Torin
Finney was born in New Jersey and grew up in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina,
Tennessee, and Virginia in the shadows 
of our nation's fast disappearing Civil War battlefields.
During
his youth, he visited Ft. Sumter, Shiloh, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Manassas,
New Market, and many other historical sites. He attended his first Civil War reenactment in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1976.
Much
of his childhood was spent sketching historical scenes,
writing novels and plays and designing games around the important
events he had read and learned so much about in American
history.
As
a high school student, Torin moved to California to graduate
from Millikan High School in Long Beach and receive his
B.A. in American Studies from UC Santa Cruz. During his
high school and college years he was involved in music,
art, drama and dance, as well as travel and historical research.
Moving across this great land yet again, he earned an M.A.
in American Civilization from the University of Massachusetts
in Boston, and a few years later an M.Div. from Pacific
Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. He
interned at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu and spent a year pastoring in Kansas before returning to California to work in the private sector for six years.
While in his thirties, Torin revived a childhood interest in genealogy. He soon discovered several Civil War ancestors, including Private Michael Schneider of Company G, 27th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, USA (veteran of New Madrid, Parker's Crossroads, the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman's March, and Bentonville), Private Thomas Laughery of Company A, 19th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, USA (veteran of Prairie Grove), and Private David R. Throneberry of Company A, 44th Consolidated Tennessee Infantry, CSA (veteran of Shiloh, Perryville, and Murfreesboro). It was this interest in his family history that eventually led him into Civil War reenacting in 1996.
Torin entered the teaching profession in 1998 (see Professional
Resume), earning his teaching credential from the University of La Verne in 2000. He has taught grades 6-12 as well as at the college level, including courses in United States history, world history, geography, humanities, comparative religions, and beginning journalism and drama. He has remained active in the arts during that time, participating in theater as an actor, dramaturg, dialect coach, and director, as well as the vocalist and lyricist in a progressive rock band (see
Artistic Resume). His Civil War reenacting roles have been featured in documentary films and television news stories.
Torin's
book, Unsung Hero of The Great War: The Life
and Witness of Ben Salmon, (Paulist Press,
1989) was the winner of the 1990 Pax Christi USA Book Award. Numerous
articles, sketches and dispatches related to his James Allen Davis impression
have been published in The Bakersfield Californian,
Bakersfield Magazine, The Civil War News, The Civil War
Courier, the Camp Chase Gazette, and The Los Angeles Times.
Torin has two wonderful sons, Ryan and Luke. He met fellow Civil War reenactor Jill Forbath at the Moorpark, California event in November 2002, where she was portraying a Union Army vivandiere. They began reenacting together in 2004 and participate regularly at living history events throughout southern California and beyond.
Renowned American Civil War historian and author, Ed Bearss signs Torin's book and poses with Jill.
