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John Woolf Jordan.

Colonial families of Philadelphia (Volume 2)

. (page 44 of 114)

from the fact that his patent did not issue until after the deed from Allen was
executed. The Allen tract of five hundred acres was located on a warrant issued
to Joseph Turner, under date of May, 1732, and Turner assigned his warrant to
William Allen, April 5, 1734, and Allen's transfer to Peter Grubb was dated the
28th and 29th of November, 1737, and the patent issued to Grubb, August 21,

1745-

Peter Grubb had meanwhile taken out warrants of survey for several other
tracts, viz., April i, 1737, for three hundred acres; December 2, 1737, two war-



GRUBB 1241

rants, for an aggregate of two hundred and fifty acres; May 24, 1738, for one
hundred and twenty-five acres.

The first furnace is said to have been erected by Peter Grubb, 1735, about five-
eighths of a mile from the site of the Cornwall furnace, but it was probably a
bloomery that occupied that site, marked by cinders many years after.

Peter Grubb's iron industry at Cornwall was at least launched prior to 1739,
as on September 2, the old lease, still preserved, was executed by "Peter Grubb
of Lancaster County, Ironmaster," to Samuel Grubb, of East Bradford, Chester
county, "Mason," and Joseph Taylor, of Kennett township, Chester county, black-
smith and wheelwright, on three hundred acres of land in Lebanon township,
Lancaster county, for the "mining of all metals & minerals, except iron." This
lease states that Peter Grubb, "Intends to build a furnace, on land adjacent to the
said three hundred acres," and reserves the right to dig, mine, etc., on the land
leased.

Cornwall Furnace was doubtless named by Peter Grubb in honor of the place
of nativity of his father in England. It is the oldest furnace in this country still
in operation, and was noticed by Acrelius in his history as early as 1756. Hope-
well Forge was erected by him at about the same period. To a letter to his sister,
Phebe Bufilington, dated "ye 24th of ye 3d. Mo. 1743," Peter Grubb adds the fol-
lowing "Note" — "Wee shall Blow in tomorrow & we believe ourselves to be in
good circumstances for a good Blast."

Peter Grubb having lost his first wife in 1740, married (second) February 10,
1741-2, Hannah, widow of Thomas Marshall, and daughter of Benjamin and
Ann (Pennell) Mendenhall, of Concord, Chester county, and soon after that date
seems to have removed to Chester county, as in the lease executed June 13, 1745,
"Peter Grubb, of Chester county, yeoman," transfers to John Crosby, Esquire, Caleb
Pearce, Peter Dicks, Jacob Carter, John Pennell, John Crosby, Jr., George Church-
man Samuel Grubb, and Samuel Walker, of Chester county ; Peter Marshall, of Lan-
caster county ; Ebenezer Curry, of Philadelphia, merchant, and John Wallace, of
Philadelphia, merchant, as partners and company; the Iron Works, called Corn-
wall Furnace and Hopewell Forge, and four contiguous tracts of land of which said
Peter Grubb is seized of in Lebanon township, containing in all six hundred and
thirty-seven acres, whereon the furnace is erected, and two tracts of land in War-
wick township, containing two hundred and eighteen acres, whereon a forge has
been erected, for the period of twenty years at the annual rental of two hundred
and fifty pounds; Peter Grubb to retain the use of the soil, when not occupied in
the transaction of the iron business.

Having thus disposed of his iron works for a term of years he removed to Wil-
mington, at about the date of the lease, as November 21, 1745, Bradford Monthly
Meeting of Friends sent the following certificate to Newark, now Kennett Month-
ly Meeting, under whose care the Wilmington Friends then were: "Whereas
Peter Grubb has removed from amongst us and being now settled within the verge
of youre Meeting, without requesting our certificate; Therefore this Meeting
thought fit to send a few lines by way of certificate in Order to joyn him under
your care &c."

His second wife, being a member of Concord Meeting at the time of her mar-
riage to him, received a certificate to Sadsbury Meeting to be near her new resi-



1242 GRUBB

dence, and that meeting endorsetl her certificate to N'ewark Meeting, November
6, 1746.

