By
John L. Scherer
Prior to a tavern being built on the southwest corner
of Grooms Road and Sugar Hill Road in about 1825,
there was a grocery store. The store was built in
about 1800 by Seely (Selah) Blatchely and was leased
with about an acre of land and operated by an Albany
merchant, William Snyder (c. 1740-1826). Snyder
was a veteran of the French and Indian War. He lived
on North Market Street in Albany and had a large
storehouse on Quay Street. On April 21, 1800 he
paid ten dollars for a grocer license, and the following
year he renewed it for another ten dollars.
The store served the families in the Grooms Corners
area and the Clifton Park Center area to the north.
Travelers headed west and east between Waterford
and Schenectady could also find food and refreshment
at the store. Vischer Ferry and the Mohawk River
were only a couple miles to the south.
The deed reference dated 27 March 1800 indicates
that Seely Blatchly of the Town of Halfmoon leased
to William Snyder, merchant, of the City and County
of Albany land in the part of the town aforesaid
called Clifton Park, one acre bounded as follows:
Beginning at the Northeast corner of the store built
on the premises and now owned by William Snyder
in the junction of the two roads running thence
westerly along the fence which lies on the road
leading to the Mohawk River (Grooms Road) 231 feet
to a division fence, thence southerly along said
fence 260 feet to a spring of water, thence easterly
90 feet, thence northerly 50 feet, thence easterly
30 feet, northerly 65 feet, thence easterly 214
feet to the public highway (Sugar Hill Road), from
there along said highway to the place of beginning.
At a yearly rent of six Spanish milled dollars and
12 ½ cents due on the first day of January each
year. Snyder was to pay all taxes and assessments.
The description of the boundaries for the leased
property is the same as the present day Grooms Tavern
lot, now owned by the Town of Clifton Park.
The one acre corner lot on which the store was located
was part of 49 acres owned by Seely Blatchley, and
it was part of lot number 5 of lot number 21 of
the fourth allotment of the Clifton Park Patent.
When he sold the 49 acres on 2 May 1804 to John
Baptist LeDroiet de Bussy also of Halfmoon, the
one acre with the store was reserved out of the
premises as conveyed by the lease to William Snyder
on the 27th of March 1800. John B. LeDroit de Bussy
had recently moved to the area from Orange County,
New York. He was appointed Justice of the Peace
for Saratoga County on 15 March 1806. Seely Blatchley
and his wife Susanna also assign the lease of the
store to de Bussy, and later move to Herkimer County,
New York . He is buried in the Jordanville Cemetery.
John Baptist LeDroiet de Bussy and his wife Lucy
of Halfmoon assigned the lease of the store to Peter
Failing, also of Halfmoon, on 5 March 1807. Peter
was married to Nancy Vischer, daughter of Eldert
Vischer (1753-1822), and their son Eldert Vischer
Failing, born in 1808, is mentioned in his grandfather's
Will in 1822. There was a Cornelius Failing, probably
a brother, who lived near Grooms Corners, on what
was later known as the Wager Farm. He was named
to the Committee of Common Schools in April of 1828
when the Town of Clifton Park was formed at the
Grooms Tavern.
On 8 June 1808, Peter Failing assigned the lease
of the store to his father-in-law, Eldert Vischer
(1753-1822) of Vischer Ferry. At about the same
time Eldert built a large Federal style addition
on his house in Vischer Ferry. This house still
stands on Ferry Drive. Eldert also ran a ferry across
the Mohawk River, and owned a gristmill near his
house in Vischer Ferry.
Eldert Vischer operated the store for ten years.
On 17 May 1818 he assigned the lease to Samuel Cole.
Samuel served as tax collector for the Town of Halfmoon
in 1820. He assigned the lease of the store to William
Vernum, and on 5 September 1823, William Vernum
and his wife, Nancy, assign the store lease to Martin
Buck Jr. . William Vernam was an active citizen.
He served as school commissioner for Halfmoon, and
was elected coroner of Halfmoon on 1 January 1823.
Finally, on 28 August 1826 there are two lease assignments,
recorded without reference to the underlying leases.
Both of these are from Martin Buck of the Town of
Halfmoon to Darius Buck and Henry Husted. Perhaps
one of these leases was for the store at the corner
of Grooms Road and Sugar Hill Road.
Although it can not yet be confirmed by deed, the
next owner of the store was James (1790-1877) and
Catharine Taylor (1792-1859) Groom. James was the
son of James (1755-1825) and Margaret Moon (1769-1846)
Groom, and the grandson of Peter (1726-1799) and
Mary Chubberly Groom. Peter and Mary Groom had come
from Middlesex County, New Jersey to the Grooms
Corners area of Clifton Park in about 1774.
