Obit: Thoma, William B. (1867 - 1942)

Contact: Crystal Wendt
Email: crystal@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Thoma, Scheel, Appleyard, Schumann

----Sources: The Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark County, Wis.) 15 Jan. 1942

Thoma, William B. (5 March 1867 - 13 Jan. 1942)

William B. Thoma, 74, a resident of Clark County since 1888, passed away at his home in the Town of Weston at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, January 13th, after an illness of less than a week with bronchial pneumonia.

Mr. Thoma was born at Helenville, in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, March 5, 1867. At an early age he was required to do manual laborer on the farm of his parents and for others. At the age of 21 he came to Clark County, purchasing forty acres of land which remained his home during the balance of his lifetime.

In 1891 he was married to Miss Bertha Scheel, a young woman of the neighborhood who like himself had been taught the value of frugal living. The original forty soon became too small for this ambitious couple, their acreage being increased from time to time. Mr. Thoma also learned the carpenter trade, erecting most of the building on his farm and many others in the community for his worked at his trade in addition to his farming operations.

Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Thoma - four boys and one girl - four of whom have grown to maturity. One son, George, died at the age of seven.

With the help of his sons, Mr. Thoma cleared his land, the men cutting thousands of cords of wood which they hauled to distant markets. The father also helped turnpike many of the roads in the home township. In return for their assistance at home, Mr. Thoma established his sons on farms on their own.

To Mr. Thoma may be attributed much of the building of the township of Weston, doing his just share of clearing, building roads, erecting and maintaining, schools and churches. He had been a member of the Globe Lutheran Church for fifty years. His kindly nature and fair dealings with the public brought to him the respect of the entire country side.

Mr. and Mrs. Thoma celebrated their golden wedding on the third day of November, 1941, at the home where they began life together fifty years ago. They were surrounded for the day by their children, grandchildren and their close friends and neighbors to the number of about 100.

Surviving are the wife, Bertha Thoma, and the four children; Arthur, Town of Seif; Frank, Weston; John, on the home farm, and Mrs. Fred Appleyard, Pine Valley. There are 15 grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at two p.m., at the Globe Lutheran Church, Rev. A. Schumann officiating. The remains will be interred in the Globe Cemetery.

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Bio: Thoma, William B. (1867 - 1942)

Contact: History Buffs

1920 Federal Census, Weston Twp., Clark Co., WI

Household

Head: William B Thoma 52
Wife: Bertha M Thoma 48
Frank C Thoma 23 Son
John A Thoma 21 Son
Lillian E Thoma 15 Daughter

Weston Twp., Clark Co., WI Plat Map, sec. 4-9, ca 1921