JOSEPH TOBIN, b. 1896, d. 16 Jun 1921

Joseph Tobin was born 28 May 1896 in Birdseye, Montana to Richard and Mary Tobin.



Joe Tobin, ca. 1920
[cropped by Karylyn Bliss from
photo courtesy of Benda Neuenswander]

 Joe, as he was called, worked on the ranch with his dad and never married.

Great-niece, Benda Neuenswander relates, "Aunt Margaret told me how he used to visit her and Uncle John when they were first married. Aunt Margaret planted a rose bush by her back door and it would never bloom. She was very frustrated by it. So one day, Joe went to the five and dime store and purchased a whole bunch of artificial roses and placed them on Margaret’s rose bush. As they were eating dinner, Joe asked Aunt Margaret how her rose bush was doing. She said, “not too good.” Joe said, “You ought to take a look at it.” After much coaxing, Margaret peeked out the back door and saw her rose bush in full bloom!

Joe was killed by lightning as he came in from the Tobin ranch all hot and sweaty one day after working and was sitting by the front screen door when he was struck down."






Tobin Ranch. ca. 1920

Front row:  Ann Tobin, Johanna Tobin Dilley, child ? (Robert Dilley), Mary Tobin, Frank Gumprecht

Back row:  Gary Nutter, Joseph Tobin, Helen Leffler, ? (Alex Murray), Ella Tobin, Dick Tobin, Oscar Gumprecht

[photo courtesy of Benda Neuenswander]




















In researching all the individuals in the above photo, it is possible Joe may have been dating Helen Leffler who is standing to the right of Joe.  There is no mention of Helen Leffler other than this photo.

Joe was 25 years old when he was killed by a lightning strike.  His obituary states:  "Joe Tobin, 25 years old, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Tobin, Sr., of Birdseye, was instantly killed by lightning while seated in the family home Tuesday night during a severe storm.

A peculiar and very unusual feature of the matter is that two other members of the family are said to have been in contact with Joseph Tobin on either side of him and still they did not even feel the least shock while Joseph was instantly killed.

Tobin had been working in the field and perspiring freely and this moisture augmented by rain which had fallen on him just before he entered the house is believed to have attracted the current which came through an open window.  The current did not damage the proprty at the immediate scene of the unfortunate occurance.

The current came in contact with the body of Tobin on the left side, leaving its mark from a point near the heart and running down the left leg to the foot.  His hair was slightly singed on the right side of his head.

Joseph Tobin was born in Lewis and Clark county and was unmarried."

Joseph Tobin died 16 Jun 1921 in Birdseye, MT.  Interment in the Tobin family plot with his father, mother, and sister Mary, Resurrection Cemetery, Helena, Lewis and Clark, Montana.

Photos taken by Karylyn Bliss, August 2009

[courtesy of Justine Tobin]

[document courtesy of Benda Neuenswander]