Abraham Groom, age fifty, and Sarah (Sally) Adams, age thirty-two, were married September 14, 1827, in Clay County, Missouri. The officiating minister was Abraham's old friend, Elder William Thorp. Their marriage brought Abraham's eight children and Sarah's eight children together as stepbrothers and sisters. (Abraham's son, James, was seventeen, and Sarah's daughter, Rebecca only seven, when the marriage took place. Nine years later James and Rebecca were married, and they are our ancestors. Abraham's son, Abraham, was probably about nineteen at the time Abraham and Sarah married.. He later married Sarah's daughter, Mary, who was then ten years old .)Sarah's father, Archilbald Holtzclaw, who was the guardian for her children, died in the summer of 1828. A year and one-half later, on February 2, 1829, Abraham Groom was appointed guardian of John Adams minor children, Feathergill, Polly, Archibald, Rebecca, Nancy, and Sarah. (Note that Miriam and Elizabeth Adams are not mentioned. When and where they died is not known, but they had to have died between the date of the decree of sale of John Adam's land in Owen County, Kentucky, in August of 1825, and February 2, 1829.)
Abraham and Sarah had two sons: Jacob Mitchell, born in about 1829; and Joseph, born in about 1832.
Abraham, Sarah, and their family attended the Little Shoal Creek Old School Baptist Church. Abraham and his first wife, Jane, had been among the founding members of this church, and Abraham, one of the first deacons. The minister of the church was Elder William Thorp.
Clay County was being settled rapidly, and the population had become large enough in 1833 for it to be divided into two counties. The new one to the north became Clinton County, and Plattsburg was selected for its courthouse. In 1833, Abraham Groom purchased 160 acres of land southeast of present day Gower, Mo. Abraham and Sarah probably moved to Clinton County in 1834, the year in which he sold his property near Liberty, and changed his guardianship records for Sarah's children to the Probate Court in Plattsburg.
Abraham lived for only a short time after moving to Clinton County. He died prior to February 18, 1835, the date his son, Isaac, and son-in-law, Clark Stephens, were appointed co-administrators of his estate.
Sarah (Holtzclaw) Adams Groom, at the age of thirty-nine, was once again a widow. Her children, Feathergill, Archibald, Rebecca, Nancy, and Sarah Adams; Abraham's son, James; and Abraham and Sarah's young sons, Jacob and Joseph were still at home.
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