Peter Grubb died intestate at or near Wihnington about 1754, and his widow
probably returned to her own people in Chester county, as her will, dated at Wil-
mington, September 20, 1768, was proved in Chester county, October i, 1770. His
children were all by his first wife, Martha (Bates) Wall.
Issue of Peter and Martha (Bates) Grubb:

Curtis Grubb, b. 1733, d. Jan. 22, 1789; of whom presently;

Peter Grubb. Jr., b. Sept. 8, 1740, d. Jan. 17, 1786; m. Mary Shippen Burd: of whom
presently.

Curtis Gruiib, eldest son of Peter and Martha (Bates) Grubb, born about
1733, probably in Chester county, Pennsylvania, married at Trinity (Old Swedes')
Church, Wilmington, Delaware, April 11, 1754, Ann Few, but the union proving
an unhappy one, they were divorced by an Act of Assembly, September 24, 1757,
"Curtis Grubb, late of Wilmington, in the county of Xew Castle, but now of the
Province of Maryland, Mariner," executed a power of attorney to his brother,
Peter Grubb, of Province of Pennsylvania, to enable him to sell the property of
said Curtis Grubb in Wilmington and in Chester county, and requiring him to
account for the proceeds thereof to his uncle, Samuel Grubb.

At about this date Curtis Grubb sailed for Europe and was absent until about
1763. On his return he took up his residence at the Iron Works in Lebanon town-
ship, and, the twenty years lease having expired, became an iron master and took
charge of the furnace and forge established by his father, a two-thirds interest in
which he had inherited from his father, in right of his "double share" as eldest
son, under the intestate laws of that date. He had also inherited lands from his
uncle Samuel, owning through these channels and subsequent purchase several
hundred acres in Lancaster county, much of which was later owned by his son,
Peter, who succeeded him as an "Iron master."

Curtis Grubb died January 22, 1789, leaving a widow, Ann (his third wife),
who seems to have been the widow of his cousin, Samuel, son of Nathaniel ; she
died in 1795. Curtis Grubb was a member of the Committee of Safety of Lan-
caster, 1774-5, and Sub-Lieutenant of the county with rank of Colonel in 1777.

Peter Grubb, Jr., second son of Peter and Martha (Bates) Grubb, born Sep-
tember 8, 1740, lost his mother at his birth. He probably removed with his father
and step-mother to Wilmington, 1745, but after the death of his father. June 4,
1754, his uncle, Samuel, was appointed his guardian, and he probably resided with
him in Chester county. He was constituted attorney for his brother, Curtis, as
above stated, June 4, 1757, though only seventeen years of age, to sell the real
estate owned by them jointly at Wilmington. He did not, however, fulfill the
trust until his arrival at legal age, in the deed, dated February 19, 1762, he is
styled as of Aston township, Chester county, but less than a month later had
removed to his paternal inheritance in Warwick township, Lancaster county,
being styled in deed, dated March 16, 1762, as of that township. He inherited the
two hundred and twenty acre farm in Middletown, at the present site of Wawa,
Chester county, from his uncle, Henry Grubb, but conveyed it to William Pennell.
December 31, 1775.

Peter Grubb married, November 28, 1771, at "Tinian," Lancaster county, her





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GRUBB 1243

father's seat, Mary Shippen, born at Shippensburg, January 13, 1753, daughter
of Col. James Burd, of the Provincial and Revolutionary Armies, by his wife,
Sarah, daughter of Edward Shippen, of Lancaster, and sister of Chief Justice
Edward Shippen. The spring following his marriage, Peter Grubb located at
Hopewell Forge, Warwick township, Lancaster county, and engaged actively in
the iron business in connection with his brother; retaining the one-third interest
in the Cornwall furnace and ore beds, and in Hopewell forge, inherited from his
father, and later purchasing a large tract of land and erecting Mount Hope
furnace and forge.

