My Napa Origins and Surnames - Part 3 - McLaughlin

Whatever happened to the McLaughlin's in Napa, California.  I realize that it is unlikely that my family was the only ones to hold this surname in that location.  However,  I am looking for information about Thomas Michael McLaughlin when he and his family lived in Napa, California.

In 1886, Thomas, his wife Ellen, and their children (Mary, Ellen, Catherine, Anna, Thomas,  and Joseph), pulled up stakes in Austin, Nevada and headed for Napa, California.  From about 1870 until 1886, this McLaughlin family had been in the Grass Valley/Austin Area of Lander County, Nevada.  I'm still wondering why they left Nevada but then again, there really is not much there even these days.  It is high desert.  Napa had more to offer in the way of fertile soil and it sounds like the McLaughlin's were dairy farmers in Napa.

The first six children were born in Austin, Nevada while the seventh child, Hugh Robert, was born in Napa. So, where were Thomas and Ellen from?   Thomas Michael McLaughlin was born and raised in Newport, Herkimer County, New York.  His own parents were Irish immigrants.  Ellen McLaughlin (maiden name - Maxwell) was born in Ireland and immigrated to the Newport, New York Area, as a child.

When I first discovered Newport, New York, it was written down as "The Irish Settlement" in my family's "box of treasures".  The name alone peaked my curiosity and I had to know more.  And know more I have.  Several descendants of the McLaughlin's and Maxwell's helped me.  I thank them for that.

Now, I continue to yearn for more information about the McLaughlin's lives in Napa, California.  I have very little.  I often wonder if our Duffy and Malloy relatives have anything about Thomas and Ellen.  Someone may have information and photos without knowing it or really knowing who these people were.  I continue to hope for a miracle of sorts on that front.

I'd loved to know more about Thomas Michael McLaughlin, Ellen Maxwell McLaughlin, Catherine "Katie" Maxwell Duffy, and Philip Duffy of Napa, California.  I do have some information for sure and the Malloy's shared some of what they had years and years ago with my grandfather, their cousin.

The Irish Settlement and Beyond