How James Groom (1790-1877) came into possession
of the store is still a mystery, but we do know
that he was operating a tavern on this site on April
1, 1828, when the Town of Clifton Park was formed
at this location. The Town's Minute Book for that
date states: (At the first Town Meeting held in
the Town of Clifton (for the first year the town
was called Clifton) in the County of Saratoga, after
the division of the Town of Halfmoon of which the
Town of Clifton was a part, at the House of James
Groom, Inn Keeper in said town on the first day
of April 1828.) The building now standing on the
southwest corner of Grooms and Sugar Hill Roads
has always been associated as the Inn or Tavern
of James Groom and the location of the first Town
Board meeting.
The physical evidence of the building including
early doors and hardware indicate that the tavern
was probably constructed when James Groom (1790-1877)
came into possession of the property in about 1826.
His father had died in 1825, and willed him land
in the Grooms Corners area. In his will the elder
James Groom authorized his executors "to sign over
the lease to my son James Groom Jr. of the lot which
he now lives on." Could this possibly be the corner
lot in question, and if so how did James Groom Sr.
acquire it?
At any rate the tavern or inn operated by James
Groom would have been a fairly new structure at
the time the first Town Board meeting was held there
in 1828. Perhaps that is why the site was selected.
The nearby Erie Canal had recently opened and provided
additional traffic for a new tavern. James Groom
may have reused elements from the earlier 1800 period
store when he constructed his tavern. The cellar
may have originally been under the store. Wood paneling
with rose head nails making up the north wall of
the first floor, and an early door to a storage
area at the rear of the second floor decorated with
rose head nails in a diamond pattern may well date
to the period of the 1800 store.
Besides the c. 1825 period doors and hardware still
present in the building, there is a beautifully
carved interior Federal archway in the south front
room that dates from this period. It provided a
niche or a recess off the formal room, possibly
the ladies parlor for the tavern. The bar or tap
room was in the north front room where the earlier
store paneling was used, and a door, now blocked,
led from that room to the formal parlor.
A separate entrance led from Sugar Hill Road directly
into the tap room. The tap room also served as a
lobby from which you could ascend stairs off a hall
leading from an entrance off of Grooms Road. The
stairs led to the large public room and chambers
on the second floor. The public room extended across
the whole upper story of the front portion of the
building, but could be divided in half by a partition
that would swing down from the ceiling. The ell
off the rear contained the kitchen complete with
cooking fireplace, and several chambers located
above.
Clifton Park Town Board meetings, held annually,
were frequently held at the Inn of James Groom.
The board meetings for 1828, 1829, 1831, 1833, 1835,
1838, 1839, 1840, 1842, 1844 were all held at that
location. Other meetings were held at other area
taverns, like the Inn of Sylvenus Birch, one mile
east on Grooms Road at the intersection of Vischer
Ferry Road.
James Groom became town clerk for the years 1832
to 1835, and he was town supervisor in 1836 and
1837. He later served as assemblyman in the New
York State legislature. State Assembly documents
dating to the 1840s were found on the floor of the
attic.
James (1790-1877) and Catharine Taylor (1792-1859)
Groom transferred the tavern to their son, Samuel
(1815-1898) on 6 March 1847, and moved to Albany.
James's mother Margaret Moon Groom died the previous
year, 1846. (Could her death have conferred actual
title to her son James, making it possible for the
transfer to Samuel).
Samuel purchased the tavern for $900, and the property
was described as: "lying within three miles north
from Vischer's Ferry bounded north by the highway
running from Birch's place to the Upper Aqueduct
(Grooms Road), east by the public highway leading
to Vischer's Ferry (Sugar Hill Road), south by land
occupied by Henry Palmer and west by lands occupied
by Henry Vischer containing about one acre of land
subject to the provisions of a lease executed by
Seely Blatchly of the one part and William Snyder
of the second part being dated March 27th A.D. 1800
the annual rent of which is six Spanish milled dollars
and twelve and a half cents the premises hereby
conveyed being the same premises covered by said
lease and taken by said Samuel subject to the covenant
thereof."
The deed also conveyed to Samuel Grooms a wagon
maker's shop, twenty one feet by twenty eight feet,
and a Blacksmith's Shop, twenty six feet by twenty
four feet, both of which were built of wood and
both of which were standing upon land owned by Francis
N. Vischer. Francis N. Vischer owned the farm on
the northwest corner of Grooms Road and Miller road,
practically across the street from the tavern. It
appears Samuel soon moved the wagon shop and blacksmith
shop to his property and joined them end to end,
just south of the tavern. An 1851 map shows the
wagon shop and blacksmith shop at this location,
and also shows the adjacent tavern of Samuel Groom.
Both buildings still survive as they appear on the
map.