From the very inception of the Revolutionary struggle, both he and his brother,
Curtis were foremost in the patriot cause, both being elected to the Committee of
Safety of Lancaster county, December 15, 1774, Curtis from Lebanon, and Peter
from Warwick township. Curtis was commissioned by the Assembly of Penn-
sylvania, June 15, 1775, Colonel of Lancaster County Associators, his commis-
sion being signed by John Morton, Clerk of Assembly, and Peter was selected as
one of the Deputies from Lancaster county to the Provincial Convention at Phila-
delphia, January 23, 1775. Peter was elected Captain of the Warwick Associators
on their first organization, and when the militia was organized into battalions he
was commissioned Colonel of the Eighth Battalion, and with it took part in the
Jersey campaign of 1776. The following order of Gen. Ewing is found among
the Revolutionary archives :

"Directions to be Observed by Colonel Grubb.

"If the Enemy should attack the Ports of Bergen Point this night, or tomorrow morn-
ing, and should be likely to force their way to Powles Hook, Colonel Grubb must immedi-
ately throw himself into that Fortress with his whole Battalion and assist the Garrison in
defending it to the last extremity. "James Ewing,

"August 20th. 1776. "Brigadier General."

Peter Grubb was also a member of Assembly from Lancaster county during
the Revolutionary period. His wife, Mary Shippen (Burd) Grubb, died at Hope-
well Forge, February 23, 1774, and he January 17, 1786.

Issue of Colonel Peter and Mary Shippen (Burd) Grubb:

Allen Burd Grubb, M. D., b. at Hopewell Forge, Lancaster co., Pa., Sept. 12, 1772;

studied medicine and soon after taking his degree removed to Tenn., when it was

almost a wilderness, and lived and d. there;
Henry Bates Grubb, b. Feb. 6, 1774, d. March 9, 1823; m. (first) Ann Carson, (second)

Harriet Amelia Buckley; of whom presently.

Henry Bates Grubb, second son of Colonel Peter and Mary Shippen (Burd)
Grubb, born at Hopewell Forge, Lancaster county, February 6, 1774, like his
father, lost his mother almost at birth. He was reared in the household of his
maternal grandparents. Colonel James and Mary (Shippen) Burd, at "Tinian,"
their seat in Lancaster county. On arriving at mature years he assumed charge
of the iron manufacturing interests inherited from his father, and made his home
at the Mount Hope Furnace, erected by his father in 1784. He also purchased,
1802, Codorus Furnace and Forge, and early became one of the prominent iron
masters of Pennsylvania. He died, intestate, at Mount Hope Furnace, March 9,
1823.

Henry Bates Grubb married (first) at Pine Grove, June 18, 1805, Ann, daugh-
ter of John Carson, of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. She died at Mount Hope
Furnace, October 19, 1806, in her twenty-sixth year, leaving an infant son:



1244 GRUBB

Henry Carson Grubb, b. Sept. 20, 1806, who in his youth changed his name to Henry
Grubb Carson; he d. at Lancaster, June 6, 1873.

Henry Bates Grubb married (second) December i, 1808, Harriet Amelia,
daughter of Daniel Buckley, of "Competence Farm," Pequea, Lancaster county,
Pennsylvania, by his wife, Sarah Brooke, and of the same family of Buckley with
whom earlier generations of the Grubb family had intermarried.
Issue of Henry Bates and Harriet Amelia (Buckley) Grubb:

Bates Buckley Grubb, b. Nov. 19, 1809, d. young;

Edward Burd Grubb, b. Dec. 17, 1810, d. Aug. 27, 1867; m. Euphemia Brown Parker;

of whom presently;
Charles Buckley Grubb, b. Feb. 12, 1813, d. unm., Aug. 15, 1833;
Clement Brooke Grubb, b. Feb. 9, 1815, d. Oct. 31, 1869; m. Mary Brooke; of whom

presently:
Mary Shippen Grubb, m. Sept. 2, 1846, George Worthington Parker;
Sarah Elizabeth Grubb, b. Nov. 19, 1818, d. Nov. 27, 1884; m. Feb. 16, 1846, John George

Ogilvie, from New Castle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland. England, younger son of the

Earl of Airlie; they had issue:
, John Malcolm Ogilvie, d. young;

Elizabeth Gibson Ogilvie, m. Dr. Herbert Morris, of Phila.
Alfred Bates Grubb, b. at Mount Hope Furnace, Jan. 6, 1821, d. Feb. 2, 1885; he m.

