Author: John Outcalt (1925)

JOHN GROOM

When John Groom came to Livingston, Cal., in 1910, there was not much to suggest the present remarkable prosperity which he himself has helped to bring about. His first experience in Livingston was as a building foreman, but it was not long before he saw an opportunity for an energetic contractor. From the very start Mr. Groom averaged one building per month and to his credit stands the Marshall store building, the Livingston telegraph office building, the library building, the Sumner Grammar School building, the pool hall, the First Bank of Livingston building, the Walter Ward building, the Livingston bakery. He built the George Bloss home in Atwater, the residences of A. Craig, E. G. Adams, Dr. G. C. Saunders and others. In 1923 he built the Atwater Grammar School at Atwater and the new addition to the Merced Falls Grammar School. Mr. Groom has built five houses for himself and has sold four of them and is living in the fifth.

Mr. Groom is of English descent; his father, also named John Groom, and his mother, Anna Theresa (Williams) Groom, were born in England. They immigrated to Canada, and were there united in marriage. John Groom, Sr., located at Muskoka, Canada, where on May 22, 1876, John Jr., was born. The family remained in Canada for the following three years, then removed to Chicago, where the father engaged in contracting and building in the stockyards district. There were six children in this family: Anna, the wife of Angus Morrison, of Philadelphia, Pa.; Emma, the wife of George Palmeter, of Hood River, Ore.; John, our subject; Thomas, assistant superintendent at the California Barrel Factory at Areata, Cal.; James, deceased; and Bessie, wife of Mark Austin, of Livingston. The father passed away at Antigo, Wis., aged sixty-five years, and the mother died at Livingston on February 9, 1924, aged eight-one years.

John Groom attended public school in Chicago and one year at Benton Harbor, Mich., and at the age of fourteen he went to work as an apprentice to learn the carpenter's trade. He left the family home at Antigo, Wis., and came to California in 1901, locating first at Gonzales, Monterey County, where he worked for about eight months; then went to Eureka, where he remained until 1908, when he removed to San Francisco and worked for a couple of years prior to locating at Livingston.

At Livingston, in June, 1914, Mr. Groom was married to Miss Abbie E. Carson, a daughter of John Carson, and of this union one child has been born, John Carson Groom. Fraternally, Mr. Groom is affiliated with Humboldt Lodge No. 77, I. O. O. F., and Mt. Zion Encampment, I. O. O. F., both at Eureka, Humboldt County, Cal. He is a stockholder in the First Bank of Livingston. He is very active in all matters pertaining to the advancement of the Livingston section of Merced County and is ever looking for an opportunity to aid in its further development.


Additional Comments:
From:

HISTORY OF
MERCED COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
WITH A
Biographical Review
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been
Identified with Its Growth and Development
from the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
JOHN OUTCALT

ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1925

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher February 2, 2006