Mercy Vrooman

ID # 2082, (1822-1901)
FatherArents Schuyler Depeyster Vrooman (1789-)
MotherMary Douglas (1792-1858)
BirthMercy Vrooman was born in 1822. 
MarriageShe married Isaac Pettit
DeathShe died on 8 July 1901 at Croton Twp., Newaygo County, Michigan. 
BurialShe was buried on 10 July 1901 at Oak Grove Cemetery. 
NoteShe We do not find Mercy listed with her siblings in the Vrooman Family 1949 history. This takes into consideration that most of Arents' children are assigned to Adam in the book. It difficult to escape the conclusion, however, that Mercy is Arents' daughter.

We find Mercy and Isaac Pettit on the same page of the 1851 census in Garafraxa as Arents (Erent D. Vrooman), brothers Elam and James, and sister Mary Ann Morden. Mercy is shown as age 29 and her oldest child is 9. We may guess that Mercy and Isaac were married in Beverly Township in approximately 1841, prior to the family's departure for Garafraxa. The Gore District marriage records do not begin until 1842 and so a record of their marriage is not likely to be found.

By the time of the U.S. census of 1860, Mercy and Isaac are in Croton Township, Newaygo County, Michigan. They no doubt were the first of the Arents Vrooman's family's substantial migration to Newaygo County. No other family members are found there until the 1870 census.

None of the above would justify us in regarding Mercy as a daughter of Arents, however seekingmichigan.org provides us with an image of Mercy's death registration in Newaygo County. It places her birth in Canada and shows her father as Schuyler Vrooman. Her age given does suggest a year for her birth to around 1831, but the census for 1900 probably dates her age more correctly and so we may take her birth as being approximately 1822 or 1823. The 1900 census does date her emigration to 1848, but she was still in Canada in 1851 and her children listed in 1860 were all born in Canada but one, Catherine, age 3, born in Michigan. The family was likely in Newaygo by 1857.

Other than the above, it's compelling that Mercy and Isaac named a son Elam. Mercy's brother Elam must have been an engaging personality, for sister Jane, who married John Ellis, named a son Elam as did brother Henry. That Mercy and Isaac named a son Aaron S. Pettit is also suggestive of the Vrooman family connection, as are children Mary, Henry, Jane and James. Elam, however, is a much less common name and, considering the other evidence, leads us to include Mercy in the list of the children of Arents with some confidence.

Death reg. County Newaygo, Township Croton.
Mercy M. Pettit, date of death July 8, 1901. Widowed. Age 70(?). Parent of 9 children of whom 6 are living. Born Canada. Farmer's wife. Name of father Schuyler Vrooman, born Canada. Mother unknown. Date of Burial July 10, 1901, Oak Grove Cemetery. Informant illeg. Pettit, Newaygo.

Such list as we have for the children of Mercy and Isaac is taken from the 1860 census in Croton Twp., Newaygo County, Michigan. 

Children of Mercy Vrooman and Isaac Pettit

Last Edited4 Oct 2017