The Tuomy Family papers document the daily life of three generations of a pioneer Ann Arbor area family. The three linear feet of papers span the years 1840-1966 with the bulk of the material falling within the decades bound by 1905-1945. The papers have been divided into four series, a small set of documents with biographical information, a larger set of personal and business correspondence, and family material arranged as a set of topical files. There is also a box of unidentified family portraits
A strength of the Tuomy Family papers is the documentation of daily life for a prominent Ann Arbor family from 1900 until the 1960's. Kathryn G. Tuomy's materials provide good exposure to the life of an Ann Arbor woman who has a university education and a family business to maintain. The papers are weaker in their coverage of the Tuomy and Tuomy real estate business. There is only marginal documentation regarding Cornelius W. (Bill) Tuomy's time in political office as drain commissioner. The photographs are not strongly backed up by the written documentation regarding the Tuomy and Tuomy real estate office and properties.
The Tuomy Family arrived in Scio Township in southeast Michigan from County Kerry, Ireland in 1838. Timothy Tuomy and his wife Johanna (Roache) Tuomy purchased one of the first farms in Washtenaw County, a tract of land west of Ann Arbor. Cornelius L. Tuomy was one of their nine children, born October 28, 1843 on the homestead in Scio. Cornelius L. bought an Ann Arbor township farm of two hundred and twenty acres in 1874 and the family home, referred to as Tuomy Place, is still standing at 2117 Washtenaw Avenue. Cornelius L. became one of the most successful and best known farmers in Washtenaw County.
In 1885, Cornelius L. Tuomy married Julia Ann Kearney, daughter of Thomas and Catherine (Duffy) Kearney of Northfield Township. Julia Ann had three siblings: brothers Thomas D. and John, and sisters Mary and Kate. Julia was the only one who married. Thomas D. Kearney was prosecuting attorney of Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor city attorney. Cornelius L. and Julia A. Tuomy had three children: Cornelius William, born September 27, 1886; Kathyrn Genevieve, born September 13, 1888; and Thomas Kearney, born September 21, 1890. Cornelius L. Tuomy died in 1912 and Julia Ann Tuomy died at age 82 in 1938. Cornelius L. and Julia A. Tuomy had three children: Cornelius William, born September 27, 1886; Kathyrn Genevieve, born September 13, 1888; and Thomas Kearney, born September 21, 1890. Cornelius L. Tuomy died in 1912 and Julia Ann Tuomy died at age 82 in 1938.
Cornelius W. (Bill) Tuomy was a lifelong resident of Tuomy Place, except for his time in the Army. He was a World War I veteran and served several terms as county drain commissioner between 1930 and 1944. For more than fifty years, Bill Tuomy was in the real estate and insurance business in Ann Arbor with his sister Kathryn, in the firm known as Tuomy and Tuomy. The family was responsible for the development of the Tuomy Hills area of Ann Arbor (the former Tuomy farm), and established the Tuomy Hills Gas Station at Washtenaw and Stadium Roads. There is a road named for the family that borders the west boundary of Tuomy Place. Cornelius W. Tuomy died in March 1966 at age 69.
Kathryn G. Tuomy graduated from the University of Michigan in 1912. Except for two years that she taught business classes in Kenosha, Wisconsin (1914-1915), she spent all of her life in Ann Arbor at Tuomy Place. For some years she was in sole charge of the family real estate business, the oldest real estate office in Ann Arbor. Kathryn Tuomy was also a president of the Michigan Federation of Business and Professional Women and active in associated women's clubs. Her other brother, Thomas Kearney Tuomy, was a local athletic star but contracted pneumonia at age 28 and died in 1918. Kathryn G. Tuomy died at age 76 in 1965.
Cornelius W. Tuomy was the last surviving member of the Tuomy family of Ann Arbor. He bequeathed a large portion of his family estate to the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Parish in the city. The family residence, Tuomy Place, is now the home of the Historical Society of Michigan.
