The following information as told to Robert G. Nooning Sr. came from John E. Groome at his home in Harrisburg, PA around 1981.
John E. Groome's father, John P. Groome, had brothers Walter, George and Michael, sisters Helen and Ella.
George-Drove first train through McAdoo Tunnel in New York. Picture with gov of NY (Confirmed)
Michael-Killed on the PA railroad as a brakeman
Helen-Mother Superior, Sisters of Charity, Butler, PA
Ella-Married Ed Burns-Son's Herbert and Edward (Confirmed)
The 1900 Census, George Groom with wife Mary in Hudson County, Jersey City, NJ, has been added for the following reasons. George Groom was reported to have driven the first train through the McAdoo tunnel. In order to do so, he would have had to work for The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company and lived in the vicinity of New York City. Jersey City, New Jersey fits this criteria. This 1900 Census record states that George Groom was working for the railroad. Second, this Census record matches the place of birth for George Groom as PA. Although the birth year on this record is obscured for George, the record of birth for his wife was not. She is listed as birth year 1862, PA, 2 years older then George.
The first train through the McAdoo Tunnel.
At 3:30 on the afternoon of February 25, 1908, a long line of invited dignitaries entered the 19th Street Station for the first official run through the Tubes. The station and eight-car train were in darkness, except for emergency lights operated from storage batteries in the train. Standing by in the station was a special telegraph operator, who signalled President Theodore Roosevelt, waiting at his desk in the White House, to push a button turning on the power. As the President turned on the current, the station and train were immediately flooded with light and the chattering of the compressors mingled with the cheers of the 400 guests.
As the train swiftly picked up speed, in Mr. McAdoo's words, "the silk-hatted gentlemen sat in rows, leaning on their canes, and looking a little uneasy as they glanced out of the windows and saw the curving iron walls flash by." The boundary line between the states was marked by a circle of red, white and blue lights in the tube, and the train stopped here to allow New York Governor Charles Hughes and New Jersey Governor Franklin Fort to shake hands between the two cars, symbolizing the "formal marriage of the two states."
When the train arrived at Hoboken, almost 20,000 cheering people were thronging in the square outside the terminal, and as the official party came out of the kiosks, boats in the harbor and church bells added to the din. Following speeches by Mr. McAdoo, the two governors, and other officials, Mr. Oakman, president of the Hudson Companies, turned the property over to Mr. McAdoo, for operation by the H&M. Then the official party returned via the Tubes to Manhattan for an elaborate banquet at Sherry's. H&M timetable showing route map and connecting services.
The line opened at midnight, operating on a five-minute headway. The sky over Hoboken was punctuated with fireworks as over 5,000 people waited to be admitted into the station. When the first regular passenger train left Hoboken, it was packed with cheering, singing people, including a large group of Yale students, who were toasting the line with drinks. The platforms of the Manhattan stations were also mobbed despite the late hour. In the first 24 hours, over 50,000 people rode the line. The morning rush hours saw a virtual abandonment of the Lackawanna's ferries, as the commuters availed themselves of the H&M's three-minute headway and eight-minute running time to 19th Street. The opening was front page news in the New York press. The Times cited the event as "one of the greatest engineering feats ever accomplished, greater perhaps than the Panama Canal will be when opened, considering the obstacles which had to be overcome."
1930 Census Cambria County, Hastings, Pennsylvania
James F Grimes 38
Elizabeth Grimes 32
Michael F Grimes 8
Edward C Grimes 6
Vera E Grimes 4 11/12
Carsier Cecilia Shorten 11 (Niece)
1930 Census Cambria County, Hastings, Pennsylvania
James F Grimes 38
Elizabeth Grimes 32
Michael F Grimes 8
Edward C Grimes 6
Vera E Grimes 4 11/12
Carsier Cecilia Shorten 11 (Niece)