One of the representative and well-known citizens of Winfield Township is Matthew J. Tobin. He first saw the light of day, March 15, 1835, in County Kilkenny, Ireland. He received but a common school education in the country of his nativity, and in April, 1852, he emigrated to America with his parents, who landed in Philadelphia, and came over the mountains to Pittsburgh, and then down the Ohio river to Cairo and up the Mississippi to Davenport. He came out into Winfield Township and took a Government claim of land, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, for which he paid one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. Mr. Tobin has never been an office-seeker, though he has been persuaded to hold some school and other minor offices.
By hard work he has accumulated about five hundred acres of land, and he is so situated that he can take the remainder of his life in comfort and ease. He is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Catholic Church, and affiliates with the Democratic party. Mr. Tobin is one of the leading citizens of Winfield Township, and a gentleman well liked by all his neighbors.
BIOGRAPHIES