Peter Tomes Jr. (1837-1849)

Peter Tomes Jr. was the third son of William A. and Sarah Ann Cook-Tomes and was born in Lebanon, PA on November 1, 1837. Peter's grandfather, John Tome(s), had passed away only two years prior and never got to see Peter Jr., however, Peter's grandmother Regina was most likely still alive and got to see and hold Peter Jr. while they were still in Lebanon, PA. Peter Tomes Jr. would be Regina's seventh grandchild.

According to the certificate of baptism below, Peter Tomes was born the son of "Peter Tomes and Sara Kerry." Although the baptism date is "not listed," it may be safe to say that perhaps the baptism occurred on 11.01.1837 and Peter Jr.'s birth would obviously be an earlier date. Whatever the case, Peter is baptized in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Lebanon, PA. (Known as St. Mary's to the locals that live there now.) The baptism is sponsored by "Wilhelm Ferry and Margaret Buktel" and the presiding priest was Rev. Adm. Steinbacher, S.J.

Rev Adm. Steinbacher,S.J. was a brother of Rev. Nicholas Steinbacher, S.J. both of whom ministered at the early St. Mary’s congregation. These brothers along with a few other priests would take turns traveling from Lancaster, PA to the rural Lebanon area to minister to this hodgepodge band of German and Irish catholics. The “SJ” behind Adm. and Nicholas’ names stood for “Society of Jesus,” which meant they were Jesuit Priests.

Although the catholic church of the early nineteenth century did not officially pronounce limbus infantium as church dogma, it was a highly held belief that if children were not baptized before they died they would go to a place called "limbo."This place was neither the torments of hell nor the pleasures of heaven, they were stuck in between the two places and no one was sure how they got out. It wasn't until April of 2007 that the catholic church officially announced that children, regardless if they were baptized or not, go to heaven when they die. (Click here for an article on the Catholic Chuch’s stance on Limbo.)

We don't know too much about Peter Jr.'s early life in Lebanon, PA except that somewhere between his birth and 1840 his family moves to York, PA and is living in the North York Borough probably on West Philadelphia St. right next to the Quakers Meeting House which is still standing today.

Peter Jr., would have looked up to his older brothers, William A. and John as they went with their father Peter to work each day. Although he was anxious to be with his brother and father at the foundry, he disliked the smelly clothes that his mom Mary Ann had to clean by hand each day when the other men came home from the York Variety Iron Works that was located right around the corner from their home. Peter Jr. perhaps would go outside to the nearby water pump to retrieve the buckets of water his mother needed to clean these grimy, filthy, and sweat stained clothes.

Unbeknownst to Peter, the water that was pouring out of the pump near his home was traveling from across town. According to “The York Water Company’s History,“ The water that was coming out of his pump, was from “a spring on Rathton Road in an area called Baumgartner’s Woods (site of the present Penn State York campus). Water was conveyed from the springs to a reservoir that was constructed on Queen Street. The water was then piped into the area of the town square.” Between 1816 and 1845 many homes near Peter‘s house began to have their own pumps and water supply, Peter Jr. was just glad he didn’t have to go far to retrieve it.

Peter Jr. didn't need to be told what his destiny was going to be. He knew that he would follow in his father and brother‘s footsteps, however, deep down he desired to be better than even his dad; he wanted to be the master iron moulder of the family. He couldn’t wait until it was his turn!

Peter Jr.’s day to become a man and apprentice under his father came during the summer of 1848. Peter was a quick learner, but his father made him watch how to use the tools of the trade. Day after day and week after week, Peter watched and learned eager to get his chance. Soon enough, Peter Jr. was working long exhausting hours and he realized the job his father and brothers we’re doing was harder than he thought it would be. At the end of each week, Peter Jr. would try to save some energy to go fishing down at the Codorus Creek which was only a half a block away from his house. Every Sunday was the Lord’s Day, the foundry was closed and most of the men attended one of York’s multiple church’s. Some attended Christ Lutheran near the square of York, while others attended St. Johns Episcopal church that was across the street from the Iron works and still used “York’s Liberty Bell” to beckon Sunday worshippers. However, Peter Jr. and family walked up the four blocks of the slightly inclined Beaver St. toward Penn Commons and their holy destination, St Patrick’s Catholic Church.

