Peter Grubb and Hannah Mendenhall

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Husband Peter Grubb ^{1 2 3}

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           Born:  - Cornwall, Lebanon Co, PA
     Christened: 
           Died: 22 Jun 1783 1
         Buried: 

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         Father: John Grubb (Abt 1652-1708) 2
         Mother: Frances Vane (      -Aft 1712) 2 4

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       Marriage: 1741 5

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   Other Spouse: Martha Bates (      -1740) 5

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Wife Hannah Mendenhall ^{3 5 6 7}

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           Born: 11 Aug 1696 - Chester Co, PA 3 6
     Christened: 
           Died: 1770 5
         Buried: 

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         Father: Benjamin Mendenhall (      -1740) 8 9 10
         Mother: Ann Pennell (      -      ) 8 10 11

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   Other Spouse: Thomas Marshall (1694-Abt 1741) 3 5 6 12 - 24 Apr 1718 - Concord Twp, Chester Co, PA 3

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - Peter Grubb

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The credit of having erected the first blast-furnace within the limits of Lancaster County (as then constituted), for the conversion of iron ore into pig metal, belongs to Curtis [sic] Grubb. He was a native of Wales, and was familiar with all the processes for converting the raw material into merchantable iron. He came to America about the time the county was organized (1729), and remained for some time at the furnaces erected by Branson & Nutt in Chester County.
His design in coming to America was evidently for the purpose of erecting iron-works, for he at once commenced to prospect for iron ore. In 1733 we find him along the banks of one of the branches of the Swatara, which flows along the northern base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. There he discovered an immense deposit of iron ore. He purchased two hundred acres of land from Mrs. Allen in 1733, received a patent for the same on the 2d day of November, 1734, and on the 6th day of November, 1734, he received a patent for two hundred acres adjoining this tract. In 1737 he received a patent for three hundred acres more adjoining his other land.
He erected a furnace on the first-mentioned tract in the year 1742, and called it Cornwall Furnace. From this date he commenced to purchase large tracts of mountain land until he owned several thousand acres well covered with wood, which he converted into charcoal. Mr. Grubb was not only fortunate in his discovery of this iron-ore deposit, but he also found in close proximity an abundance of limestone and a never-failing stream of water, which afforded power to blow a furnace at the edge of the ore deposit. The capacity of the Cornwall Furnace when erected was but five or six tons of iron per week.
On the 22d day of June, 1783, Peter Grubb died intestate, seized of certain lands in Lancaster and Lebanon Counties containing nine thousand six hundred and sixty-nine acres of land, upon which were Cornwall Furnace, Hopewell forges on Hammer Creek, and Cornwall ore mines and hills. He left two sons, Curtis and Peter. Under the then existing laws Curtis, being the oldest son, received two shares and Peter one share.
On the 22d day of June, 1783, Curtis Grubb, who then resided at Cornwall Furnace, gave to his son Peter one-sixth of Cornwall Furnace and the ore lands, one-third of Hopewell Forge, and one-sixth of all other lands in Lancaster County, except the mills on the Swatara, which he purchased from Michael Straw. These lands, furnace, and forges Peter Grubb, Jr., held in partnership with his father, Curtis, and his uncle, Peter Grubb, Sr.
On the 19th day of October, 1765, the Grubbs purchased Hopewell Forges and lands from Jacob Giles, a merchant of Baltimore County, Maryland.

He discovered the vast beds of iron ore at Cornwall, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and was a pioneer in Pennsylvania manufacturing interests. In 1734 he became the proprietor of the celebrated Cornwall ore hills, of almost pure magnetic ore. On this property he built the Hopewell Forge and the Cornwall Furnace, naming the latter after the English mining county where his father was born. In this furnace, during the Revolutionary war, he cast cannon ammunitions for Washington, and, as a loyal adherent to the cause, accepted no remuneration. The Cornwall furnace, which was the oldest in the country, was still in operation in 1903. It was noted by Aurelius, in his history, as early as 1756. Peter Grubb became a member of the Society of Friends in 1732. [BALC, 48]

1 Franklin Ellis & Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 301.

2 Editor, Biographical Annals of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (J. H. Beers & Co., 1903), Pg 48.

3 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 614.

4 J. Smith Futhey & Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), Pg 489.

5 Editor, Biographical Annals of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (J. H. Beers & Co., 1903), Pg 49.

6 J. Smith Futhey & Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), Pg 655.

7 Editor, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 875.

8 J. Smith Futhey & Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), Pg 655, 679.

9 Editor, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 191, 875.

10 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 426, 614.

11 Editor, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 191, 874.

12 Editor, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 874.