, United States

Thomas C Laughlin Son Male 12 Ohio, United States

Alburt W Laughlin Son Male 9 Ohio, United States

David H Laughlin Son Male 9 Ohio, United States

James N Laughlin Son Male 8 Ohio, United States

John C Laughlin Son Male 4 Ohio, United States

Palmer H Laughlin Son Male 1 Ohio, United States

Wilber Rutto Other Male 20 Ohio, United States

Mary J Foreman Other Female 17 Ohio, United States

^[8]

1900 Census, Warren, Belmont, Ohio: Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

John Laughlin Head Male 63 Ohio

Emma E Laughlin Daughter Female 34 Ohio

Thomas C Laughlin Son Male 32 Ohio

Palmer H Laughlin Son Male 22 Ohio

Liela Jane Laughlin Daughter Female 19 Ohio

Lester M Laughlin Son Male 17 Ohio

^[9]

Not found in 1910 Census.

1920 Census, Rice County, Minnesota: Instructor at the Shattuck School. Single, age 50, b. Ohio, as were parents. ^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ http://www.vashonhistory.com/Vashon%20History/Newspaaper/newspaper_1933.htm
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC3M-XWW : accessed 19 November 2019), Cowden Laughlin, Quartermaster, King, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 350, sheet 2B, line 63, family 57, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2490; FHL microfilm 2,342,224.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K99Y-ZX5 : 27 July 2019), Cowden Laughlin, Ellisport, Quartermaster Election Precinct, King, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 17-160, sheet 7A, line 21, family 140, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4345.
4. ↑ "Washington Death Certificates, 1907-1960," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3TY-YZK : 10 March 2018), Cowden Laughlin, 21 Aug 1945; citing Seattle, King, Washington, reference 3661, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Olympia; FHL microfilm 2,032,469.
5. ↑ http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/wa/king/cemetery/vashonkp.txt
6. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVL7-VV9B : 13 December 2015), Cowden Laughlin, ; Burial, Vashon, King, Washington, United States of America, Vashon Island Cemetery; citing record ID 80425102, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80425102
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6VV-6Q8 : 12 July 2019), Thomas Laughlin, 1870.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZ1D-739 : 11 September 2017), Thomas C Laughlin in household of John W Laughlin, Warren, Belmont, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district ED 35, sheet 457A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,995.
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMCH-R47 : accessed 19 November 2019), Thomas C Laughlin in household of John Laughlin, Warren Township, West Precinct, Belmont, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 28, sheet 6A, family 113, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,242.
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MW1H-SN9 : accessed 19 November 2019), Cowden Laughlin, Faribault Ward 1, Rice, Minnesota, United States; citing ED 114, sheet 2A, line 33, family , NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 856; FHL microfilm 1,820,856.