Canadian Patrick W. McLaughlin Buried Away from Family in Macon, Georgia

Patrick William McLaughlin died at US Army (training) Camp Wheeler near Macon, Bibb County, Georgia less than a week before Christmas in 1917. He was a private in Company G, 124th Infantry, and cause of death was tuberculosis.

Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)
Friday, 21 December 1917

THREE MORE DEATHS AT CAMP WHEELER

Macon, Ga., Dec. 20. -- Patrick McLaughlin, of Company G, 124th Infantry, who died in the base hospital Tuesday night, is said to have seen service in the trenches in France in the present war. He was a Canadian. The body is still being held and efforts are being made to locate relatives...

That last line made me worry his family wasn't located in time, but then I found the following:

Atlanta Consitution (Georgia)
Sunday, 23 December 1917 - pg. 9

COMES FROM CANADA IN RACE WITH DEATH

Facing Zero Temperatures, Miss McLaughlin Arrives for Soldier Brother's Funeral.

Macon, Ga., December 22. -- (Special.) Miss Charlotte McLaughlin traveled all the way from Saskatoon, saskatchewan, in the Canadian northwest in response to a message that her brother, Patrick William McLaughlin, 24 years of age, was at the point of death at the base hospital at Camp Wheeler. She left Saskatoon on Monday morning while the temperature registered 45 degrees below zero and a heavy blanket of snow covered the ground, arriving here today.

Coming through the state of North Dakota on Wednesday Miss McLaughlin received a telegram that her brother was dead. She continued on to take charge of the burial, for Miss McLaughlin's parents are dead and the only other living member of the family is another brother, Bertrand Alexander McLaughlin, 21 years of age, who is a member of a Canadian artillery regiment mobilized at Kingston, Ontario.

Miss McLaughlin decided after her arrival to have her brother buried in Rose Hill cemetery in this city. Captain A. Wright Ellis, of Company G of the 124th Infantry, of which company her brother was a member, arranged for the service. All of the officers, including Captain Ellis and Lieutenants Giles, Simmons and Byrne, turned out yesterday morning for the funeral. The service was conducted by Captain L. A. Spencer, chaplain of the regiment. The funeral and burial were with full military honors and there was a large attendance at the service. There was an escort and a firing squad, the latter firing the usual salute at the grave.

This is the first soldier to be buried in Macon since the troops moved to Camp Wheeler and the base hospital was established there.

Miss McLaughlin left the city for her return trip tonight. She said that she had hoped, when she started out, to spend Christmas with her brother at Camp Wheeler.

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Father and Son McLaughlin

On the last day of 1879, the widower Alexander R. McLaughlin died of Bright's Disease at his home in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia.  He was born in Ireland in the early 1800s, and was living in Macon by his early 20s.  A death notice for Alexander, a retired merchant, was issued in the 1 January 1880 Macon Telegraph (Georgia):

Died.
Yesterday Mr. A. R. McLaughlin, an old and well-known citizen of Macon, died at his residence in this city.  He was at one time a large merchant and capitalist.  He was also, for a long time, a member of the Macon Volunteers, and his name was still regularly enrolled among its honorary members.  He will be buried this morning with military honors.

That same day, another item was ran in the same newspaper regarding Alexander R. McLaughlin, Jr.  It seems he would have to resign from his position on the Macon City Council due to health reasons.  Less than ten weeks later, A. R. McLaughlin, Jr. was dead.  He was remembered in the 14 March 1880 Macon Telegraph.  (Original article, as well as image at right, via GenealogyBank.)

Death of A. R. McLaughlin.
The many friends of Mr. A. R. McLaughlin will be pained to learn of his death, which occurred yesterday morning at two o'clock.  The deceased had long been a sufferer from consumption, and passed quietly away after the disease had run its course.  Mr. McLaughlin was once a lieutenant in the Floyd Rifles; for a long time chief of Young America, No. 3, fire company, and served a portion of a term as City Clerk, resigning on account of failing health.  He was a young man of most excellent character, admirable qualities, the favorite of a large circle of friends and beloved by all who knew him.  His funeral will take place from the residence of his sister, Mrs. H. R. Stroemer, corner of Mulberry and Fourth streets, to-day at 2 p.m.  He will be buried by the Floyd Rifles and No. 3 Fire Company with appropriate ceremonies.

I thought it was a little strange to find no mention of his father's death just a few months before.  Both father and son were found listed together in the 1880 Bibb County, Georgia Federal census mortality schedule, though.

Via Ancestry.

Father and son McLaughlin, along with wife and mother Elizabeth who had died in 1872, were laid to rest in block 1, lot 19 of the Central Avenue Division of Rose Hill Cemetery.