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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 129 items |
| Abstract | Croom, native of North Carolina, botanist, planter in Gadsden County, Fla., died with his immediate family in a shipwreck. Papers gathered in the course of litigation over Croom's estate, consisting chiefly of his correspondence, including letters to his wife, letters received from relatives about family affairs, letters concerning his plantation and slaves, and correspondence with botanists John Bachman and John Torrey. |
| Creator | Croom, H. B. (Hardy Bryan), 1798-1837. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Processing Information
Processed by: Suzanne Ruffing, August 1996
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Revised by: Dawne Howard Lucas, February 2021
This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
Hardy Bryan Croom was born in Lenoir County, N.C., 8 October 1797, the son of William Croom and his wife Mary Bryan Croom, who lived at "Newington." He was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1817 and studied law under William Gaston, but did not practice. Croom represented Lenoir County in the North Carolina Senate in 1828. He married Frances Smith, the daughter of Nathan Smith, merchant of New Bern, and settled in New Bern.
Croom and his brothers acquired land in Florida by inheritance and purchase, and Croom moved his slaves there to operate plantations. His brother Bryan, his half-brother William, and other relatives lived in Florida, and he visited them and his plantations frequently. In 1837, Croom purchased a house in Charleston, S.C., intending to move his family from New Bern to Charleston and Florida. His older children had been in school in New York, and, in October 1837, Croom, his wife, and their three children left New York on the steamship Home, bound for Charleston, with the intention of traveling by land from there to Florida. The Home was wrecked south of Cape Hatteras on 9 October 1837, and the Croom family was drowned.
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Scope and Content
Papers gathered in the course of litigation over Croom's estate, consisting chiefly of his correspondence, including letters to his wife, letters received from relatives about family affairs, letters concerning his plantation and slaves, and correspondence with botanists John Bachman and John Torrey.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Papers, 1822-1838.
Papers chiefly from the case of Smith and Armistead v. Croom, 7 Florida 81 (Florida Supreme Court), resulting from a dispute over the inheritance of Croom's property, with Mary Croom's mother and sister suing Croom's brothers and sisters. A lawsuit arising out of a dispute over his estate was settled in the Florida Supreme Court in 1857, and these papers were introduced as evidence in the case. The original letters are in the court files. The case is fully discussed in D. H. Redfearn, "'The Steamboat Home'--Presumption as to Order of Death in a Common Calamity," Florida Law Journal, IX (May 1935), 405-424, in the North Carolina Collection (Cp914/R31). This article also has a sketch of Croom and identifies members of the Croom and Smith families.
Copies of part of the transcript of Smith and Armistead vs. Croom, 7 Florida 81 (Florida Supreme Court). These contain copies of letters and extracts of letters from Hardy B. Croom dated 1831-1837.
| Folder 1 |
Papers, 1822-1838 |
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Series 2. Microfilm, 1822-1838.
Arrangement: see list.
Letters and affidavits relating to the court case of Smith and Armistead v. Croom. There are letters from John Torrey and John Bachman, both botanists, to Croom, who was interested in science, especially botany, and who published works on botany. Other letters are from Croom to his wife, between Croom and his brother Bryan, who lived at Rocky Comfort in Florida, to other members of the family, and to New York merchants John B. Carroll (Mary Croom's brother-in-law) and James Donaldson. Family affairs, financial affairs, planting in Florida, education of the Croom children, the welfare of slaves, and slight references to politics from the Whig viewpoint are among the topics mentioned. The first items in the group relate to the wreck of the Home, with letters and legal opinions about the estate, from William H. Haywood, Jr., Henrietta Smith, and Joseph M. White.