March 25, 1858, Ellen Farnum; of whom presently.

Edward Burd Grubb, eldest son of Henry Bates Grubb, by his second wife,
Harriet Amelia Buckley, born at Mount Hope Furnace, Lancaster county, Penn-
sylvania, December 17, 1810, was educated at York, Pennsylvania, and at an early
age assumed the leading management of the large iron interests left by his
father. Soon after attaining his majority he obtained permission of the Orphans'
Court to take charge of the several furnaces and ore banks belonging to his
father's estate during the minority of his younger brother and sisters, and taking
his next younger brother into partnership, operated the Mount Hope and other
furnaces with marked business ability and enterprise. In 1845 his youngest
brother became his partner in the Mount Hope Furnace, and he acquired the
Mount Vernon Furnace on the west bank of the Conewago, with several thous-
and acres of land, containing rich ore deposits, and erected there extensive forges,
mills, etc. He also owned and successfully operated the Codorus and Manada
furnaces, and in the division of his father's lands and valuable iron interests, was
allotted a one-sixth interest in the Cornwall ore mine, Lebanon county, the scene
of his great-grandfather's first successful operations in the manufacture of iron a
century previously.

While on a visit to Europe, 1835-6, Edward Burd Grubb visited the iron pro-
ducing districts of England and made a close study of the most improved pro-
cesses of manufacturing iron, and on his return introduced the first successful
use of heating blast for iron furnaces in America.

In 1840 Edward Burd Grubb purchased the country seat of Horace Binney,
Esq., at Burlington, New Jersey, and removed there with his family. He soon
after relinquished the active management of the iron interests in Pennsylvania,
and for the remainder of his life, lived retired on his handsome estate. Mr. Grubb
was a deep reader and thinker, well informed on literary and scientific subjects,
but of a quiet dignified and retiring disposition. He was a member of the Prot-
estant Episcopal church, and for many years warden of the church at Burlington,



GRUBB 1245

and was a trustee of Burlington College. He was closely identified with the
affairs of Philadelphia and a member of the Philadelphia Club and Athenaeum.
As an early member of the Union League of Philadelphia, during the Civil War.
he was active in his assistance in raising and equipping troops for the preserva-
tion of the Union. He died at Burlington, New Jersey, December 27, 1867.

Edward Burd Grubb married, November 9, 1837, Euphemia Brown, daughter
of Isaac Brown Parker, of Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, later a
prominent lawyer and citizen of Burlington, New Jersey, by his wife, Maria Ross
Veazey, whose descent from the prominent Veazey family of "Cherry Grove,"
Cecil county, Maryland, is as follows :

John Veazey, progenitor of Veazey family of Cecil county, Maryland, is said to
have been a descendant of Nathaniel Veazey, who owned shares in three of the
Bermuda Islands in 1663, and who had a patent for a tract of land in Somerset
county, Maryland, called Bermudas Hundred, bearing date April 9, 1674.

Family tradition says that the Maryland family of Veazey belonged to an Eng-
lish family of Norman descent, and the name is said to have been derived from a
plant known in English as Vetch or tare, and in French as vesce. It somewhat re-
sembled a pea vine and was extensively grown in Normandy as fodder for cattle,
and certain lands where it was grown came to be known as Veacey lands ; in like
manner the proprietors of these lands came to be known by the name (prior to
the adoption of surnames), to distinguish them from other branches of the same
family. Thus the name in various anglicized forms, as Vesci, Vesy, Vasey,
Veasey, Veasie, Veazy and Veazey, appeared later in different portions of the
British Isles.

On April i, 1687, John Veazey purchased a tract of land in Cecil county, Mary-
land, called "Manchester," on the south side of Bohemia river; and on January 5,
1694, purchased another tract called "True Game." These tracts are included in
the property, since known as "Cherry Grove," the homestead of the family for
many generations, and where their old family burying-ground is located.

John Veazey was of the Protestant faith and was elected church warden of the
parish of North Sassafras, or St. Stephen's, Cecil county, January 14, 1698. He
left a paper in the form of a will which was never probated and is still in the
possession of Mr. James W. Veazey, of Cecil county, in which he mentions his
wife, Martha, to whom he gives a life estate in his dwelling and plantation, and
also mentions his five sons to whom he devises real estate and personal property.
The five sons of John and Martha Veazey, of "Cherry Grove," were:

William Veazey, a freeholder and planter of Cecil co., Md. : m. Rosamond ; d.

