Mike Flinn was a puddler

Mike Flinn/Flynn/Flin was the second husband of Britta Ann Green. He was a puddler, a highly skilled metal worker in the rolling mills around Shelby, Bibb, and Jefferson Counties in Alabama. Born in Ireland, he was in the States by 1868, when he married Britta in Bibb County. Here's the marriage license:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939Z-YCS3-BF?i=415&cc=1743384

Puddlers had to be strong because they had to handle hot, heavy equipment and materials. They had to be observant because they had to watch the pig iron processing. They had to be intuitive because they had to know when the time was just right to complete the handling process. They were rough, tough men.

Here are links to the Wikipedia entries about puddlers and puddling:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_puddler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puddling_(metallurgy)

Britta appears as "Mrs. Brittan McGuire" in the 1866 State Census for AL. Though she was living in Shelby County near Montevallo, she was also in close proximity to Brierfield Ironworks, where Mike Flinn was likely working. A widow with three or four living children, she would have needed a husband for the income. A hard worker with a highly strenuous job, Mike would have needed a pleasant place to come home to at the end of the day. It may have been a marriage of love or convenience, but it likely held advantages for both of them.

Though I can't prove it, I have often suspected that Britta married two alcoholics. John L. McGuire's father Davidson was kicked out of his church for being drunk. John L. often got into trouble and was kicked out of the same church. After Britta married Mike Flinn, both older daughters married very young, possibly to get out of the house. Often people tend to marry mates with behavior patterns similar to their parents'.  One marries the familiar. Britta's second daughter, Mary Drucilla McGuire married Sim Eddins, a notorious drunk. It is well within the realm of possibility that John L. and Mike both liked to knock a few back. 

I recently found this diary entry from Thomas M. Fancher, a nineteenth century Bibb County farmer. The source is AlabamaPioneers.com, a genealogical treasure trove for those of us with Alabama roots. The site has several free features and some features that are available only through the paid service called Patreon. Here's the link for this particular entry, but you have to pay to see it:

http://www.alabamapioneers.com/transcription-of-a-excerpts-from-diary-by-thomas-m-fancher-bibb-county-alabama-from-1871-1889/

From the diary of Thomas Fancher

"December 24, 1883

"By the number of jugs and kegs in the express office one would believe they will certainly have a lively time around about Brierfield {Iron Works}. I would guess there was not less than two hundred jugs and kegs from one to five gallons. Prohibition is not doing much gook in that portion. If it was just so because of Christmas it would not be so much matter, but it is constantly so there and cant be prevented. Rolling mill men and nailry men are composed of a low class of men especially pudlers; being from every quarter of the globe."

Seems to fit the image I have of Mike Flinn, doesn't it?