 His parents met on board ship when emigrating to the United States, settling in Beardstown, IL.David McLaughlin was a merchant and civic leader in Muskegon, MI, where a school and street are named for him.Following his graduation, McLaughlin taught Latin at the University of Michigan, then transferred to the history department, where he taught American history until he was recruited in 1906 by University of Chicago president William Rainey Harper, teaching there until 1929.