EDWIN TOMLIN - In the fall of 1837 the Tomlin family came to Sangamon county and during the long years which have since come and gone the subject of this sketch has been actively interested in its progress. He has seen the wild lands transformed into fine farms and towns and villages spring up, while Springfield has become one of the leading cities of this great commonwealth. He is today the owner of a good farm of four hundred acres on section 30, Cartwright township, near Pleasant Plains, constituting a valuable property, which returns to him a good income.
Mr. Tomlin was born in Cape May county, New Jersey, July 29, 1826, a son of Almarin Tomlin, whose birth occurred in the same county in 1800. His paternal grandfather, William Tomlin, was also a native of New Jersey. The family is of English origin and was founded in America by two brothers, Andrew and William Tomlin, who on coming to the new world settled in New Jersey. There the father of our subject grew to manhood and married Rhoda Smith, who was born in the same state and was a daughter of Abijah Smith. For some years Almarin Tomlin engaged in farming in New Jersey and there seven of his children were born. In 1837 he brought his family to the west, traveling by team, as there were no railroads at that time, and purchased land in Sangamon county, Illinois, where our subject new resides. The father broke and improved his place, making his home thereon until called to his final rest in 1859. His wife survived him some years and died at the age of eighty-six. They were the parents of three sons and nine daughters, who reached years of maturity, and two sons and seven daughters are still living.
Edwin Tomlin, the eldest was a lad of eleven years when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Illinois and upon his present farm he grew to manhood, assisting in the development of the place. He attended school to some extent, but his education was necessarily limited, as schools were few in this then pioneer settlement. On leaving home he located on a farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Cartwright township, operating it for several years, after which he sold that place and bought the old homestead, where he has since resided. He has remodeled the house and made many other improvements upon the place, and in connection with the cultivation of his land he has successfully engaged in stock raising, feeding and shipping from six to twelve carloads of cattle, sheep and hogs annually. He has steadily prospered in all his undertakings and is today one of the well-to-do and substantial citizens of his township.
In this county, in 1854, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Tomlin and Miss Margaret Correll, a native of this county and a daughter of Thomas Correll, who settled here in 1830, being among its pioneers. Six sons and three daughters were born to them, all of whom are now married. In order of birth they are as follows: Almeron, a farmer in Cartwright township; Charles, a farmer of Linn county, Missouri; Lee, a farmer of Sullivan county, Missouri; Jacob, a farmer of Cartwright township; Isaac F., who is operating the home farm in partnership with his father; Frank B., a dentist of Mason City, Illinois; Eva, wife of William St. Clair, of Cass county, Illinois; Mrs. Sallie Witty, a widow, now living at home with her parents; and Anna, wife of Frank Drury, of Morgan county, Illinois.
The Democratic party has found in Mr. Tomlin a stanch supporter of its principles since he cast his first presidential ballot for James K. Polk, but he has never cared for official honors. He and his wife and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are people of the highest respectability, having the confidence and regard of all who know them. As one of the representative men of his community and an honored pioneer. Mr. Tomlin is deserving of prominent mention in the history of his adopted county, where he has now made his home for sixty-seven years.