1733, leaving an only child, b. i6g6, Susanna Veazey, who m. March 25, 1717, John
Ward, son of William and Elizabeth Ward, of Cecil CO., and had five daughters and
two sons, William and John; Joshua, a son of the latter, m. his cousin, Sarah Veazey;
George Veazey, second son, a freeholder and planter of Cecil co. ; church warden and
vestryman of St. Stephen's; m. Nov. 19, 1708, Alice, dau. of William and Elizabeth
Ward, before mentioned; m. (second) 1716, Katharine Beard; had two daughters by
first marriage :

Elizabeth Veazey, m. Anthony Lynch ;
Eleanor Veazey, m. Thomas Price.
Edward Veazey, of whom presently;

James Veazey, removed to St. .-Xun's Parish, Cecil co. ; m. Nov. 22, 1716, Mary Mercer;
both d. 1768; had two daughters and four sons:
Dr. Thomas Veazey;
Edward Veazey;



1246 GRUBD

James Veazey, served in Lee's Legion in Revolution;

William Veazey, Captain in Revolutionary Army, 1776.
Robert Veazey, church warden and vestryman of St. Stephen's 1732-36; m. Jan. i, 1718,
Lucy Dermot; had four daughters and one son:

Col. John Veazey, Jr., member House of Burgesses, 1768-74; delegate to several
Provincial Conventions at Annapolis, 1774-75; signer of Association of Free-
men of Maryland, July 26, 1775; chairman of Committee of Observation for
Cecil CO., 1776; Colonel of Bohemian Battalion, 1776; member first General
Assembly of Md., Feb. 5, 1777; Register of Wills, Cecil co., etc.; his son, Ed-
ward Veazey, was Captain of Seventh Independent Company of Md. troops,
and was killed at the battle of L. L, Aug. 27, 1776.

Edward Veazey, third son of John and Martha Veazey, was in possession of
the two plantations seated by his father, "Manchester" and "True Game," includ-
ed in "Cherry Grove," 1707; and in the same year was in possession of "Essex
Lodge," which has been the homestead of his branch of the family to the present
time, being the first of the family to hold that estate. He was church warden of
St. Stephen's Parish, February 10, 1707; vestryman, April 21, 1712, and served
until 1719. He married Susanna , and had an only child:

Colonel John Veazey, born February 12, 1701, who inherited "Cherry Grove"
and "Essex Lodge," and acquired other lands in Cecil county. Veazey's Neck,
and the arm of the Bohemia river on its southern side, called Veazey's Cove, de-
rived their names from him. He lived at "Essex Lodge" and died there May 4,
1777. He was church warden of St. Stephen's Parish, Cecil county, 1726-34-45,
as Captain John Veazey, and in 1748-49 as Major John Veazey; vestryman, 1726-
29-31-35-45-46-58-65; qualifying as vestryman in 1756, is styled Colonel John
Veazey.

He was Associate Justice of the Cecil County Court, 1735-40; one of the Jus-
tices of the Quorum, 1741-57; one of Judges of Assize for Cecil county, under
commission to hold special court of Oyer and Terminer, and General Jail Delivery
1749-62, being several times recommissioned for the above positions between the
years above stated.

He was Captain in the Provincial forces and later Major as previously shown;
as Major was commanding officer of the military forces of the county, in 1748-49,
and is designated as Colonel in the parish records of St. Stephen's and in patents
for land acquired after 1756. A letter addressed to him by Governor Horatio
Sharpe, under date of March 9, 1758, addresses him as Colonel and gives him
directions as commanding officer of Cecil county, as to forwarding troops for the
defence of Fort Frederick, during the French and Indian War.

