10/08/2026
TBT: Capt. Henry Toms
Column by Keith Ruetten
Henry Toms was born in Winchelsea, Rother District, East Sussex, England, on August 6, 1829. He grew up and learned the cabinet making trade, residing in his native country. In 1853, at the age of twenty-four, Henry immigrated to the United States. He initially located in Lyons, New York, working as a cabinet maker, after which he moved to St. Johns, Michigan, before arriving in Richland Center, in 1859.
In Richland Center, Henry engaged in the manufacturing of fanning mills, which were used to blow away the chaff when harvesting grain.
On September 12, 1861, Henry enlisted in Company D, of the 11th Wisconsin Infantry, and was commissioned as a Corporal. By meritorious conduct he was promoted to the rank of Captain and served as such until the regiment was mustered out of service on September 4, 1865, at the end of the war.
On March 29, 1864, while Captain Toms was home on leave, he married an English girl, Mary Anna Parfrey. Now that the war was over, Captain Toms returned home to Richland Center and established a cabinet and furniture shop and built a house on the northwest corner of Church and Seminary Streets, on property that he had purchased in December of 1860. He then constructed wagons, furniture, and caskets. Like all cabinet makers in these days, Henry Toms also made caskets, and the funeral business developed side-by-side with the furniture store. By 1880 his shop expanded to the north to include space for the sale of furniture.
The Toms home that sat on the corner of the block next to the store was described by Carl Burdick in his book as follows: “On the N.W. corner of Seminary and Church, was the old Toms corner. This corner held the quaint home of Capt. Toms, who had been in the furniture business and whose store stood next door to the north on Church. The house here on the corner lot was a one-story building and set back from the street some. There were flowers everywhere on this corner. A house out of Dickens stories would well describe this corner home”. During the war, Capt. Toms had seen the iron fences around the plantation houses in the south, and he purchased one or maybe had it “liberated” and shipped to Richland Center, installing it around the border of the property. This house was built piecemeal as was the custom in the pioneer days, with additions and improvements being made through the years as the family increased and the owner prospered. In this house, Capt. Toms and Mary Anna raised seven children, Clara, Ada, Henry, Edwin, Josie, Emma and Arthur.
Arthur Clinton Toms was born on September 3, 1880, the youngest child born to Capt. Henry And Mary Anna Toms. Around the turn of the century, Arthur joined his father in the furniture and undertaking business. Arthur Toms gradually took over the affairs and active management of the business from his elderly father. The Toms store advertised furniture, undertaking, wallpaper, high grade paints, varnishes, brushes, and painter’s supplies. Prices like the rest of our business – popular.
Capt. Henry Toms died of pneumonia, on March 23, 1914; he was 84. At the time of his death, the furniture store that Capt. Toms had established in 1865, held the record for continual service to the city. Having spent more than half a century of his life in Richland Center, Capt. Toms was known by all as a man of integrity, unblemished character and one devoted to his family and business affairs. Quiet, unostentatious and living an everyday life above reproach he had drawn to himself a large circle of staunch friends who knew and appreciated his worth. During his life in Richland Center Capt. Toms had also served a term as the village president in 1881 and been a member of the fire department.
After the death of his father Arthur Toms became the sole owner of the Toms furniture store and undertaking business. In May of 1916, Arthur purchased the furniture store building and site from the heirs of the Henry Toms estate.
Arthur Toms married Ora “Mae” Clark, the daughter of Harvey and Iretta Clark. Mae worked in the furniture store alongside her husband. Arthur and Mae made their home in a two-story house that sat on the bank at 610 E. Seminary Street, but they did not have any children.
In March of 1916, Arthur purchased a motorized hearse to add to the conveniences for doing the undertaking part of their work and provide them with a well-equipped funeral directing department and in 1919, Arthur built a new three-story building on the south side of the furniture store that included a modern funeral parlor on the ground floor.
In April 1927, Arthur C. Toms sold the Toms Furniture Store and Funeral business that had been started by his father Capt. Toms to Frank Lunenschloss, who purchased it for his son Carl Lunenschloss.
After selling the business, Arthur C. Toms retired from active business life in Richland Center. His marriage to Mae had ended in a divorce, and he eventually moved to Sheboygan where he passed away on March 4, 1966, at the age of 84.
Mary Anna (Parfrey) Toms, the widow of Capt. Henry Toms, passed away on July 16, 1932; she was 94. Mary Anna had come to America from England by sailing ship, a trip that took five weeks, with her family in 1857.
The Toms house that had been home to Mary Anna Toms for over seventy years was purchased by the Lunenschloss-Doudna firm, after her death in 1932. In 1936, the house was remodeled into a restaurant where Miss Rachel Ross operated the “Sugar Bowl.” The Sugar Bowl had a soda fountain and booths and could serve up to 90 people for banquets. The Sugar Bowl was famous for its food and especially its desserts. The Sugar Bowl closed in 1944, and Rachel Ross died in 1945. The Toms house was demolished in 1950 to make parking space for the funeral chapel.
Photos-RC History Room
