Grayson County TXGenWeb

PATRICK HENRY TOBIN

In the year 1872, Patrick Henry Tobin took up his residence in Denison, and here he has since been identified with the business activities of the city in a creditable manner and withal, most successfully. He is now manager and treasurer of the Denison Crystal Ice Company, though previous to his association with this company, in 1894, he was otherwise identified with various business enterprises.
Mr. Tobin was born on March 22, 1851, in West Rutland, Vermont, and is a son of Patrick and Margaret (Morrissey) Tobin. The father came from Ireland when but a boy and first located in Canada. He came over into Vermont in early manhood, later moving to Kentucky and still later to Missouri, where in Clinton County he was engaged in farming activities for a number of years. He died in 1889 in his Clinton County home in Missouri.
Nine children were born to Patrick and Margaret Tobin - seven sons and two daughters, and Patrick Henry Tobin of this review was the eldest of the family. As a small boy during the war period and as a youth during the years of reconstruction, Patrick Henry Tobin did not grow up in a time when the youth of his station received any great advantages. He had practically no education, and what he knows of books he has learned since coming to manhood. His first real work in life was Railroads, and after he had served the usual apprenticeship as a fireman and machinist, he was promoted to the post of engineer, and he was employed in that capacity as one among the first men to run into Denison over the M. K. & T. Railroad, making his initial trip on December 25, 1872. He remained in the employ of the M. K. & T. R. B. until 1882, at which time he went to Old Mexico, in the employ of the National Mexican Railroad as master mechanic, and he was there employed in that capacity for ten years. In October, 1890, he returned to Denison and here became interested in the cotton business. He later transferred his interest to the ice business, and, as has already been stated, he is now {1914} manager and treasurer of the Denison Crystal Ice Company at Denison, Texas; his other interests being the presidency of The Durant Ice & Light Co., at Durant, Oklahoma.
Always an active and energetic man, Mr. Tobin has not enjoyed a vacation since he became established here in business and he is now endeavoring to arrange his affairs so that he will be able to retire from his present position and take a long needed vacation from his duties. The business under his management has taken on surprising proportions, and the Denison plant has a daily capacity of 100 tons, while that of the Durant plant is about 50 tons daily. Mr. Tobin is not tied hard and fast to any particular political faction, but when he votes he considers the man and the office and is guided by his unbiased judgment. He has given service to the city as a councilman and was president of the city council for a number of years, proving the quality of his citizenship in no uncertain terms during that time. He also gave worthy service as a member of the school board for some years, and was a member of the Board of Regents of the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Bryan, for six years. He is an executive member of the Chamber of Commerce, and fraternally is identified with the Knights of Pythias, as well as being an honorary member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. He is a member of the Catholic church.
On October 31, 1879, Mr. Tobin was married at Denison to Miss Jessie Cameron, a daughter of John Cameron, for some years engaged in the hotel business in Denison as proprietor of the Cameron House, one of the first hotels in the city. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Tobin. Mary, born in Denison, Texas, is the wife of a Mr. George Williams, a mail agent. Miss Margaret, born in Toluca, capital of the state of Old Mexico, lives at home, and James C. Tobin, born in the city of Old Mexico, is associated with his father.

ca1926
Back row, left to right : Helen Tobin, unknown, Ebby Woodmansee, Toppy Woodmansee, Cecil Margaret (Tobin) O'Connor holding her daughter, Patricia "Pat" O'Connor,
James "Jim" O'Connor, holding his son, James "Jim" O'Connor of Dallas, Texas
Front row, left to right : William Henry Tobin, holding unknown child, James "Uncle Jim" Tobin, Mary Frances (Tobin) Downey of Missouri,
Pat H. Tobin, David Tobin, George Tobin

The family is one possessing a generous mixture of Celtic blood, and it is a fact in which they have a considerable pride, though they regard their American citizenship as a matter of premier consideration. The family has been residents of Denison since 1890. Though he has been a visitor or resident in no less than twenty-eight states in the Union, Mr. Tobin declares staunchly for Texas, and is well content to maintain his residence here for the remainder of his days.
By 1938 there were no Tobins listed as living in Denison. (1938 City Directory)
Two brothers also reside in this state: David lives at Ft. Worth, and is there employed as a conductor on the T. P. B. B.; Dennis Tobin is located at Whitesboro, where he is in the service of the M. K. & T. R. R. as an engineer.

Source : History of Texas and Texans, by Francis White Johnson and Ernest William Winkler, 1914

Photo by Mitchell
Denison, Texas

PATRICK H. TOBIN, who is associated with the directorate of many corporate interests of Denison and is now manager and treasurer of the Denison Crystal Ice Company, was born in West Rutland, Vermont, in 1851, and in early manhood came to this city, since which time he has been closely identified with his interests. His parents were Patrick and Margaret (Morrisey) Tobin, both of whom were natives of Ireland, but their marriage was celebrated in Quebec, Canada. The father died in 1896 at the age of seventy-four years, having long survived his wife, who passed away in 1869. In their family were nine children, of whom seven are yet living, namely: Patrick H. and Denny.

Patrick H. Tobin acquired just a plain education while learning his trade, which was learned principally at the Northwestern shops in Chicago, and when twenty-one years of age, came to Denison, arriving here on the 24th of December, 1872. He was at that time working on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, which entered Denison on that day.

