John GRUBB
- Born: 20 Apr 1652, Stokes Climsland, Cornwall, England 33,34,35,37
- Marriage: Frances VANE in 1681 in Cornwall, England 33,34,35
- Died: 12 Feb 1707/08, Marcus Hook, Chester County, Pennsylvania at age 55 33,34,35,37
- Buried: St. Martins Church 33,34,35,37
 General Notes:
From Greg Newlin:
John Grubb, the most prominent of all the early settlers in this country is the ancestor of the now numerous Family of Grubb in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and elsewhere. It is said that in Pennsylvania born in Cornwall, England in 1652 and he came to the Delaware River on the ship, Kent, arriving first in 1677 at Burlington, New Jersey. He obtained a land grant at Upland (now Chester, Pennsylvania) of 340 acres on Chester Creek in 1679, at Grubb's Landing, New Castle County (now Delaware) in 1682, and elsewhere in both the Lower Counties, as Delaware was then known, and in Pennsylvania, "Grubb's Landing," Brandywine Hundred, Delaware was known as early as 1682.
This John Grubb, the early settler on the Delaware, who was born in Cornwall in 1652, married Frances Vane, of Kent County, England. He was the son of John and Helen (Vivian) Grubb. John was a pioneer settler, with William Penn, Richard Buffington and others and signed the "Plan of Government for the Province of West Jersey, “bearing the date of March 3, 1676, and at the age of twenty-five years sought his fortune and a career in the New World. Whether he emigrated directly from Cornwall is not known. As his father was buried in 1667, in the family Churchyard at Potterne, Wiltshire, it is possible John may have lived in Wiltshire at about the time he came to America. This is not unlikely, inasmuch as John Buckley and Morgan Drewett, whose land immediately adjoined his at Grubb's Landing, on the Delaware, as well as others among his friends and contemporaries who resided at Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, and in the neighboring townships, all emigrated from Wiltshire.
During these thirty years of rugged and arduous pioneer life on the Delaware, he proved himself to be a man of enterprising, vigorous and sterling qualities, and of practical business ability. life on prominent and influential in this section, and successful in his career as legislator, magistrate, farmer and leather manufacturer. He not only cleared and cultivated the various tracts of land he owned, but he also, in practical recognition of the needs of a pioneer people, erected a tannery near Grubb's Landing and was one of the earliest manufacturers of leather in Penn's new Province. He also conformed to the provisions of Penn's very practical law and the custom of the most prominent settlers. He had each of his sons taught a practical trade in order that they might be prepared for every contingency incident to those early times.
On September 19, 1682, "Stockdale's Plantation" of eight hundred acres in Brandywine Hundred, New Castle County was surveyed to John Grubb. It was located on Naaman's Creek and the Delaware River and came to be known as Grubb's Manor Lands.
On May 9, 1691, there was surveyed to him by virtue of a warrant dated April 26, 1684, four and a half acres for a tan yard on which he erected a tannery.
He was commissioned as a Justice of New Castle County, May 2, 1693 and was elected a member of the Colonial Assembly in 1692,1698 and 1700.
On June 3, 1698, Alice Gilpin, widow of Thomas Gilpin conveyed to him one hundred and eight acres of land near Grubb's Landing on the Delaware. In 1707, Sheriff John French, conveyed to him one hundred and seventy-five acres in Brandywine Hundred. In 1703 to 1704 he purchased land at Marcus Hook, Chichester Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania where he was living a the time of making his Will in which he is named as "of the County of Chester."
John Grubb died at Marcus Hook, March 1708 in his fifty-sixth year (Will dated February 12, 1707) and was buried therein St. Martin's Churchyard. He was like his ancestors and adhered to the Church of England. His Will was proved, filed and recorded in the Register of Will's Office in Philadelphia on March 26, 1708 (Will Book page 81) but as he was a large landowner in New Castle County, a copy thereof was filed in the Wills' Office at New Castle, Delaware.
He was an ancestor to be proud of no matter how we choose to interpret the meager records that remain concerning him. He remained a loyal supporter of the established church of England and though a friend of William Penn, he was not a Quaker.
Children of John and Frances Vane Grubb were: Emanuel,John, Charity, Phebe, Joseph, Henry, Samuel, Nathaniel and Peter.
References:
D.A.R. Magazine, Vol. LV, #1, January 1921.
New Jersey History by C. Smith
The Grubb Family of Pennsylvania and Delaware by Gilbert Cope, 1893.
Noted events in his life were:
1. Immigration, 1682, New Jersey.
2. Occupation: Tanner.
John married Frances VANE, daughter of SIR and Frances WRAY, in 1681 in Cornwall, England 33,34.,35 (Frances VANE was born in 1660 in Raby Castle, Kent, England 33,34,35,37 and died in 1720 in Bradford Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania 33,34,35,37.)
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