Career
Born in Abington, Massachusetts, Loud went to sea and afterward settled in California. During the Civil War, he enlisted in a California Cavalry battalion in 1862, which formed a part of the Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry. He returned to California, where he engaged in mining and as clerk for fifteen years.
He studied law, and served as a clerk in the customs service in San Francisco.
He was cashier of the city and county of San Francisco. Loud was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-second and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1903).
He served as chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads (Fifty-fourth through Fifty-seventh Congresses). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1902 to the Fifty-eighth Congress.
He died in San Francisco, December 19, 1908.
He remains were cremated and the ashes interred in the Odd Fellows Cemetery.