The Molly Brown House Museum
Volunteer Resources
John & Johanna Tobin
John Tobin
Johanna Tobin
Margaret “Molly” Brown was born to Irish immigrants in Hannibal, MO in 1867. Her father, John Tobin, was born in 1823 in Fermoy, Ireland and immigrated to the United States via Canada with an uncle to join other family members already living on a farm near Harpers Ferry, WV.
Margaret’s mother, Johanna Collins, was born in 1825 in Roscommon, Ireland but spent her childhood in Pennsylvania. Johanna was related to O’Donovan-Rossa, a prominent member of the Irish freedom movement. In 1856 Rossa founded the Phoenix National and Literary Society, whose mission was to liberate Ireland by a “force of arms.” One of the main principles of Rossa’s argument for Irish freedom was the equality of all Irish citizens, regardless of class. In 1863 he wrote in the newspaper Irish People: “Again and again it has been said to us, ‘Beware how you attempt to attack class interests. The victory won by the worker must be for all.’ For me I must say No! A hundred times, No! I know no class but that of man.”
Margaret’s parents met in Hannibal, MO and married in 1862 where a strong Irish Catholic community was present. Due to the influx of immigrant populations and an industrial economy, Hannibal was a growing. By 1860 it was the second largest city in Missouri and the state’s third largest commercial center. In a guide book for German immigrants settling in the area, Hannibal was listed as one of the “most important cities” in Missouri.
​
John Tobin and Johanna Collins were part of this growth. In 1862, their first son, Daniel, was born. The Tobin’s home was in an area of Hannibal called “Irish Shanty Town.” The house was 16’ by 30’, which is just a few square feet bigger than the dining room in the Molly Brown House Museum. The Hannibal home did have an additional basement room next to the kitchen where the family cow and chickens could be brought in for the night.
​
The Tobin home in Hannibal, Missouri
John was first married to a Catherine Degott while living in Harpers Ferry, VA. They had a daughter together, Catherine “Katie” Bridget Tobin. John relocated with his daughter to Hannibal, MO, after his wife passed away just a couple of years after Katie’s birth. John took a position with the gas company in Hannibal.
Johanna’s first marriage to John Reading ended upon her husband’s death; the couple had one child, a daughter named Mary Ann. Shortly after his death, Johanna and her daughter moved to Hannibal, Missouri, where they settled in the flourishing Irish-Catholic community. It was in this setting that Johanna met John Tobin, also a widower with a child from his first marriage, and the two were married in 1862. Four more children resulted from that marriage: Daniel, Margaret, William and Helen. They lost a son, Michael, who died when he was just a few years old.
Margaret’s half-sister, Mary Ann, had moved to Leadville with her husband Jack Landrigan. Mary Ann would have written letters home that told her Missouri kin all about the excitement and opportunity in Leadville. Her brother Daniel decided to move to Leadville and lived there for a year before sending money for Margaret and her younger sister, Helen, to come for a visit. Despite this, Margaret aspired to more than a life in an industrial center where options for a girl from “Irish Shanty Town” were most certainly limited. She would have known that a better life was possible because her family had good and regular access to the news of the day. Her brother Daniel delivered newspapers and would have spent time at the railroad depot, a terminus not only for goods but also for information. The successes people were enjoying in Leadville, Colorado would have been talked and read about with great interest by Hannibal’s residents. As a result, Margaret decided to make the bold step to relocate to Leadville. The decision paid off and she was able to open the door to a better life.
While living in Hannibal, Johanna was known to be very involved in local Irish-Catholic community, and was “highly respected.” Shortly after their daughter Margaret moved to Leadville, John and Johanna Tobin sold their house in Missouri and relocated to Leadville. Several of their children were already living in Colorado, making this move a logical decision. When Margaret and her husband J.J. purchased their home at 1340 Pennsylvania Avenue in Denver, John and Johanna Tobin were invited to live with them. John Tobin passed away just a few years later in April of 1899 at his daughter’s home on Pennsylvania Avenue. Johanna and her children accompanied his body back to Missouri on the train so that he could be buried with family.
Johanna was a very devout Catholic throughout her life. Although illness and arthritis caused her pain during the last two years of her life, according to oral history she seemed to regain her strength each Sunday just in time for Mass. Her descendants recounted her “miraculous recovery” with incredible fondness, and detailed how she would walk straight and proud down the aisle at church each week, despite her pain. Mrs. Tobin passed away in Denver on April 10, 1905 while living with Margaret and J.J., the result of a lingering illness. Johanna’s obituary in The Rocky Mountain News on April 10, 1905, stated that she was the last descendant of the O’Donovan-Rossa lineage.
Images from the Molly Brown House Museum