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. He founded a large tannery that continued in operation for over 100 years at what became known as Grubb's Landing. He was also one of the 150 signers of the Concessions and Agreements for Province of West Jersey.
Born in Stoke Climsland, Cornwall, he was the 4th son of Henry Grubb Jr. and Wilmot (maiden name unknown). Henry was an early Quaker who was imprisoned several times for his beliefs. 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 tract on Naaman's Creek in Brandywine Hundred where he built his tannery. John was one of the early settlers who greeted William Penn in 1682 when he arrived in New Castle before he founded Philadelphia. Ultimately Penn and Grubb clashed over property they jointly owned and were unable to settle the dispute in their lifetimes.
In the early 1700s, John Grubb moved to Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1708. At that time, John owned 500 acres, which was typical of the early settlers to the Delaware Valley. He was survived by his wife, Frances and nine children. 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.
Biography
Early years in Cornwall
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. John's father, Henry Grubb Jr. (1617 - bef 1677) was a butcher who rented a small piece of land. He was also an early Quaker who was imprisoned in January 1663/4 for his beliefs. He had eight known children, including at least seven with his second wife, Wilmot (maiden named unknown)(c.1625 - 1698). Christened in Stoke Climsland on August 16, 1652, John was Henry's fourth known son. In his youth, John apprenticed as a tanner with the Hawkins family, Stoke Climsland Quakers closely associated with the Grubb family.
1677 - Sailing on the Kent
By the mid-1670s, the Society of Friends faced a crisis: two-thirds of Quaker children were migrating to the cities and leaving the church because Quaker parents found it too expensive to establish their children when they came of age. 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.
Settlement of West Jersey began in 1675 when Major John Fenwick, one of the two original Quaker purchasers of West Jersey, sailed on the Griffen and founded Salem, across the river from New Castle, Delaware. Fenwick quickly experienced problems with almost everyone including Edward Byllynge (the other purchaser of West Jersey), and Governor Andros in New York. A number of the Salem settlers became disenchanted with Fenwick and relocated across the Delaware to the Brandywine region on the modern border between Pennsylvania and Delaware. William Penn was appointed as trustee to settle Byllynge's financial difficulties and decided to organize settlers to populate Byllynge's portion of West Jersey. Penn sent letters to Quaker Meetings announcing his intention to lease ships beginning with the Kent leaving in the late spring of 1677.
By 1677, John's father was dead and his widow, Wilmot, lived with her oldest son, Anthony and his family. John finished his apprenticeship about the time the small Quaker Meeting in Stoke Climsland heard about William Penn's plans for West Jersey. The Meeting organized a small contingent of young adults from Stoke Climsland to sail on the Kent. The fare was high: five pounds, but for only another five pounds John could buy enough land in the Delaware Valley for a tannery and a decent sized farm. John's brother Henry could not pay the fare and agreed to become an indentured servant for three years.
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. Henry and John Grubb and the rest of the Stoke Climsland group remained in Salem. Penn himself remained in England for another five years.
