John Tomlin

(Born: 1806 - Died: July 4, 1850)

American postmaster, merchant, and minor poet and author. (see newspaper, Daily Nashville True Whig of July 23, 1850.) He died at the New Orleans Charity Hospital, with the cause of death listed as “Delerium Tremens.”. (Oddly, an 1850 Federal Census for New Orleans lists Tomlin as having been born in South Carolina, and giving his age as 43, but the census was taken in November 20 - December 17, 1850, several months after Tomlin had died.

Born in Sumner District, SC. He was a friend of William Gilmore Simms. He served as the postmaster of Jackson, TN from Feb. 24, 1841 - Dec. 23, 1847. In 1848, he found his way to Texas, apparently to visit his younger brother Hiram Tomlin (a grocer in Jefferson, TX). Hiram may have served in the Mexican War, where he was injured. He may also have served in the Civil War, in the 5th Company Battalion, for the Confederacy, as a private. He also appears to have ended up in New Orleans, where he died in September 1867, at the age of 42. Hiram Tomlin was buried on September 15, 1867, in Greenwood Cemetery, New Orleans, LA, plot 187.

Shelley’s Grave and Other Poems by John Tomlin, Philadelphia: Lyceum Press, 1843

Tales of the Caddo, by John Tomlin, Cincinnati: Stratton & Barnard, 1849 (noted as printed at the offices of “The Great West”)