| Peter Grubb | |
| Birth Date: | 1702 |
| Birth Place: | Brandywine Hundred, Delaware |
| Death Date: | 1754 |
| Death Place: | Wilmington, Delaware |
| Known For: | Founded Cornwall Ironworks |
| Occupation: | Mason, Ironmaster, Real Estate Investor |
| Spouse: |
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| Children: | Curtis Grubb Peter Grubb, Jr. |
| Parents: | John and Frances Grubb |
Peter Grubb (17021754), the founder of the Grubb Family Iron Dynasty, discovered Cornwall Iron Mines and established Cornwall Iron Furnace, together one of the largest ironworks in Colonial Pennsylvania.[1] The Cornwall Iron Mines are the largest U.S. iron mines ever discovered east of Lake Superior.
The youngest of the seven sons of John Grubb and his wife Frances of Brandywine Hundred, Peter first learned the stonemasonry trade. In 1729, he built a water corn and boulting mill in Bradford, Pennsylvania. He constructed his first iron bloomery (a crude form of furnace) in 1737 at Furnace Creek, on the modern border of Lancaster and Lebanon counties.[2]
Grubb constructed a regular iron furnace, known as Hopewell on Hammer Creek near his bloomery. As he started to operate Hopewell, Peter soon located three mountains of magnetic iron ore just west of the furnace. He decided to mine the ore and by 1739 had acquired over 1000acres that he called Cornwall Iron Mines, in honor of his father's birthplace. In 1742, he opened Cornwall Iron Furnace to take advantage of the discovery. Peter Grubb's Hopewell Forge Mansion, completed around 1740 and later occupied by his son Peter Jr., still stands about six miles (10 km) from Cornwall on present-day Route 322.[3]
In 1745 Peter decided to relinquish direct control of the ironworks, and he leased the operation to Cury and Company for 20 years at £250 a year. He moved with his wife to Wilmington, Delaware, where he engaged in the buying and selling of real estate and lived out his life.[4]
Peter's sons Curtis and Peter Jr. inherited the ironworks after his death in 1754.[5] They took over operation around 1765, after the lease expired, and quickly expanded the business, later becoming significant providers of munitions to the Revolutionary War effort. Unfortunately, most of the Cornwall ironworks fell out of the Grubb family's hands by 1802. But later generations, starting with Peter Jr.'s son Henry Bates Grubb, built on the remaining holdings with great success. From 1840 to 1870 the Grubbs were among the leading iron manufacturers in Pennsylvania, with Mount Hope Estate serving as their center of operations.
On 2nd mo. 12, 1732 [12 Apr 1732] at Caln, PA Monthly Meeting of Friends, Peter Grubb married Martha Bates (or Bate), widow of James Wall.[6] [7] Martha Bates, a native of Newton Township, New Jersey, was the daughter of Jeremiah Bates and Mary Spicer, and the granddaughter of William Bates, a founder of Newton Colony in 1681.[6] Peter and Martha Grubb had two sons, Curtis Grubb (circa 1733 - 1789) and Peter Grubb, Jr. (1740–1786). After Martha died, Peter remarried on 12th mo. 10, 1741 [10 Feb 1742] to Hannah, daughter of Benjamin Mendenhall and widow of Thomas Marshall.[8] In 1745, Peter and Hannah Grubb retired to Wilmington, Delaware, where he engaged in the buying and selling of real estate.