John Grubb
John Grubb (1652–1708) was a two-term member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly and was one of the original settlers in a portion of Brandywine Hundred that became Claymont, Delaware.
[3] With no chance of being established in his home village, John and his older brother Henry emigrated to the West Jersey colony in 1677 on the Kent, the first ship of settlers organized by William Penn.
While he arrived without the funds required to buy his own land, by 1682, he earned enough money to acquire a one-third interest in a 600-acre (2.4 km2) tract on Naaman's Creek in Brandywine Hundred where he built his tannery.
The Grubb Family extensively researched her origins and concluded that there is no primary evidence that establishes her maiden name or when they were married.
[5] The Grubb family was first recorded in Stoke Climsland, Cornwall in 1329 and over the centuries lived in the small village as tenant farmers and trades people.
To Quaker leaders including William Penn, the solution was to create a colony across the Atlantic in West Jersey where land could be made available inexpensively.
Fenwick quickly experienced problems with almost everyone including Edward Byllynge (the other purchaser of West Jersey), and Governor Andros in New York.
Penn sent letters to Quaker Meetings announcing his intention to lease ships beginning with the Kent leaving in the late spring of 1677.
John finished his apprenticeship about the time the small Quaker Meeting in Stoke Climsland heard about William Penn's plans for West Jersey.
[5] After picking up passengers from the Yorkshire port city of Hull, the Kent sailed from London in late spring with 230 settlers and landed outside of Salem.
While some of the Kent's passengers settled in Salem, most remained with the ship when it sailed up the Delaware River and established Burlington, West Jersey.
[7] Largely based on the ideas of Edward Byllynge, a radical republican, West Jersey's governing document was one of the most democratic constitutions of the colonial period.
[2] In 1678, Robert Wade, one of the Griffen settlers who left Salem for Brandywine, purchased 500 acres on the south side of Upland Creek.
That July, John Grubb and his friend Richard Buffington entered into an agreement with Wade to farm this property.
At that time, the European population of the entire Brandywine region including Upland consisted of only several hundred, mostly Dutch and Swedes.
After arbitration failed, the court at New Castle heard the charges in December 1680, and the jury found for the defendants, Grubb and Buffington.
Penn arrived at New Castle on October 29, 1682 and was met by a group of early settlers, including John Grubb.
On September 19, 1682, even before Penn arrived, a survey was made of the Naaman's Creek property for John Grubb and his partners.
The story about the cave seems improbable because John already lived on the Naaman's Creek tract for a year or so by the time Emanuel was born.
[5] John began his political career in 1692 when he was elected to a one-year term in the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly from New Castle County including Brandywine Hundred.
The major issue that year was a dispute between the three lower counties (that ultimately became Delaware) and the rest of Pennsylvania over the need for military defenses.
He was also responsible for tax collection and his own property was assessed at 200 pounds: an amount which one source termed, moderately substantial.
[4] Upon his arrival, Penn ordered his young Secretary, James Logan to complete the establishment of the manors and resolve the property line dispute with John Grubb.
John Grubb along with Cornelius Empson, who was to have his own problems with Logan, led a petition drive to overturn the election results.
In a letter dated February 26, 1702, Logan instructed Isaac Taylor to resurvey Stockdale's plantation and divide Penn's portion of the Naaman's Creek tract from the land owned by "that troublesome man John Grubb".
Ultimately, the Grubb family not only retained the Naaman's Creek tract, but also acquired substantial portions of the former Stockdale property.
On December 29, 1703/4, John purchased eleven lots together with four and a half acres of woodland in Marcus Hook, which is just on the Pennsylvania side of the modern border and is only a few miles north of Naaman's Creek.
[5] On February 26, 1705/6, John purchased two additional lots with dwellings at Marcus Hook, adjacent to his existing property.
A year later, he also purchased a 175-acre (0.71 km2) Brandywine Hundred tract in modern Arden, Delaware, several miles inland from the river.
[5] After his death at age 56 in March 1708, John was buried at the St. Martin's Episcopal Church cemetery in Marcus Hook.