Colonel John Veazey married Rebecca, daughter of Colonel John and Mary
Ward, of Cecil county, born November 2, 1705, died April 24, 1761.
Issue of Colonel John and Rebecca (Ward) Veazey:

Edward Veazey, of "Cherry Grove." d. there, April 24, 1784; High Sheriff, Cecil co.,
1751-53; m. Elizabeth DeCourcy, June 19, 1755, and had seven children, the youngest
of whom, Thomas Ward Veazey, inherited "Cherry Grove," was a member of the
House of Delegates from Cecil co., 1811-12: Lieutenant Colonel of Forty-ninth Regi-
ment in War of 1812; Governor of Md., 1836-8;

John Ward Veazey, planter of Cecil co.. Justice of Peace, 1776-85, who has left numerous
descendants;

William \'eazey, of "Good Luck" plantation, Cecil co.; m. Mary Loutitt, and had one
daughter, Mary Veazey, who m. her cousin. Gov. Thomas Ward Veazey;

Dr. Thomas Brockus Veazey, of whom presently;

Rebecca Veazey.



GRUBB 1247

Thomas Brockus Veazey, M. D., born March 29, 1750, youngest son of Colo-
nel John and Rebecca (Ward) Veazey, planter and physician of Cecil county,
Maryland, at the death of his father succeeded to the family estate and homestead
of "Essex Lodge," and lived there Until his death in 1806, when it descended to his
youngest son. Thomas B. Veazey, and at the latter's death in 1844, to his only
child, Arabella Veazey, who married William Knight.

Thomas Brockus Veazey was church warden of St. Stephen's Parish, May 15,
1786, and vestryman, June 7, 1779, to his death in 1806. On May 13, 1792, he
was elected Lay Delegate to the Church Convention at Annapolis, held May 30,
1792, the first convention of the Episcopal church in Maryland. He married,
March 29, 1781, Mary, born May 21, 1766, daughter of Rev. William Thompson,
rector of St. Stephen's Parish, by his wife. Susanna, daughter of Rev. George
Ross, of New Castle, Delaware.

Rev. William Thompson was born May 22, 1735, and was a son of Rev. Samuel
Thompson, of Pennsylvania, and a nephew of General William Thompson, of the
Pennsylvania Line in the Revolution. He was ordained deacon and priest of the
Episcopal church in the palace of the Bishop of London, at Fulham, December, 1759,
and was appointed rector of St. Mary Ann's Parish, in Cecil county, Maryland,
by Governor Eden, June 23, 1773. on behalf of the Rt. Hon. Henry Harford,
Lord Proprietary of Maryland. On July 6, 1779, he was selected by the vestry
of St. Stephen's Church as their rector and so continued until his death. He was
in entire sympathy with the Patriot cause in 1776.

Rev. William Thompson married, October 29, 1762, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
Susanna, daughter of Rev. George Ross, whose descent from the Earls of Ross is
given later in this narrative.

Issue of Dr. Thomas B. and Mary (Thompson) Veazey:

Dr. John Thompson Veazey, b. July 22, 1783, d. March 30, 1839; m. Sarah, dau. of Will-
iam and Ann (Veazey) Ward, and lived for a time at "Mount Harmon," on the
Sassafras river, and in 1825 settled at "Mount Pleasant," near Earleville, where he
d.; he was the father of Rev. George Ross Veazey, of Baltimore:

Juliana Ross Veazey, m. Thomas Savin;

Maria Ross \'eazey. b. at "Essex Lodge," July 29, 1787; m. April 27, 181 1, Isaac Brown
Parker, and was the mother of Euphemia Brown Parker, who m. Edward Burd Grubb,
of Burlington, N. J.;

Thomas Brockus Veazey, Jr., inherited "Essex Lodge," where he was b., Jan. 30, 1792,
and where he and his wife, Ann, dau. of William and Ann (Veazey) Ward, both d.
in 1844.

Rev. George Ross, first rector of Emanuel Protestant Episcopal Church at
New Castle, several of whose descendants have been prominently identified with
the history of Pennsylvania, was a lineal descendant of the second Earl of Ross,
and his father, David Ross, was the second Laird of Balblair, Parish of Fern,
near the town of Tain, shire of Ross, North of Scotland. There seems to have
been no blood connection between the first Earl of Ross, who had a mandate from
Malcolm, King of Scotland, to protect the Monks of Dumferline. in 1153, and the

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