William Whitfield Croom (1814 - 1876)

Born 1814 in Lenoir, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Julia (Stephens) Croom — married 1836 in Florida, United States

Died 1876 at about age 62 in Rome, Floyd, Georgia, United States

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Biography

William was born in 1814. He died in 1876.

Parents: Gen. William Croom 1771 - 1829 and Elizabeth "Betsy" "Eliza" (Whitfield) Croom 1786 - 1831. Elizabeth Findagrave #80598546 (has Eliza)

Spouse: Julia (Stephens) Whitfield 1816 - 1867 . They were married in 1836 in Florida.

Children:

1. Elizabeth Whitfield Croom 1837 - 1900

• Married Dr. Charles Edward Bellamy - 1863 (Civil War)
• Findagrave #57511014 (pic. on page)

2. Major Stephens Cicero Croom 1839 - 1884 (Civil War)

• Married Mary Marshall 1844 - 1909
• Findagrave #57513996
• On some sources, he is Cicero Stephens Croom

"William Whitfield Croom was born in Lenoir County, North Carolina, the son of General William Croom and Elizabeth Whitfield. General Croom died in 1829, and William moved to Gadsden County, Florida, ca. 1835, where he became a cotton commission merchant and broker in Quincy. He also hired out most of the fifty slaves he inherited from his father's estate. In 1836 he married Julia Stephens of New Bern, North Carolina. Julia's father, Marcus Cicero Stephens, and mother, Mary Anne "Polly" Ellis, and their seven children had also relocated in Quincy, Florida, in 1835. William and Julia had two children, Cicero Stephens and Elizabeth Whitfield.

During the 1850's William initiated a business relationship with a Dr. Taylor in Columbus, Georgia, and traveled frequently to New York in connection with his commission merchant business and a silk and ribbon business. William also speculated in land in Minnesota and Iowa, although with little success.

In 1857 William purchased 1,000 acres of land in Bolivar County, Mississippi. The Crooms lived in a boarding house in Memphis, Tennessee, while renovating a house on the plantation. However, they did not stay long in Mississippi, since Julia did not like the climate or the isolation. They left their daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband to manage the plantation and they returned to New York.

On the eve of the Civil War it became increasingly difficult to conduct business in New York. In 1860, William and Julia moved to Eutaw, Alabama, where they had relatives. Following the war, their financial situation was precarious, and William had no regular occupation. In 1868, the year after Julia Croom died, William was forced to file for bankruptcy. His properties in Eutaw and Mississippi went on the auction block, and he moved to Rome, Georgia, where he secured a position teaching French in a girl's school. He remained there until his death in 1876". Guide to the Velma and Stephens G. Croom Collection. By Anthony Donaldson. https://www.southalabama.edu/libraries/mccallarchives/croom.html Note: Also has bios for their two children and pictures of all of them.

Sources

• William Whitfield Croom: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L788-WWH

• 1850 Census: William W. Croom. Age: 36. Married, white, male. Home in 1850: Gadsden, Florida. Birth date/place: 1814 in North Carolina. Household members: William W. Croom, 36 (NC). Julia Croom, 34 (NC). Elizabeth Croom, 12 (FL). Cicero S. Croom, 10 (FL).

• History Whitfield Bryan Smith, Volume 1. By Emma Morehead Whitfield. Page 146 lists William Whitfield Croom, his wife and 2 children. http://www.bmgen.com/document/pdf/History_Whitfield_Bryan_Smith_Vol_I.pdf

• Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 Volumes. Edited by William S. Powell. Copyright 1979 - 1996 by the University of North Carolina. *Bio/Information about his Great Grandfather, Daniel. His Grandfather, Major. His Father, William. His Grandfather served during the American Revolution. His Father, William is listed as the rank of "Major General". His Mother, Elizabeth is listed with some information. Has a marriage date for them of 4/20/1809. Their children are listed, including William & his wife: https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/croom-william

• In Their Footsteps. A Veterans Day Address by John H. Croom, 11/11/2007. Copy of the speech about William's Father, Major General William Croom of the War of 1812: http://www.johncroom.com/croopa37.htm

• Family Papers, 1833 - 1902 (bulk 1840 - 1881). Primarily correspondence between various Croom family members and their friends from 1840 - 1900. Of particular interest are the letters from Stephens Croom to his parents and sister during the Civil War. Also includes a journal kept by Stephens Croom during the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi and student essays written by him at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1856 - 1859. https://www.worldcat.org/title/43957966

• The Private Life of a New South Lawyer: Stephens Croom's 1875 - 1876 Journal. Croom's Journal is remarkable for the skill with which the author describes the legal, political and literary circles in which he moved. It is a rare and personally revealing document. Some of Croom's views - on social and radical matters, particularly - will affront modern readers, but it is impossible to understand Croom's world without taking them into consideration. https://www.worldcat.org/title/50641969

• Some other writings related to the Croom/Whitfield Family: https://snaccooperative.org/vocab_administrator/resources/7536401

• The Croom Family and goodwood Plantation. Land, Litigation and Southern Lives. By William Warren Rogers, Erica R. Clark, 2010. University of Georgia Press. 290 pages. Pages 91 - 94: Through account of William's life - his childhood, his marriage to Julia, physical description, his inheritance of slaves & Tower Hill Plantation in Lenoir County from his Father... https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Croom_Family_and_Goodwood_Plantation/HjW3hupnRUUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=william+whitfield+croom,+born+about+1814,+north+carolina&pg=PA91&printsec=frontcover

• Lineage Book. National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Volumes 86 - 87. By Daughters of the American Revolution, 1926. *Lineage for Mrs. Camilla Wadding Coffee, #16481. Page 153. Lists William's Grandfather, Major Croom: "Major Croom was a member of the Committee of Safety from New Berne District, 1775. He was born and died in South Carolina. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lineage_Book_of_the_Charter_Members_of_t/oGsZAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=william+whitfield+croom,+born+about+1814,+north+carolina&pg=RA1-PA153&printsec=frontcover