He continued in the employ of the railroad company for eleven years in the capacity of engineer, and he was one of the first engineers to make the trip over this road. In 1882 he went to Mexico and was master mechanic for the Mexican National Railroad in the city of Mexico for eight years, and then returned to Denison and went into the cotton compress business.

During the early years of his residence here, Mr. Tobin purchased property and still retains possession of it. In 1890 Mr. Tobin engaged in the compress business with others under the style of the Denison Compress Company, being manager of the plant until 1904. In December 1894, he purchased an interest in the Denison Crystal Ice Company, which had been organized in 1888. He bought his stock of C. W. Dowley, who was then and is still president of the company. He is likewise a director in the State National Bank of Denison.

Mr. Tobin was married in Denison in 1879, to Miss Jennie Cameron, a native of Canada, and they have three children: Frances, Margaret and James C. The first named was born in Denison and the others in Mexico. Mr. Tobin has served as councilman for the First Ward for several terms and for three terms acted as president of the city council, during which time his championship of progressive public measures proved of practical benefit to the municipality. His political allegiance is given to the Democracy.

Charter Committee, Denison, Texas, 1907
They were revising the charter of the city government: E. H. Hanna, J. F. Hayes, W. S. Pearson, J. T. Suggs Sr., E. F. O'Heren, C. W. Chapman,
J. T. Butler, Robert Rosbottom, Patrick H. Tobin, W. H. Halton, George F. French, and N. H. L. "Nat" Decker.

He stands today as a splendid example of the self-made man, whose strength of character, laudable ambition, and unremitting diligence constitute the basis of success. Coming to the Southwest in the humble capacity of a railroad employee, he is today classed with the representative and substantial citizens of Denison, and analysis of his life's work shows that his success has been acquired through honorable means that many might follow and which ultimately lead to prosperity.

[Source: B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. I, pp. 618-619.]

115 West Gandy Street
The 1917 City Directory indicates this home belonged to Patrick H. Tobin and wife Jessie Cameron Tobin, which was completed in 1886.
He was the engineer who brought the first MKT train into Denison on December 25, 1872. Subsequently he became a highly successful businessman.
In 1917, his main job was as manager of the Denison Crystal Ice Company, located two blocks away at 115-121 East Woodard Street.
Photo by Mavis Anne Bryant, August 2010.

In 1926 Patrick H. Tobin was alderman in Denison and, acting as Police Commissioners, along with him were Joseph Martin Crumpton and Walter S. Hibbard.

On December 25, 1932, P. H. Tobin was the guest engineer of Texas Special 408 that rolled into Denison to commemorate his famous trip 60 years earlier. In 1872, at the young age of 25, Mr. Tobin was the engineer of the first train to enter Texas from the north crossing the Red River into Denison. A Dallas Morning News newspaper article dated Dec. 26, 1932, tells of that adventure. Stamped in ink on the back of the photo is "DEC 25 1932: and written in pencil is "Pat Tobin ret. to Mr. T. Williams."

James

Katy Deaths: P. H. Tobin

Members of the Katy family were deeply grieved at the news of the death, August 17, of P. H. (Pat) Tobin, 84, of Denison, pioneer Texas railroader, industrialist and for many years beloved city commissioner and civic leader of Denison. Mr. Tobin was the engineer of the first Katy train to enter Texas in 1872 and during Christmas week of 1932 he again piloted a Katy engine into Denison in a sixtieth anniversary celebration of the event.
His death followed a prolonged illness and was preceded only a few months ago by the death of his wife. Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Margaret Woodmansee, wife of E. B. Woodmansee, Katy transportation inspector, of Denison, and Mrs. George E. Williams of Denison; four brothers; and a sister.
A native of Vermont, Mr. Tobin came west as a young man and in the early 1870s became a member of the construction company building the Katy southward through Indian Territory. This company was headed by the late John Scullin, railroad builder and pioneer St. Louis steel magnate. The Katy train that Mr. Tobin piloted into Denison that distant day, 53 years ago, was the first railroad train to enter Texas on any railroad from the North.
For many years Mr. Tobin was connected with the Katy, quitting railroad service to enter the ice manufacturing business. He was the patentee of a re-icing car, which the Katy used at Denison and Parsons for many years. He established a number of ice manufacturing plants in Oklahoma and Texas, including the Denison Crystal Ice Company. He was its active manager and remained manager after its acquisition by the Southern Ice Company until his retirement a few years ago. In his later years he was well known for his civic, church and philanthropic activities.
Mr. Tobin was a member of the board of regents of Texas A&M College for several years. He was identified with Denison city affairs, serving a long period as commissioner and in other official capacities. During his active work for the city he helped build Randell Lake, the present source of Denison's water supply. He also established the first cotton compress in Denison and in other Texas cities.
Mr. Tobin was a member of the company operating the first refrigerator cars on the railroads in the Southwest. He built a cold storage plant at Denison which is one of the largest in the country, and larger than those in most cities the size of Denison.
Only a short period of Mr. Tobin's life was spent away from Denison, and that was in the earlier days when he aided with the construction of the Mexican National Railroad and later was master mechanic of that company at Mexico City.
Funeral services were held August 19, at his Denison home with Rev. B. J. Deeny, Catholic pastor, officiating. A city-wide tribute was paid the veteran city father, including closing of the city hall during the funeral.

[Source: MKT Employees Magazine, September 1935, page 18; courtesy of Red River Railroad Museum, Denison, Texas]