Sam Croot was born in Bernardsville, NJ and was the son of John Croot and Emma Skittreal Croot who immigrated from England a few years before his birth.

He married Lillian Lackner Croot, also buried here, in Jersey City, NJ on Jul 2 1904. Reportedly they met in a Jersey City park. They lived in primarily on Old Mine Brook Road between Church St. and Annin Road in Liberty Corner. He had a 28 acre farm on the west side of the road that was likely closer to Church St. The house is gone. Previously the family lived in Irvington. Later they lived in Pluckemin and Basking Ridge. Only the Irvington house is still standing. He was likely the last tenant of the famous 18th century Fenner House in Pluckemin that was torn down c. 1941.

It appears that that he purchased his farm in Liberty Corner with his share of his parents' estate which came to him after the death of his mother in 1917.

The family attended the Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church and his children walked to the Liberty Corner school.

After losing his farm in 1935 to foreclosure during the Great Depression and moving to Pluckemin, he was embittered and became an alcoholic. Reportedly he could be an ugly drunk.

Like many of the men in his family, he was a carpenter and a farmer. In his last years he was employed as a carpenter by his eldest son.

He was the father of nine children who lived to adulthood, four of whom are buried here: Ernest S. Croot, Harold R. Croot, Mildred Adell Croot, and Edythe Croot Williamson.

His parents, brother Ernest Croot, and sister Clara Croot Terry and her husband are also buried here in a family plot originally purchased by his parents.

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Apparently overcome with remorse, he committed suicide after a family incident that left his wife injured and his youngest daughter running into the night. He was drunk at the time. Family stories are obscure, and his children mostly would not talk about this. It was said he pushed his wife down a flight of stairs or "hit her with a shoe." She died days after he did. Her death certificate says she died of long standing heart disease so perhaps the incident triggered a heart attack. His body was discovered by two daughters, Mae and Flo, in the basement of their home. Newspaper accounts say that he rigged a shotgun so that he could shoot himself. Clearly this was not an accident. The house where he died has since been demolished and replaced. 1 Pennington Avenue, Basking Ridge, is now on the site. The house was owned by his eldest son.

In spite of this terrible incident, his wife was greatly distressed to learn of his death before her own death shortly after his, according to one of her daughters who was with her. She was also worried about her own future: "What am I going to do?"

I have uncovered this story by questioning my parents and various cousins as well as reviewing death certificates and newspaper accounts. There are various family stories, some of which are whitewashes. This is as close as I have come to learning what actually happened. There is now no one alive who knows exactly what happened.