Jacob Broom

Jacob Broom, born on the 17th of October 1752 to parents James Broom and Ether Willis, he was a famous farmer and a blacksmith.Jacob was educated at home for the first few years. He entered the Old Academy around 1765. There he studied surveying, apparently completing his courses successfully around the spring of 1772.

 

At the end of May of that year, he advertised himself to be open for business as “Jacob Broom, SURVEYOR and CONVEYANCER, at his Office the Corner of Market street and Third Street, in the Borough of Wilmington, and opposite David Bush, Esquire.”

 

In 1773, shortly after he opened his first business on Market St., Jacob married Rachel Pierce, he fathered eight children, became a merchant and real estate broker, dealing in land. By this time, James seems to have overcome his religious dilemmas and was openly associated with Old Swedes Church.

 

In 1783, Jacob was charged with writing Wilmington’s farewell to George Washington, a speech in which some of Jacob’s own political sentiments begin to shine through.

 

He urged Washington to contribute his advice and influence “to promote that harmony and union of our infant governments which are so essential to the permanent establishment of our freedom, happiness and prosperity.” Jacob Broom was chosen and sent by his community to the legislature as a representative of New Castle Country from 1784 to 1788.

 

After that summit, he was chosen to represent the state of Delaware at the Annapolis Convention. Broom was always a devoted supporter of the concept of central government and he took the opportunity to express that to George Washington upon Washington’s visit to Wilmington.

 

Following the Convention, Broom returned to his home town and continued to serve in local government. He was Wilmington’s first postmaster in 1790 and continued in that position until 1792. He also sat as chair on the Board of Directors for Delaware Bank in Wilmington.

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Broom continued to experiment in business endeavours including running a cotton mill, and a machine shop that manufactured mill machinery as well as making the necessary repairs to it.

 

He later moved to Philadelphia with his parents in 1819 where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1832 and started practicing in Philadelphia. He was appointed deputy auditor of the State in 1840, and clerk of the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court from 1848 to 1852.

 

He served as chairman of the House Committee on Revolutionary Pensions during the Thirty-fourth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-nomination in 1856 and for election to the Thirty-sixth Congress in 1858.

 

America has gotten some very influential people back in the days, though not around anymore, the memories and words of these people still lives on, they are remembered by most people on earth.

 

Jacob Broom is among the many whose teachings cannot be forgotten. Jacob Broom died suddenly at the age of 58 in 1810 while in Philadelphia on business and was buried there at Christ Church Burial Ground. His legacy lives on.

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