William Loughridge was a pioneer attorney, judge, and three-term United States Congressman from Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

.

He was born in Youngstown, Ohio

Youngstown, Ohio

Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

, where he attended the common schools. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1849 and commenced practice in Mansfield, Ohio

Mansfield, Ohio

Mansfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Richland County. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau, approximately southwest of Cleveland and northeast of Columbus....

. He moved to Iowa in 1852 and settled in Oskaloosa

Oskaloosa, Iowa

Oskaloosa is the county seat of Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. The population was 11,463 in the 2010 census, an increase from 10,938 in the 2000 census. -History:...

, in Mahaska County

Mahaska County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 22,381 in the county, with a population density of . There were 9,766 housing units, of which 8,975 were occupied.-2000 census:...

.

He served as a member of the Iowa Senate

Iowa Senate

The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 members of the Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 59,500 per constituency. Each Senate district is composed of two House districts...

 from 1857 to 1860. In 1861 he became a judge of the sixth judicial circuit of Iowa, serving until 1867.

In the 1866 Republican district convention for Iowa's 4th congressional district

Iowa's 4th congressional district

Iowa's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers most of the north-central part of the state....

, Loughridge upset incumbent Congressman Josiah B. Grinnell, winning (by thirteen votes) the nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives seat then held by Grinnell. After winning the general election and serving in the Fortieth United States Congress, Loughridge was re-elected in 1868 and served in the Forty-first United States Congress. In the 1870 Republican district convention, Loughridge was upset by Madison Miner Walden

Madison Miner Walden

Madison Miner Walden was a Civil War officer, teacher, publisher, farmer, the eighth Lieutenant Governor of Iowa, and a one-term Republican U.S...

. Walden won the general election. However, when Walden ran for renomination in 1872 (in what was reapportioned in 1871 as Iowa's 6th congressional district

Iowa's 6th congressional district

Iowa's 6th congressional district is a former congressional district in Iowa. It existed from 1862 to 1992, when it was lost due to Iowa's declining population....

), Loughridge turned the tables on Walden, ousting Walden.

Loughridge served only one term representing the new Sixth District. He sought renomination, but in the 1874 district convention ballotting, he finished behind his eventual successor, Ezekiel S. Sampson

Ezekiel S. Sampson

Ezekiel Silas Sampson was a lawyer, prosecutor, Civil War officer, judge, and two-term Republican Congressman from Iowa's 6th congressional district....

, and Sampson's successor, James B. Weaver (who had not yet left the Republican Party for the Greenback Party). In all, Loughridge served in Congress from March 4, 1867 to March 3, 1871, and from March 4, 1873 to March 3, 1875.

He died near Reading, Pennsylvania

Reading, Pennsylvania

Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...

and is buried in Forest Cemetery in Oskaloosa.