Governor Peter Dumont Vroom

Peter D. Vroom was born in Hillsboro Township, New Jersey on December 12, 1791. His education was attained at the Somerville Academy, and at Columbia College in New York, where he graduated in 1808. Five years later he completed his law studies. He established a successful legal career, first in Hillsboro, and later in Somerville. Vroom first entered politics as a member of the New Jersey House of Representatives, a position he held from 1826 to 1829. He next won election to the governorship in 1829, and went on to win reelection in 1830 and 1831, after which Samuel L. Southard succeeded him. He returned to the governor’s office in 1833, and was reelected in 1834 and 1835. During his tenure, the authorization to build the Delaware Raritan Canal was approved. After leaving the governorship, Vroom secured an appointment in 1837, to served as a claim commissioner to the Choctaw Indians. He also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1839 to 1941; was a member of the 1844 State Constitutional Convention; and served as the minister to Prussia from 1853 to 1857. In 1861 he was a delegate to the peace convention in Washington, D.C.; and from 1862 to 1872 he was a law reporter for the New Jersey State Supreme Court. Governor Peter D. Vroom passed away on November 18, 1873, and was buried in the First Reform Dutch Church Cemetery in Somerville, New Jersey.  National Governors Association