page_title: John Grubb
section_title: Later life
hierarchical_section_title: John Grubb / Biography / Later life
caption_attribution_description: English: The Grubb Burying Grounds in Arden, Delaware
context_page_description: John Grubb 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. 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 600-acre 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.
context_section_description: By the early 1700s, John's oldest son, Emanuel became responsible for the tannery.  One of Logan's letters indicates that John suffered a serious illness during this period.  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.  John and Frances, along with their younger children, then moved out of the Naaman's Creek homestead.  John's house in Marcus Hook survived until 1989.  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.  His second son, John came of age and settled as a farmer on this new tract that became known as "Grubb Corner".  The Grubb family burying ground is located on this tract.
  After his death at age 56 in March 1708, John was buried at the St. Martin's Episcopal Church cemetery in Marcus Hook. The original St. Martins was built in 1700, although the current structure dates to 1845.  The deed stipulates that no Quaker be buried there.  While this may have been relaxed later, it is unlikely that John Grubb would have been interred at St. Martin's in 1708 had he been a Quaker at that time.  John's widow, Frances remarried to Richard Buffington, John's old friend.  They lived on the Brandywine Creek tract in East Bradford, Pennsylvania.  The date of her death is not recorded but was before 1721 when Buffington remarried again.
  John Grubb's major asset at the time of his death was 500 acres, an amount typical of early Delaware settlers even though the average farm of the period only used eighty acres.  Land was becoming more expensive and was selling for two pounds per acre improved and six shillings per acre unimproved.  While Non-Quakers left a double share of their land to the oldest son, John followed the Quaker pattern and gave equal shares of his land to each of his seven sons.  It was not possible to divide his land because of the ongoing dispute with Penn.  The formal division did not occur until 1761, by which time only two of his sons remained alive.  There was an understanding among his sons concerning the use of this land and a more formal division only became necessary to establish the rights of the next generation.  John's other assets were substantially higher than average because he was both a farmer and was engaged in the tanning trade.  These assets were valued at 566 pounds, including debts of 303 pounds owed to him.  John left a cow and one-third of his personal estate to Frances and various amounts to his daughters.
caption: John's grandson, William Grubb (1713 - 1775) established the Grubb Burying Ground next to his home (seen in the background) in modern Arden, Delaware. John Grubb is buried at St. Martin's church in Marcus Hook.
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