As they walked to hear Father Martin’s mass and homily, they could not miss the huge oblonged trenches in the ground. Peeking over the ridge of dirt that raised on either side of the trench, Peter could see what looked like big muddy bald tree trunks.

“The Water Works” originally written by Edward Kable in 1927 describes what Peter was seeing. “The original pipes (originally installed in 1816) used to convey the water from the reservoir through the highways were made from trunks of trees with a hole bored through the center. These trunks were joined together with a small "barrel" made of iron by local blacksmiths and an iron ring was driven into the body of the trunk at each end near the surface to prevent splitting. These trunks were purchased at the different river landings for as low as seven cents per lineal foot and were required to be ten inches in diameter at the smallest end. The logs were floated down the Susquehanna River and transported over land from Wrightsville. After twenty years of use considerable leakage of water occurred in the wooden mains and when a greater supply was necessary to meet the growing demands, cast iron mains were adopted in I840. Prices on the necessary pipe were secured and a contract made with Small and Geiger, now Smyser-Royer Company North Beaver Street.”

Peter worked through the colder months of the end of 1848 and early 1849. As the early signs of spring started to show in March of 1849, Peter Jr was ready for the warmer weather. It was getting towards the end of the week and Peter Jr was quite tired, he had one more task to do before going home and he grabbed the large piece of wood that doubled as a foot stool for him and a door stop to let the nice spring air fill the foundry. He had picked that piece of wood up probably a thousand times before. It was coated in black dust from the constant charcoal dirt that was in the air and as he lifted the wood it slip and as Peter tried to re-grip it, a large splinter broke off and pierced one of his fingers. He quickly dropped the wood piece and pulled what he thought was all of the splinter out of his skin. A trickle of blood instantly was present from the hand wound and Peter used his mouth to keep the blood from dripping on the floor. Shortly after the injury happened the bleeding stopped and Peter Jr., finished his day at the foundry.

Within about five to six days of Peter Jr injuring himself, he start to feel quite bad. It just started with what he thought was a headache, but the muscles around his head and neck felt like a tight rope was around it. Peter’s mother, Mary Ann, forced Peter to stay in bed because she knew that something wasn’t right.

Early the next morning the whole family was startled awake as Peters brother, William A, shouted for his father and mother to come quickly. As they burst through the door to see what the early morning sudden disruption was all about, they were horrified at what they saw. Peter Jr., drenched in sweat, jaw clenched, and his body racked with pain made him look half suspended and arched off of his bed. They didn’t know if they should call on the local doctor to come or If they should run to the church to beseech the priest to cast out the demonic spirit that had entered and was now bedeviling their son.

The next few days for Peter Sr. and Mary Ann were exasperatingly terrifying as their son lay in a constant state of limbo. His body it seemed was on the cusp of hell itself while his spirit was closer to heaven than they could have imagined. Mary Ann could see her son slipping away and she had William A run to get Farther Martin from St. Patrick’s Church. The priest came as fast as he could and administered last rites to the young lad before him. Soon after the priest had left, Peter Tomes Jr.’s body finally relaxed a little bit and the boy breathed his last breath with his family around his bed. This young pre-teen who endured so much now strangely had an unnatural smile on his face, he was in limbo no more.

After only eight days since that dreaded splinter enter Peter Jr.s finger and presented the bacterial toxins to his nervous system, he dies on Sun. March 25, 1849 at the age of twelve years old.

(Newspaper article from the, “Gettysburg Compiler,” printed on March 26, 1849.)

It’s interesting that I wasn’t able to find the above story in any of the York papers, however, it’s possible that it was in one of the local German Gazette’s.

I have a vital card resource that shows that St Patrick’s church recorded Peter Jr.’s death, but the location of his grave location remains a mystery. I’m quite confident that Peter Jr. was buried in the St Patricks cemetery that was next to the church. This cemetery was used primarily before 1850 and prior to the opening of the Violet Hill Catholic Cemetey where most of his immediate family would eventually be buried.