Charles J. McLaughlin Sr. was sent to Leeds, Yorkshire, England, by his father, James McLaughlin Jr., to act as an agent for McLaughlin Brothers Teasel Merchants. Leeds was the center for the woolen industry in England.
It was in Leeds, at High Mass in St. Ann’s Cathedral, that Charles met Sarah Ann (Sally) Meegan, daughter of Henry Patrick Meegan, who was born in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland. After growing up in Ireland, Meegan went to England where he met and married Jane Linsley, a Quaker who converted to Catholicism. They had three sons, Walter, Thomas and Henry, and six daughters, Sarah Ann, Marie, Rose, Jane, Martha (known as Patty) and Elicia (Alicia?), all of whom were born in Leeds.
Charles J. McLaughlin and Sarah Ann (Sally) Meegan were married at St. Ann’s in 1899, and on their honeymoon they sailed from Liverpool, England, to Londonderry, Ireland. Later they left Londonderry for New York aboard a ship called City of Rome. A few hundred miles from New York the ship struck a submerged iceberg. However, the ship’s captain had reversed the engines in time to minimize impact and the City of Rome was able to continue its journey.
The couple settled in Skaneateles, New York, in a house next door to a famous village landmark, Krebs Restaurant. Their son Charles J. McLaughlin Jr. was born in Skaneateles in 1900, their second son, Henry W., was born in Skaneateles a year later.
In 1903 the family moved to England when James McLaughlin Jr. assigned Charles Sr. to establish and operate a branch office in Leeds. Within months Charles was visiting woolen mills throughout Europe, trying to convince their owners that Skaneateles teasels were superior to those from England and France. Charles Sr. also crossed the Atlantic several times to visit the home office in Skaneateles. In the meantime, his family was getting larger. Seven daughters and one son were born between 1903 and 1916.
James McLaughlin Jr. died in 1914 and the teasel business was then run by his brother and partner, John McLaughlin Sr. However, World War I adversely affected the McLaughlin business since their teasels were not used for treating the woolen cloth used for the British Army or Navy, and exports to other European countries were curtailed. Because of the war, Charles and Sally McLaughlin were temporarily separated after he returned to Skaneateles on company business and was prevented from returning to England. His wife ran the business until it was safe for her and her children to rejoin Charles in the United States. They left Skaneateles and moved to Syracuse.
As for the family business, things temporarily improved after the war, but it soon became clear the end was in sight for the teasel industry. |
Skaneateles Press, Friday, February 18, 1938
Charles J. McLaughlin, 66, son of the late James McLaughlin, former owner of Glenside Woolen Mills at Skaneateles Falls, died Saturday in the General Hospital at Syracuse. He had been in failing health several months.
A former resident of Skaneateles, Mr. McLaughlin had lived in Syracuse many years. He was in the teasel industry and traveled all over the world as a representative of the Glenside Woolen Mills.
Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Sarah A. McLaughlin; four sons, Henry W. McLaughlin and L. Douglas McLaughlin of Syracuse, John T. McLaughlin of Miami, Florida, and Charles J. McLaughlin Jr. of Cleveland Ohio; seven daughters, Misses Dorothy A. McLaughlin, Martha E. McLaughlin, Mary A. McLaughlin and Patricia McLaughlin, Mrs. Thomas W. Hall and Mrs. Joseph Ball, all of Syracuse, and Mrs. J. V. Connor of Utica; his mother, Mrs. Mary McLaughlin; one brother, George McLaughlin of this village; five grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were conducted at the home, 128 Delaware Street, Syracuse, Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. and in Most Holy Rosary Church at 10 o’clock. Burial was made in St. Mary’s Cemetery. |
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