After Mathew's first wife, Frances Holland, died in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, he remarried and moved his family to Madison County, Tennessee. He arrived with enough capital to invest in land and eventually become a significant planter in the area. Mathew could not read or write and always signed his name with a mark.

John L. H. Tomlin was given an excellent education by his father and became a prominent attorney based in Jackson but working with clients throughout Western Tennessee. As a two-term mayor of Jackson, lay leader in the First Presbyterian Church and initiator of significant civic engagements, John was heavily invested in his community.

Horace followed in his father's footsteps as a local lawyer. However, whether due to lack of luck or skill, he did not obtain the same level of success, and probably respect, of his father. He died at age fifty of tuberculosis, heavily in debt, while his wife, Mary Anna Pegues Tomlin, lived to age 92. His story will always be seen more through the lens of those around him, particularly his father and wife.

Hewitt Pegues Tomlin [Sr] came of age in the same year his father died, heavily indebted. His eldest brother, John Travis Pegues, supported the family by entering the grocery business, while the younger brothers all also went to work. Hewitt's dream of becoming a lawyer like his father and grandfather were dashed. Nonetheless, Hewitt worked hard and went on to build a beautiful life and family with his wife Irma Black Tomlin.