Surnames: Grooms, Kerr, McIlvaine, Vankirk, Demain, Taylor
William Grooms, retired blacksmith, was born in Carmichaels, Penna, August 14, 1828. His parents were Benjamin Groom and Isabella Kerr Grooms, natives of Maryland and Pennsylvania respectively, and of English and Scotch descent. His grandfather, William Grooms, was one of the early settlers of Greene County. His father was a farmer and carpenter, and had a family of six children of whom William is the second of the three living. He was reared in Carmichaels, attended the common schools and Greene Academy, and in early life learned the blacksmith trade in which
he engaged for a number of years.In 1846 Mr Grooms married Malinda McIlvaine, daughter of Moses McIlvaine and Susan Vankirk McIlvaine. They have six children: Susan Grooms, wife of James Lincoln; Elizabeth Grooms, wife of George Demain; Arabella Grooms, wife of Levi Taylor; William Grooms and B F Grooms, blacksmiths; and Eliza Jane Grooms, a teacher. In politics Mr Grooms is a Republican. In 1861 he enlisted in Company I, Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers and served three years. He re-enlisted in Company B, Fifty seventh Volunteer Infantry and served till the close of the war. He has been road
commissioner and was postmaster at Carmichaels for a number of years. Mr and Mrs Grooms are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a member of the G A R Post.