McLaughlin, Robert K.

Born: 1779-10-25 Maryland

Died: 1862-05-29 Vandalia, Illinois

Flourished: Fayette County, Illinois

McLaughlin moved to Kentucky in 1799 and was admitted to the bar the following year. In 1815, he moved to Belleville, Illinois, where he opened a law practice and married Isabella Bond, niece of Illinois Governor Shadrach Bond. McLaughlin moved to Vandalia around the time that city was made the new state capitol in 1820, and he remained there for the rest of his life. He was the first person to bring enslaved persons into Fayette County; they soon ran away, and he made no attempt to recover or replace them. In 1819, voters elected him as the first state treasurer, and he served until 1822. He served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1826 to 1828, and in the Illinois Senate from 1828 to 1830. He served again in the Senate from 1836 to 1838. In 1839, McLaughlin was appointed register of the General Land Office in Vandalia, a position he held until 1849. In 1860, he owned $20,000 in real estate and $12,000 in personal property.

History of Fayette County, Illinois (Edwardsville, IL: Brink, McDonough, 1878), 27-28 30, 54; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Fayette County, IL, 21; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 96, 200-201, 205; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1839 (Washington, DC: A. B. Claxton, 1839), 76; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1841 (Washington, DC: Thomas Allen, 1841), 89; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, from the Thirtieth September, 1841, to the Thirtieth September, 1843 (Washington, DC: J. & G. S. Gideon, 1843), 125; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1845 (Washington, DC: J. & G. S. Gideon, 1845), 213; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1847 (Washington, DC: J. & G. S. Gideon, 1847), 30; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1849 (Washington, DC: Gideon, 1849), 135.