Orphaned at age 11, Ignatius and his sister Louisa where under the guardianship of Wilmington lawyer, Victor du Pont.

[4] A Democrat, Ignatius Grubb was appointed clerk of the Delaware Assembly in 1867, Deputy Attorney General in 1869 and Wilmington City solicitor in 1871.

At that time, Delaware's three counties had equal representation even though New Castle (which includes Wilmington) had a substantially larger population than the other two.

In 1884, the amendment was unanimously endorsed at the party convention, but was defeated by one vote after the election when downstate members defected.

Even though Governor Stockley appointed Ignatius to the non-political post of Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals for life in 1887, Grubb continued to call for a new constitutional convention.

He also compiled an extensive family genealogy and met with his distant cousin, Civil War General Edward Burd Grubb to share research.

Grubb died in an accident at home while preparing to leave for a vacation and his tomb has become a stop on the tours at Old Swedes' Church.