Height:         6'2"
Weight:        230 pounds

McLaughlin began wrestling in his childhood and was 32 years of age in 1876.  In 1870,
he won a major tournament in Detroit for the Collar and Elbow World championship,
winning 34 matches and losing only one.


On December 27, 1876, a "titanic struggle" occurred in Boston at the Music Hall between
James Owens and Colonel James H. McLaughlin for the Collar and Elbow championship
of the World.  McLaughlin won the title in a Detroit tournament in 1870.  For the match,
there would be two committees, one for each wrestler, and two umpires, in addition to a
referee, Dr. John P. Ordway of Boston.  The title would be on the line and a $1,000 side
bet.  They followed the rule of Edwin James's Sporting Manuel.  McLaughlin held a
distinct advantage in terms of weight and height, standing 6'2" to Owens' 5'8" and
weighing 230 to his opponent's 185.

During the first fall, there was no winner, but McLaughlin took the second.  Owens won
the third.  Again in the fourth fall, there was no winner declared.  During the fifth fall, the
referee said the grapplers were too tired to continue and stopped the match.  The crowd
voiced its displeasure and an angry protest was launched.  McLaughlin and Owens
agreed to continue at that point, and Owen won a "square back fall," and won the match
two falls to one.  The fans cheered the finish.

After the match, McLaughlin said that his foot was sore, and prevented him from doing
certain moves.  Owens' win was considered a huge upset at the time.


In Chicago on November 23, 1878, John McMahon beat McLaughlin, winning the second
and third falls, at McCormick Hall.  The report stated that a charge was "made that the
result was not fairly reached." There was a $1,000 side-bet.

McLaughlin lived in Detroit in 1885 and owned a high-end liquor store at 208 Woodward
Avenue.  He didn't indulge himself, however.  In Fort Wayne on February 25, 1885, he
was scheduled to wrestle Charles Moth at the Temple, but it didn't happen because Moth
missed a train from Detroit.  McLaughlin was matched with Andre Christol for February
26.  Because of Moth's failure to appear, his manager gave McLaughlin a $250 check.  
Moth was said to be 26 years old and originally from Hamburg.  He had been in the U.S.
for only 13 months and was brought over by Richard K. Fox of the Police Gazette.

By 1892, McLaughlin was living in Seattle.  The September 12, 1892 edition of the
Middletown Daily Press (Middletown, NY) told the story of his match with a "big red bull."  
It was a tough match, but McLaughlin got the upper hand and brought the bull to the
ground.  The newspaper stated that:  "Col McLaughlin's clothes hung in tatters and he
was badly bruised and scratched, but he still holds the championship belt."










Research by Tim Hornbaker
Col. James H. McLaughlin Wrestling History
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