Descendants of the three CROOM brothers, Abel, Major and Jesse, spread across a number of eastern North Carolina counties and by the late 1700s were beginning to move to Georgia. By the early 1800s, they were pushing into Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama and Florida. Please continue reading about many of these migrating CROOM families.

ALABAMA: The CROOM name shows up in the 1830 Census. Most Crooms in Alabama are descended from several grandsons of Major CROOM I, the second oldest of the three CROOM brothers from the James River area of Virginia. Around 1742, Major I settled near what is now Kinston in Lenoir County North Carolina. Jesse Hare CROOM and his brother, Wiley Jones, both sons of Richard who was a son of Major I, moved to Alabama shortly before 1830. Isaac CROOM, son of Isaac, Sr., another son of Major I, was a noted lawyer and state senator from Lenoir County North Carolina. He moved to Alabama shortly after 1830. Many of these early Crooms settled in or around Greene County.

Other CROOM descendants can trace their lineage back through Sumter County, AL. Richard CROOM b 1805 in Lenoir Co., son of Maj. Gen. William CROOM who was a son of Major CROOM I and his second wife, Susannah, settled in AL with his family sometime after 1833. Richard married Winnefred Bryan WHITFIELD, b 17 Oct 1812 in Lenoir Co., NC, and many WHITFIELD names can be found around Sumter Co., AL.

Many CROOM families in Mobile County, AL, are descended from FREDERICK CROOM of an area of New Hanover County, NC, that became Pender County in 1875. See MISSISSIPPI below for details on these descendants.

A John CROOM, b 1797 in NC is known to have moved to Crawford Co., GA where he reared a family. A son, Jesse Jackson CROOM, b 1846, moved to Pansy, AL where he reared a family and left many descendants.

At least one GROOM (spelled with a "G"), Council, moved to Coosa County, Alabama from Washington County, Georgia around 1835-1840. Eventually, offspring of Council migrated to Louisiana and Texas. The interesting thing is that I have traced these Groom families back to Elijah Croom (spelled with a "C") who moved with his family around 1790 to Washington County, GA, from Duplin County, North Carolina. Elijah died about 1804 and somehow the records started reflecting the name of his widow and children as GROOM rather than CROOM. Curiously, a couple of the offspring of Elijah CROOM who moved to Kentucky and Tennessee as young adults added an "s" and the records reflect that these CROOM/GROOM families became GROOMS. An additional oddity is that there are GROOM and GROOMS families in Texas today who can be traced back to the same North Carolina ancestor, Elijah CROOM.

ARKANSAS: Many Arkansas Crooms can trace their ancestry back to Tennessee and then back to Jesse CROOM, the youngest of the three CROOM brothers, who settled in what is now Wayne County North Carolina most likely between 1738 and 1741 and certainly before 1757. Around 1826, two sons and three widowed daughters of Jesse's oldest son, Charles Sr., moved westward to an area of Tennessee, a part of which later became Madison County. Soon after 1840, Stringer CROOM, another son of Charles Sr., moved to the same area of Tennessee. Many of these Crooms subsequently moved on and settled in or around Dardanelle, Arkansas. Around 1826, Benajah CROOM, a son of Major who was a brother of Charles Sr., moved to Jackson, Madison County, Tennessee. Between 1840 and 1850, he moved further west to Lawrenceville, Arkansas. Many Crooms can trace their ancestry to Benajah.

I have observed in the Arkansas 1830 census index the name of Joshua CROOM. To date, I have been unable to determine the identity of this Croom. I would appreciate receiving any census details and other information petinent to this Joshua Croom.

I have traced a John Anguis CROOM who died in 1919 in Hartman, AR, back to GA. He was born in 1849 in Monroe Co., GA, the 2nd child of Jesse and Elizabeth CROOM. According to census records, this Jesse was born 1805-1809 in NC. He left a widow and six young children when he died after the April 1860 census and before 1866. To date, I have not ascertained the names of this Jesse's parents, although I suspect he descends from Abel CROOM.

FLORIDA: Though he never became a resident of Florida, General William CROOM of Lenoir County North Carolina had several children who did become citizens of Florida and left many descendants. William, born in 1771, served as a major general in the War of 1812. He was a prominent citizen and a large landowner of several plantations in Lenoir County. In 1826, he established planting interests in Gadsden County Florida. Several children from his first marriage to Mary BRYAN and from his second marriage to Elizabeth WHITFIELD were lifelong residents of Florida. Records reflect that a number of noted Florida judges and other public figures were descended from William.

One noteworthy citizen of North Carolina, Hardy Bryan CROOM, a son of Maj. General William CROOM, became a prominent landowner in Florida. He was widely known and regarded for his work as a botanist. Following the tragic death of Hardy and his entire family in the sinking of a storm-driven ship off of Cape Hatteras, twenty years of litigation in the Florida courts created case law. Read my page at this web site on this interesting man, Hardy Bryan CROOM.

Records reveal that other CROOM families moved into Florida from Georgia and Alabama in the early nineteenth century. The ancestry of some of these has been traced to brothers Abel and Jesse respectively of Craven and Wayne Counties in North Carolina.

Joshua CROOM appears in land records in Leon and Jefferson counties in 1827 and in the Leon County census in 1830. He was the son of Major & Mary Hardee CROOM who had moved his family from Lenoir County, NC, to Florida when his sister, Olief Croom BYRD and her family moved to Leon County. After Joshua's wife died in 1835, he and the rest of his family returned to Lenoir County.

