Background
Tobey was born in Hawley, Franklin County, Massachusetts on August 3, 1827, son of John and Sybil (Lathrop) Tobey.
Tobey was born in Hawley, Franklin County, Massachusetts on August 3, 1827, son of John and Sybil (Lathrop) Tobey.
He received a public school education and went into the trades of architect, carpenter and builder. He moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1846, and lived in Cuyahoga and Lorain counties in that state. During the American Civil War he tried to enlist in the Ohio National Guard, but was rejected by the examining surgeon.
He moved to Wisconsin in 1864, settling in Neenah.
He designed the plans for the Russell House in Neenah, and superintended the erection of it, as well as the Neenah High School and the Patten Mill at Appleton. Tobey held various local offices such as county supervisor and alderman, and was elected mayor of the City of Neenah in April, 1886.
Incumbent Charles B. Clark (also a former mayor of Neenah) was not a candidate, as he was (successfully) pursuing a campaign for Congress. Tobey was appointed to the standing committee on medical societies.
Tobey was reported in some press accounts to be a Democrat.
He did not run for re-election in 1887, and was succeeded by Republican Walter L. Miller. Tobey ran for his old Assembly seat in 1890 as a Democrat, but lost to Neenah mayor Samuel A. Cook, who received 1326 votes to 1042 for Tobey and 63 for Prohibitionist Lucius Webster.