Grubb family.

The Grubb family were ironmasters in Lancaster, York, and Dauphin Counties, Pennsylvania, for a period of over 150 years.

Peter Grubb (1692-1754) discovered the Cornwall ore hills, the richest iron ore deposits east of Lake Superior, between 1730 and 1734 and built the Hopewell Forges and Cornwall Furnace. The properties were passed to his sons, Curtis Grubb (1733-1789) and Peter Grubb (1740-1786), with Curtis receiving a double portion. Curtis' heirs sold most of his interest at Cornwall to Robert Coleman, formerly their clerk, laying the foundation of the Coleman family fortune.

Peter Grubb (1740-1786) settled at Hopewell Forge and built a large furnace at Mount Hope in 1785. His son, Henry Bates Grubb (1774-1823), inherited the properties at the age of twelve. Initially he formed a partnership with Coleman, which was dissolved in 1802 with Coleman taking Hopewell and Grubb Mount Hope. Henry also built the Mount Vernon Furnace in 1800 and purchased the Codorus Iron Works in York County around 1802.

Three of Henry Bates Grubb's sons, Edward Burd Grubb (1810-1867), Clement Brooke Grubb (1815-1889), and Alfred Bates Grubb (1821-1885), inherited the iron business as minors. The two oldest formed the partnership of E.B. & C.B. Grubb in 1833 and operated Mount Hope, Mount Vernon, Codorus, and the fractional interest in the Cornwall Mine. They built a new Codorus Furnace in 1836 and the Mananda Furnace in Dauphin County in 1837. In 1845, Clement sold his share of Mount Hope to Alfred, who then operated it in partnership with Edward and later alone. Edward moved to Burlington, N.J., and retired from active participation in the iron trade in 1840.

The charcoal iron works began to come under competition from anthracite blast-furnaces in the 1840s. Codorus was abandoned in 1850 and Mount Vernon around 1852. Clement built the St. Charles anthracite furnace near Columbia, Pa. in 1853 and in the 1870s purchased the nearby Henry Clay Furnace. Clement, Alfred, and their children continued in the iron trade until their medium-sized furnaces were driven out of business by modern integrated mills in the late 1880s and 1890s.

From the description of Business records, 1818-1854. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122333707