Biography - James Tobin
James TOBIN, foreman machinery department care and machine shops, Litchfield, a native of County Clare, Ireland, was born in 1838. Coming alone to America in 1850, he was for a year a student in Burr Seminary, Vermont, and then went to sea, sailing to Cadiz via New Orleans, and then making several voyages between New York and Liverpool, going next around the Horn to San Francisco; on the return voyage, he visited Callao and Lima, and then the Chincha Islands; doubling Cape Horn, he sailed to England, and then on order to New York. After six years of seafaring, and reaching the position of Second Mate, he abandoned nautical life and entered a machine shop under instruction. In December, 1857, he began work here for the Terre Haute & Alton Railroad, first as a fireman, then as clerk in the storeroom, and then for ten years as time-taker in the shops, until, in 1870, they were removed to Mattoon. When the Litchfield Car Works were opened, in 1872, he entered their service, and, in March, 1881, was foreman of the machinery department. He married, in May, 1859, Miss Eliza MOON, a daughter of his native isle.
Extracted 19 Nov 2016 by Norma Hass from 1882 History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 2 Biographical Department, page 177.
