Rash's Surname Index
Notes for William GRUBB
William Grubb (11th mo. 16, 1713 - 2nd mo. 10, 1775) was a Brandywine Hundred farmer, who also became a large landowner in Pennsylvania and Virginia. In November 1734, William was sent by his father to have land surveyed on the Bullskin Creek. However William did not settle there and within three years returned to Delaware where he farmed for the rest of his life. Upon his father's death, he inherited 142 acres in Chichester and acquired the portion of the Grubb's Corner plantation inherited by his brother Adam. The next year, William also leased 127 acres of the Bullskin Creek tract from Adam. On September 1, 1762, William along with his brother Samuel received a grant from Lord Fairfax for an adjoining 431 acres and on September 22, 1762, William purchased the original 127 acres from Adam.
A Quaker, William was admitted into membership 8th mo. 3, 1738 just before his marriage on 11th mo. 11, 1738 at Chichester Meeting to Lydia Hewes (2nd mo. 19, 1719 - 2nd mo. 27, 1774) of Chichester. She was the daughter of William Hewes (c1690 - Aft. 1750) and Mary Withers (unk - 1750) of Chichester. The modern spelling of the family name is Hughes. William Hewes was a leader of the Chichester Quaker Meeting and a member of the Pennsylvania Colonial Assembly.
After their marriage, William and Lydia settled in a new house constructed east of Grubb's Corner on his father's farm. This house was originally a one-story structure built of fieldstone. William's younger brother Samuel lived nearby in their father's house west of Grubb's Corner with his wife, Rebecca Hewes, Lydia's younger sister. Later, two additional stories constructed of timber were added to William's home, and in the 1800s, the outside of the first story was covered with wooden siding. The house remained in the family until after the civil war when it was purchased by Lewis Harvey. In a 1923 lecture at Oxford University in England, William's home was referred to as the ugliest house in the United States! The house still exists but today is much more attractive than its photo of a century ago.
William and Lydia were members of the Chichester Quaker Meeting and had ten children between 1740 and 1761. Gilbert Cope reports that William left the Society of Friends about 1765 during the conservative reform period that caused many members to leave at that time. Lydia was 54 at her death and William died the next year at age 62. They were interred in the Grubb cemetery next to William's house. William's gravestone reads, "Build not your house too high - But always have before your eyes - That you were born to die".
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