Memorials › Ernest J. Tomes

Ernest J. Tomes

4 Feb 1867 – 16 Sep 1924

Birth4 Feb 1867
Death16 Sep 1924
CemeterySaint Vitus Cemetery
Touhy , Saunders County , Nebraska , USA
Added byDebbie and Bob Kennel on 21 Dec 2019
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64512752

Bio

aged 57 yrs ERNEST J. TOMES. Success is ever the result of persistent, earnest and indefatigable effort. In the case of Ernest J. Tomes unfaltering industry has brought a very substantial measure of prosperity, and he is now numbered among the well-to-do and enterprising farmers of Touhy. Like a large percentage of the substantial citizens of Saunders county, he is a native of Bohemia, his birth having occurred in Moravia, on the 10th of November, 1867, his parents being Joseph and Barbara Tomes, who were farming people in their native land. There they resided until 1871, when they bade adieu to friends and native country and sailed for America with their six children, at which time Ernest J. Tomes was a little lad of but four years. He is the fifth in order of birth, his brothers and sisters being Joe, Mary, Frank, Andrew and Barbara. After reaching American shores the father crossed the country with his family to Saunders county, Nebraska, where much of the land was still in possession of the government and in order to make a home for the members of his household he entered a claim covering the east half of the northwest quarter of section 12, township 14, range 5. His first home was a little frame dwelling covered with a thatch of slough grass and the following year he had the misfortune to have this building destroyed by fire, necessitating the erection of another dwelling. He bent his energies to the development and improvement of his farm and soon wrought a marked transformation in the appearance of the place, which he converted from a tract of wild prairie into rich and productive fields. It was upon the old homestead farm that Ernest J. Tomes spent the days of his boyhood and youth having the usual experience of the farm lad. He was early trained to habits of industry, thrift and economy, and he learned the best methods of developing the fields and caring for the crops. When twenty-one years of age he received the homestead as a gift from his parents and successfully continued the operation of that farm. In 1889 he added to his original holdings by the purchase of an eighty acre tract to the north, for which he paid two thousand dollars to Florin Tomes. He had farmed the above land for about six years when on July 4, 1892, Mr. Tomes with Anton B. Chapek, as a partner, opened a new store at Touhy. They dealt in general merchandise, hardware and implements. Mr. Tomes remained in that business for about two or three years and then sold his interest to his partner, Anton B. Chapek, and Frank J. Hakel, the firm becoming known as Chapek & Hakel. In 1894 Mr. Tomes purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 2, township 13, range 5, Oak Creek precinct, from Frank Hruby, and in the fall of that year he erected thereon a fine residence and made other improvements on the place. In 1908 he purchased six hundred and forty acres on section 9, township 11, range 6, in Lancaster county, the farm being located one-half mile south and two miles east of Raymond, Nebraska. Upon the farm is a two story house of eleven rooms and also a house, for the workmen, of four rooms, two big barns, each one hundred and fifty feet long, three double cribs, each about sixty feet long or more, and one hog shed three hundred feet long with water improvement in it. In the year 1910 Mr. Tomes purchased one hundred and sixty acres on section 36, township 14, range 5, Newman precinct. In 1914 he purchased forty acres of land near La Pine, Oregon, which he has not seen to the present day. His property possessions now include eleven hundred and sixty acres of land, on which he has made modern improvements in keeping with the most progressive methods of farming. He carefully tilled his fields and raised good grades of stock, and everything about his place indicated his careful supervision and his practical and progressive methods. He has lived retired in Oak Greek precinct, Saunders county, for the last three years. Mr. Tomes was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor Kodek, a daughter of Thomas Kodek, and they have eight children, Joe, Frank, Mary, Louis, George, Agnes, Ernest and Henry. The only members of the family that are not married are George, Agnes, Ernest and Henry, and the others all have homes of their own. All of the sons are bankers, Frank being the cashier of the La Pine State Bank of La Pine, Oregon; Joseph, assistant cashier of the Oak Creek Valley Bank of Valparaiso, Nebraska; Louis, cashier of the Dwight State Bank of Dwight, Nebraska; George, cashier of the First Bank of Ulysses, Nebraska; Ernest, cashier of the State Bank of Touhy, Nebraska; and Henry, assistant cashier of the Dwight State Bank of Dwight, Nebraska. Mr. Tomes is interested in several banks and has fine residences in Ulysses, Weston and Touhy, Nebraska. The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church. The parents are well known in the country where they make their home, Mr. Tomes having spent practically his entire life in Saunders county in Oak Creek precinct, and as a representative and progressive farmer he deserves prominent mention.

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