Robert Tomes

Robert Tomes (March 27, 1817 – August 28, 1882), American physician, diplomat and writer.[1]

For the British farmer and zoologist (1823–1904), see Robert Fisher Tomes.
Robert Tomes
Born(1817-03-27)March 27, 1817
New York City, U.S.
DiedAugust 28, 1882(1882-08-28) (aged 65)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Alma materWashington College
University of Edinburgh
OccupationPhysician, diplomat, writer
Spouse(s)Catherine Fasnet
Children3
RelativesCharles Alexander Tomes (nephew)

Early life

Robert Tomes was born in New York City on March 27, 1817. He was a son of Maria (née Roberts) Tome and Francis Tomes Sr., who was born in Chipping Campden, England, and was the founder of Francis Tomes & Sons.[2] Two of his brothers, Charles and Francis Jr. (father of Charles Alexander Tomes), married sisters, Isabella and Eleanor Hadden, both daughters of Scottish-born merchant David Hadden.[3][4]

He attended Columbia Grammar School in New York, and Washington College (now Trinity College) in Hartford, Connecticut in 1835. After one year at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, he continued his medical studies at the University of Edinburgh, where he received his M.D. in 1840.[1]

Career

After studying further in Paris, he moved back to New York to start his medical practice. Beginning to write around 1853, Tomes gradually relinquished his medical business and became an author.[5]

On his return to the United States, Tomes settled in the practice of his profession in New York, but after a few years was appointed surgeon on a vessel belonging to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and made several voyages between Panama and San Francisco.[1][2]

In 1865, Tomes was appointed U.S. Consul at Rheims, France, which office he filled until 1867. Returning to the United States, he spent most of his life in literary occupation.[6]

Personal life

Dr. Tomes married Catherine Fasnet of Wiesbaden, Germany. The family lived in New York City, Wiesbaden, Germany, and Rheims, France and Catherine and Robert were the parents of one daughter and two sons, including:[7]

  • Catherine Tomes (1860–1922), who died unmarried.[8]
  • Arthur Lloyd Tomes (1863–1920), a prominent lawyer with the firm of Tomes, Sherk & Palmer.[9]
  • Dr. William Austin Tomes (1865–1920), a well-known gynecologist.[10]

He died at his residence in Brooklyn, New York, on August 28, 1882.[1][2] After a funeral at Calvary Church on Fourth Avenue, he was buried at Trinity Church Cemetery in New York.[7] His widow, who did not remarry, died many years later on August 11, 1923 and was also buried at Trinity Church Cemetery.[8]

Published works

Tomes wrote for journals and magazines (his series of papers in Harper's Magazine on American manners and society were widely popular), and he also translated works from French and German.[1] He published:[11]

  • The Bourbon Prince (New York, 1853);
  • Richard the Lion-Hearted (1854);
  • Oliver Cromwell (1855);
  • Panama in 1855 (1855);
  • The Americans in Japan (1857);
  • The Battles of America by Sea and Land (3 vols., 1861);
  • The Champagne Country (1867);
  • The War with the South: a History of the Great American Rebellion (3 vols., 1864–1867; and the German translation, 2 vols., 1864–1867);
  • My College Days (1880)
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References
  1. Wilson & Fiske 1900.
  2. "Robert Tomes, M.D." Memphis Daily Appeal. September 7, 1882. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  3. Johnston, William (1894). A Genealogical Account of the Descendants of James Young, Merchant Burgess of Aberdeen and Rachel Cruickshank His Wife, 1697-1893, with Notes on Many of the Families with which They are Connected. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press. p. 251. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  4. Munro, Alexander Macdonald (1897). Memorials of the Aldermen, Provosts, and Lord Provosts of Aberdeen, 1272-1895. Subscribers. p. 260. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  5. Tomes, James Steel (2015). Serendipity: The Genealogy of Tomes, Steel, Raymaley and Schaeffer, Witmeyer and Burger. AuthorHouse. p. 38. ISBN 9781496938411. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  6. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Tomes, Robert" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
  7. "Funeral of Dr. Robert Tomes". The Brooklyn Union. August 31, 1882. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  8. "CATHERINE F. TOMES DIES AT AGE OF 85". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 12, 1923. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  9. Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University. Yale University. 1921. p. 748. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  10. Ross, Peter (1902). A History of Long Island: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time (168 ed.). Lewis Publishing Company. p. 167. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  11. "Francis and Robert Tomes Papers (1837-1881)". mms.newberry.org. Newberry Library. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
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