Charles O'Hagan Laughinghouse was born on February 25, 1871, near Grimesland, North Carolina. Laughinghouse was a physician and medical administrator. During World War I, he served on the Committee of American Physicians and guided the state's mobilization of medical resources in support of the war effort. In 1918, he was drawn to active service in the Medical Reserve Corps of the army and served in Tennessee, Texas, and Oklahoma. Later that same year, he became commander of Base Hospital 85 and deployed to France until his return in March 1919. Laughinghouse died in High Point (Guilford County) on August 26, 1930.