Two months after acquiring the property, Samuel
Groom (1815-1898) and his wife Gitty M. Vischer
Groom (1822-1910) mortgaged it on May 1, 1847 to
neighbor Nicholas F. Vischer for six hundred dollars.
They undoubtedly used these funds to enlarge and
remodel the tavern. Greek Revival architectural
elements including some interior doors and window
sash on the second floor, and a false mantel on
the first floor would indicate a remodeling in about
1847 to 1850. It appears that the roof of the main
building was also raised replacing the half story
with a full second story.
The Town Board continued to make use of the Grooms
Tavern for its annual meetings. Board meetings were
held at the Inn of Samuel Grooms in 1848 (probably
right after the remodeling), 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852,
1854, 1855, 1856, 1865, 1866, 1867, and 1868. The
tavern is referred to as a hotel on Clifton Park
maps of 1856 and 1866. These maps also show a store
and post office on the opposite side of Sugar Hill
Road. The 1871 Business Directory for Saratoga County
lists Samuel Groom as proprietor of the Grooms Corners
Hotel, wagon and carriage manufacturer, and blacksmith.
A number of papers found in the building during
the summer of 1999 and gathered for preservation
included guest registrations for the Grooms Hotel
in the 1860s. There were other interesting papers
pertaining to the building's early history as well,
like the State Assembly papers referred to above.
Unfortunately, this gathered material disappeared
shortly after a TV taping at the tavern with the
Town Supervisor in November of 1999.
Since Samuel Groom was an active carriage maker
and blacksmith, the wagon shop and blacksmith shop
were in active use. Chalk inscriptions, still on
the walls of the wagon shop, list local marriages
dated between 1852 and 1885. Other inscriptions
both stenciled and penciled list past patrons and
storekeepers. It would appear that the building
was a quite a gathering place in the mid nineteenth
century.
By the end of the nineteenth century, between 1880
and 1898, it appears that Samuel Groom had established
a store in what was formerly the hotel lobby and
tap room. By this time the building had ceased operation
as a hotel. Samuel died in 1898 leaving the store
to his widow, Gitty M. Vischer Groom. Samuel and
Gitty's son, James S. Groom (1859-1922), probably
ran the store during the 1890s and early 1900s,
when the store also served as a post office. The
older store and post office across the road must
have closed sometime previous to this.
The late Elmer Droms had moved to Grooms Corners
in 1903. In 1999 at age 102, he recalled when the
mail was picked up at the post office located in
the store operated by Jim Groom. The men would usually
go for the mail and, while at the store, sit around
the pot-bellied stove and gossip while the wives
were at home ironing and cooking.
This last major remodeling of the building to accommodate
the store included adding store counters and shelves,
and putting in large display windows in the Sugar
Hill Road entrance. The door between the two rooms
was filled in, and the stairs to the second floor
were removed and relocated to the back of the building.
The wall that divided the stair hall was removed
making the store area larger, and joining the formal
parlor to the space where the stairs had been located
through the arch way that had once formed a niche.
The kitchen fireplace was probably covered over
at this time, and new kitchen cabinets were added.
The second floor remained unchanged except for the
new stairway. A wrap around porch was added along
Sugar Hill Road.
All of this remodeling was probably completed by
1910. Gitty Vischer Groom died that year and her
son James acquired the store by deed. The premises
were the same as described in the deed to his father,
Samuel, from his grandfather, James, in 1847. Several
postcard views that can be dated around 1913 because
of the license plate of a car show the store as
it looks today with Jim Groom standing or seated
on the porch.
James died in 1922, and the following year his widow
Julia E. Herkenham Groom (1866-1943) sold the store
to Edward Klingbeil Jr. (1891-1970) and his wife,
Mabel (1895-1946). Ed was well known for his red
hairpiece that he would plop on his head when someone
entered the store. He installed a gasoline pump,
so he could sell fuel for the increasingly popular
motor car. He sold gasoline until about 1940, a
photograph exists showing the Gulf sign hanging
over the pump. Two pool tables were installed in
the old public room on the second floor, and billiards
became a popular pastime. Ed was a colorful character
and he is the subject of many amusing stories.
Ed Klingbiel converted the large space above the
former wagon shop and blacksmith shop into a three
bedroom rental apartment. The space below was used
for garage and storage.
Ed continued to operate the general store until
his death in December of 1970. His widow, Chris
(fifth wife) sold the store in May of 1971 to Kenneth
and Mary Jane Baird who operated the store as a
country store, carrying gifts, artists supplies
and frames. After Kenneth Baird died in 1988, his
widow, Mary Jane (now Whitcomb) sold the store to
architect, Robert Williams, and his realtor wife,
Kathy Hedrick. They had hoped to create a restaurant,
but ran into finance and zoning problems. The Town
of Clifton Park acquired the building from them
in December of 1999.
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