Introductory notes
Welcome to my place on the web where you can find genealogical information about the Grubbs, Schermerhorns, Works, and other connected families. This project started as an assignment in middle school to discover my ancestors, but it morphed into an on again off again obsession over the years. In addition to my own ancestors and those of my relatives, you will find the descendants of John Grubbe (1620-1696), the founder of the Tipperary branch of the Grubb family.
I am not a professional genealogist, but I have benefitted from the prior research of many who are. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the following works which have been especially helpful: The Grubbs of Tipperary by Geoffrey Watkins Grubb, Schermerhorn Genealogy and Family Chronicles by Richard Schermerhorn, and Work Family History by Von Gail Hamilton. In addition, I have taken advantage of online sources far too numerous to enumerate; however, I would like to acknowledge the prior work of Charles E. G. Pease (http://pennyghael.org.uk/Grubb.pdf) as well as the meticulous records kept by the Society of Friends in Tipperary and elsewhere.
Notwithstanding the excellent work of others, genealogy is a speculative business and there will inevitably be many errors contained herein. I did not include any information that I did not believe to be true; however, our record of the past must always be incomplete and no fact should be assumed more authoritative than its stated source. When an assertion is questionable I have tried to indicate so, and I have often been diligent enough to cite my sources for particular facts; however in many cases, owing to sheer laziness or sloppiness, I have not. If you would like to know the reason for a particular assertion, feel free to contact me and I may be able to point you to more resources.
This is very much a work in progress, so if you would like to contribute additional biographical information or correct mistakes you may discover, please do not hesitate to email me at grubbcc at gmail dot com.
Did you Know?
Interesting facts about famous people in the database:
- The model community founded by John Grubb Richardson was designed to exclude each of the "Three P's" — public houses, pawn brokers, and police — on the theory that without the first two there would be no need for the third.
- Brig. Gen. Lewis Addison Armistead led his troops up Cemetery Ridge during Pickett's charge, reaching what would become known as the High Water Mark of the Confederacy.
- His father, George Armistead, commanded the American defenders of Fort McHenry during the siege which inspired the Star Spangled Banner.
- In 1900, telescope maker Sir Howard Grubb invented a reflector sight which enables a sharpshooter to superimpose stationary crosshairs on a target an even if his head is moving.
- Noted socialite Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn was commonly referred to as The Mrs. Astor. Her son John Jacob Astor IV was the richest person to perish on the RMS Titanic.
- The influence on the court of King Charles II by his mistress, Lady Barbara Villiers was so great that she has been dubbed both "the Uncrowned Queen" and "the curse of the nation".
- Radical woman's suffragist Lillian Metge was arrested and tried for the bombing of Lisburn Cathedral, but charges were dropped at the last minute due to the outbreak of World War I.
- Despite being shot in the thigh, Symon Schermerhorn rode 17 miles through a blizzard on a wounded horse to inform Albany of a massacre that had just taken place in Schenectady.
- Lt. Frederick Ernest Grubb, commander of the HMCS Moose Jaw, participated in the first sinking of a German U-Boat by the Royal Canadian Navy.
- Susannah Martin was accused of witchcraft and executed in Salem Massachusetts.
- Prison reformer Elizabeth Fry was depicted Bank of England £5 note from 2001–2016.
- Hubert Work served as Secretary of the Interior under the administrations of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge.
