Robert W. Groom

Robert W. Groom (August 28, 1824 – January 21, 1899) was an American surveyor and politician served as a member of the California State Assembly, representing California's 1st State Assembly district from 1858 to 1859 and 1860 to 1861. He was previously a miner, and used his surveying skills to help lay down the communities of Prescott and Wickenburg. The community of Groom Creek, Arizona, is named after him.

Life and career
Groom was born on August 28, 1824, in Clark County, Kentucky, moving to Missouri with his parents when he was three years old. As an adult, he went back to Kentucky to become a surveyor, serving as the Deputy County Surveyor of Trigg County from 1845 to 1848. He later moved to California to become a miner, and became the San Diego County Surveyor from 1856 to 1959. In 1857, he was elected to the California State Assembly for the 1st district, later being re-elected for a second time in 1859. He stayed in California until the outbreak of the American Civil War, where he formed a party to go to Texas and join the Confederacy. He was captured and held in Ford Union for ten months before being released because of a letter from U.S. Senator James A. McDougall that stated his loyalty.

In 1863, he moved to the Arizona Territory and became a guide. While in Arizona, he became a mining prospector and surveyor, and was appointed by Governor John Noble Goodwin to lay down the streets of Prescott and later Wickenburg. He was then elected to the 1st and 2nd Territorial Legislatures for the 3rd district and the Yavapai district. He stayed in Wickenburg until his death on January 21, 1899.