GEORGIA: Evidence indicates that Jesse CROOM of Wayne County North Carolina--a son of Jesse, the youngest of the three CROOM brothers who immigrated to North Carolina--moved to Washington County, Georgia, between 1790 and 1800. Some of his descendants have been tracked to Florida, Mississippi and Arkansas.

According to census records, another Jesse CROOM was born in NC between 1805 & 1809 and spent most of his adult life in Monroe Co., GA. He left a widow and six young children when he died after the April 1860 census and before 1866. To date, I have not ascertained the names of this Jesse's parents, though I suspect he descended from Abel CROOM.  See ARKANSAS above for one of his sons, John.

Elijah CROOM emigrated from Duplin County, NC to Washington County, GA, just prior to 1790. For some unexplained reason, all of the children of Elijah CROOM and his wife Catherine "Catey" HERRING spelled their name GROOM after the move to Georgia and Elijah's death shortly thereafter. Evidence indicates that some of his offspring settled in Alabama, while others moved to Kentucky with the name changed again to GROOMS. Some of these Kentuckians later moved to Tennessee and still later to the Red River area of Texas. Based on strong circumstantial evidence, I believe Elijah to be an elder brother of Jesse CROOM, Jr., of Wayne County, NC, who also moved to Washington County, GA, and owned adjacent land. Read more on this Elijah further down this page.

A John CROOM, b 1797 in NC is known to have moved to Crawford Co., GA abt 1840 where he reared a family. Some of his descendants remained in GA while others moved to FL, OK and TX. Click the ABEL CROOM hyperlink at the bottom of this page for further details.

LOUISIANA: Shortly before 1826, Isaac CROOM joined his brother Charles and three widowed sisters and moved from Wayne County North Carolina to Madison County Tennessee. After a short stay, Isaac moved to Houston County Texas. In 1844, he moved to Caddo Parish Louisiana near what is now Mooringsport. A number of descendants of Isaac's two marriages can be traced from Caddo Parish. Many live in Texas today.

A Joshua CROOM married in Amite County in 1836 and later moved to Catahoula Parish across the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The 1850 census suggests he was born about 1800. I have determined that he was a son of William & Mary Gaitlin CROOM of Lenoir County, NC.

MISSISSIPPI: Many CROOM descendants in Mississippi, especially around West Point, can trace their ancestry back through John Addison CROOM, a son of Charles CROOM, Jr. in Madison County Tennessee. Charles moved to Tennessee around 1826 from Wayne County North Carolina. See the section on Tennessee and Arkansas.

Sometime in the late 1890s, Joseph J. CROOM and his brother, James Allen CROOM, sons of Joseph Thomas CROOM, left Pender County, NC, and moved to Mississippi to found a turpentine business. James Allen would become the progenitor of a significant branch of CROOM families in Mississippi and adjacent states. Between 1900 and 1904, their half-brother, Henry Baxter CROOM, would move first to Vernon Parish, LA, and later to Greene Co, MS, where he too would expand the CROOM families in that area.

A Joshua CROOM married in Amite County in 1836 and later moved to Catahoula Parish across the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The 1850 census suggests he was born about 1800. See Louisiana above. This is the same Joshua CROOM.

NEW MEXICO: Many CROOM families were recorded living in this state by the beginning of the twentieth century. Most had come from Tennessee by way of Texas. Several of Jesse Croom's offspring from Wayne County, NC had offspring in western Tennessee, especially in Madison County, who went to Texas. Several of these and or their offspring eventually settled in New Mexico.

OKLAHOMA: About 1895, Isaac Newton CROOM, Jr. settled in Muskogee, OK. He was born August 12, 1867 in Madison County, TN, the grandson of Stringer CROOM who had left Wayne County, NC around 1840 to settle in Madison County. Many CROOM families with roots in Oklahoma can trace their ancestry back through Isaac and Stringer CROOM to North Carolina.

Refer to Georgia in this section for other CROOM members moving to Oklahoma.

TENNESSEE: During the early 1800s, many North Carolinians moved into the western counties of the new state of Tennessee. Several adult children of Charles CROOM, Sr., son of Jesse CROOM, Sr. of Wayne County, North Carolina, moved to Madison County, Tennessee during the period from 1825 to 1840. Some had the CROOM surname while some daughters had married names like COORS, COOK and HOLLOWELL. Most notable were Charles CROOM, Jr., his brother Isaac, and his cousin Benajah, son of Major CROOM who was the youngest son of Jesse CROOM I. Many of their offspring subsequently moved on to Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas and New Mexico. A brother of Charles CROOM Jr., Stringer CROOM, also settled in Madison County shortly after 1840.

Daniel CROOM, another son of Jesse, Sr., died about 1806 in Wayne Co., NC as a young man and left three small children: 2 boys and a girl. The two boys, Joshua CROOM and William Hooker CROOM, eventually followed their relatives westward and settled in Madison Co., TN. Descendants of Joshua and William Hooker can be found from TX and NM to ID, CA and many other western states.

A number of GROOMS families in TN are descended from Elijah CROOM who moved from Duplin County, NC to Georgia. Read paragraphs on Alabama and Georgia for more on Elijah CROOM.

TEXAS: See above paragraphs on Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana. Also, read the paragraph under ALABAMA for information on GROOM and GROOMS descended from Elijah CROOM of North Carolina.

Note: In tracing Crooms from the aforementioned states, bear in mind that I generally have listed only the earliest Croom family members to leave eastern North Carolina and settle further west and/or south. Undoubtedly, other Croom relations, many without the Croom surname, moved to the frontier areas as well during the period 1790 to 1860.