JOHN LOWNDES McLAURIN
John Lowndes McLaurin, of Marlboro County, was born at Red Bluff, that county, May 9, 1860, was educated at the village school of Bennettsville, at Bethel Military Academy, near Warrenton, Va., at Swarthmore College, Philadelphia, at the Carolina Military Institute, and at the University of Virginia; studied law at the last-named school, and was admitted to the bar in 1882; in 1890 was elected to the general assembly of South Carolina; was elected attorney-general of that State the following year; was elected to the Fifty-Second, Fifty-Third, and Fifty-Fourth Congresses, and reëlected to the Fifty-Fifth Congress as a Democrat; was appointed United States Senator May 27, 1897, by Governor Ellerbe, of South Carolina, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Joseph H. Earle, and took his seat June 1; after a campaign, in which the question was submitted to the people of the State, elected to fill out the unexpired term ending March 3, 1903, and was sworn in January 31, 1898.
