Edward Augustus Tomes 1858-1921 - Pt. 1

Edward Augustus Tomes was the second son of William A. and Mary Ann Tomes and was born in Philadelphia,PA on Christmas Eve of 1858. It is possible that Edward was either born at home or at the "City Hospital" that was located on the corner of Wallace and 21st streets. (1855 Phila City Map) This hospital was located only two blocks from the Tomes' residence at 1900 Brandywine St. Edward received is early education in Philadelphia and perhaps attended the 15th Ward Grammar School on the corner of Coates St. (Currently Fairmont Ave.) and N. 20th St.. However, It is most likely that Edward attended Francisville School when the family moved to 714 Shirley St in 1862. Francisville School was demolished in 1874 and the Thaddeus Stevens school was built on the same site. In 1868, when he was only ten years old, Edward would have to say goodbye to all the friends he had made in Philadelphia because his family had decided it was time to return to the city of York,PA. Upon returning to York Edward continued his education until he was approximately seventeen. We don't know all the specific details about Edward's education and where he went to school in Phila. or York, however, we can confidently say that he was the first Tomes to get a formal secondary education.

As Edward graduated from school to the workforce he did what most of the other Tomes men did, he went to work at the York Variety Iron Works. It only took him three years to figure out that the iron molding gig was not for him. Edward would work at the iron works under the supervision of his foreman father from 1876-1880. It is no surprise that with Edward's acquired education and the uncertainty of the iron markets at the close of the 19th century, he would look for long term employment opportunities outside the iron industry.

Edward would find the opportunity that he was looking for when one of York’s leading businessmen, Peter C Wiest, hired him to work at his store in downtown York in the early 1880’s. P C Wiest started his business in the Dover, PA area and moved it into the city in anticipation of a higher volume of sales. Wiest’s first store in York was at 218 W Market St near the Market St. bridge, however, after a flood hit in 1884 and negatively effected his business he moved to higher ground at 14 N George St. Below is an early advertisement for Wiest’s business at the new George St. location.

(The York Daily, March 30 1876)

From the early days of his business, P C Wiest produced many of his own caramels, taffies, and assorted candies. Mr Wiest’s homemade candy operation would develop into an international business and Edward Tomes would be entrusted with an intricate role.

Check out this blog about P C Wiest’s early business history:

https://yorkblog.com/yorktownsquare/weist-and-dover/

By 1883, Edward was promoted to head foreman of Mr. Wiest’s candy shop and was gifted items by the employees whom he oversaw. Below are the specific items he received as reported by the "The York Daily" newspaper on Dec. 27, 1883

Edward was only twenty five by this point and already had achieved financial success since he already owned a horse and had a house residence on the 200 block of East Phila. St. Edward finally found relationship success when he married Sarah Ann Altman on Christmas Day, December 25, 1884. Edward was 26 years old and Sarah was only 18 when they gifted themselves to one another. It's interesting that Edward follows the same path as his father and marries a non-catholic girl. The Altman's are members of Rev. Fastnaht's Union Lutheran Church located at 408 W Market St. in York, PA. Edward would get married in the Lutheran church and ultimately would be buried in the Lutheran Greenmount Cemetery but he would a faithful adherent to the St. Patricks Catholic Church located on Beaver St.

(The York Daily, December 27, 1884)

Although we don’t have a marriage picture of Edward and his young bride together, we do have a picture of them separately taken at unknown times and unknown ages.

Edward looks young and sophisticatedly distinguished in this picture, determined deep set eyes accentuated from the typical high Tomes forehead with thinning but dark slicked back hair which matches his bushy handlebar mustache gives him a businessman's persona. His black courtly suit trimmed in grey with plaid plush tie accoutrement speaks of his hard won status and success. This smart dignified wardrobe may have been purchased at the M. B. Spahr fine clothier that stood on the northeast corner of the center square in York.

Sarah Ann, nicknamed Annie, has soft youthful features; a heart shaped face, thin pursed lips and pleasant but serious hazel eyes. Her hair is cut short and mimics the hairstyles of the 1880s and she is dressed in a tight black bodice that would have given her an hour glass figure. Her neck is adorned with a small ivory brooch and you can see a small pearl dangling from her pierced ear which says that this picture was taken during the day, since "young classy ladies wore pearls during the day and diamonds at night."

I don't know how long these two lovebirds courted but life changed dramatically for them within six to seven months. The wedding was on Christmas day 1884 and Sarah Ann may have already been carrying a perhaps known but unexpected present inside of her. Edward and Sarah's first child, Evelyn A Tomes, would be born on June 28, 1885, only one hundred and eighty days after their marriage. It is possible that Sarah became pregnant on the wedding night and Evelyn was premature, however, since we don't know for sure we will have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

In April of 1886 there is an article in "The York Daily," which it reported that "a fine and valuable mare of Edward Tomes on East Philadelphia St was lost while being broken to harness plunged forward and broke her neck." A good horse in 1886 would have cost Edward $150-$200, which would be approximately $4000-$5400 in today's (2020) money. Surely, the newspaper understood the value and was worth the reporting of such a loss.

Life was moving fast and there were even more changes at the P C Wiest's candy operations. As early as 1878, Mr Wiest became partners with Daniel F Lafean who I believe pushed Mr Wiest to expand the operations of the candy making business. It is believed that the Wiest Candy Factory was operating out of two brick buildings that were located on Clarke Ave near Duke St.. The dimensions of the two buildings on Clarke Ave. were 50x32 ft. and 45x20 ft. respectively. They quickly outgrew these operations and finally in 1887 the recently formed "P C Wiest and Co." would build a four story confectionery making factory located on a size-able plot at the corners of Broad and Walnut St.'s in York.

(The google map image above shows the lot where the P C Wiest and Co used to stand. This lot is diagonally across from the current Alexander Goode Elementary School. For orientation purposes and in relation to the 1887 image above, we are looking north and would be standing approximately at the "W" in Walnut St.)

The determination, organizational skills, and confidence that would have been needed to manage and lead the employee force at this new factory could not have fallen on better shoulders than Edward Tomes. Edward was determined to be successful and he had successful people that he had the opportunity to rub shoulders with on a daily basis.

P C Wiest's partner, Daniel Lafean, who would eventually serve four consecutive terms in the US House of Representatives from 1903-1915 and would have undoubtedly given Edward guidance on how to inspire his workforce. Daniel Lafean was know as a "blustery and ambitious man who was stout, opinionated, and he never did anything by halves." (Pg. 88, Hershey: Milton S Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams) As Wiest and Lafean made the big purchase agreements and were the faces of the company, Edward was promoted to Superintendent of Operations at the York Plant and ran the everyday operations with the most apt precision and tact. When the factory opened officially on Tuesday May 10 of 1887, the workforce was close to "two hundred persons and produced fifteen tons of confectionary per week" (The York Daily, May 14, 1887)

As Edward's responsibilities expanded at the candy factory his family dynamics also became sweeter with the addition of William Henry Tomes who was born on October 27, 1888. William would be baptized in St. Patricks Catholic Church on December 30, 1888 by the Rev. James O'Reilly. One of the sponsors of his baptism was his his uncle, Frederick Tomes, who was owner of a grocery and meat store on N Beaver St.

Unbeknownst to Edward, the year 1888 would mark the beginning of a turbulent and bipolar decade of life and death that changed the landscape of the Tomes family in York. We will explore these changes and the second half of Edward Tomes' life in my next blog, Edward Augustus Tomes Pt. 2.