My Genealogy Hound

BISHOP NATHANIEL BERTOLET GRUBB, second son of Silas and Elizabeth (Bertolet) Grubb, was born in Frederick township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, July 6, 1850. He is a direct descendant of the Grubb family, Mennonites, many of whom suffered martyrdom in Switzerland in the early years of 1600, afterwards drifting to England, thence to America, settling in Pennsylvania in the year 1726. Many of them were members of the Society of Friends. The family name is traced back to England to the year 1200, A. D., when the same were found as members of parliament. These English ancestors had come from Denmark and are traced back to about 1000, A. D., the days of William the Norman. These facts were confirmed in a letter from the secretary of the Royal Archives of Copenhagen, Denmark, in response to an inquiry in 1895. Members of the Bertolet family intermarried with the Frey family, first German settlers in Pennsylvania, both families French Huguenots and Calvinists, but later identified themselves with the Moravians. They emigrated to America, respectively, Bertolet in 1726 and Frey in 1675.

The emigrant ancestor of the Grubb family was Henry Grubb, who emigrated to this country about 1718, September 27, 1718, he bought 150 acres of land from David Powell, in Fredrick township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He died in 1727. He married Catharine Addis, whose death occurred January 27, 1748. Their fourth son, Abraham Grubb, born May 19, 1726, died July 27, 1808, was united in marriage to Elizabeth Frea, born June 24, 1737, died October 2, 1823. Their son, David Grubb, born July 19, 1768, married Mary Harley, born July 25, 1773, and their deaths occurred, respectively, September 5, 1852, and March 16, 1851. Mary (Harley) Grubb was a descendant of Rudolph Harley, who emigrated from Germany in 1719, and the line of descent was through Rudolph Harley, who married Mary Becker, daughter of the Rev. Peter Becker, first Bishop of the Brethren or Dunkards, to Rudolph Harley, who married Barbara Bach. Jacob Grubb, son of David and Mary (Harley) Grub, was born March 12, 1793, married Mary Martin, born November 1, 1788, a daughter of Christian Martin, and their deaths occurred respectively, September 1, 1867, and March 15, 1867. Their son, Silas Grubb, born November 19, 1819, father of Bishop Grubb, married Elizabeth Bertolet, who was born February 16, 1825, and their deaths occurred respectively, November 10, 1876, and September 9, 1893.

Elizabeth (Bertolet) Grubb, mother of Bishop Grubb, traced her ancestry to Jean Bertolet, who emigrated from Switzerland in 1726, passport dated at Berne, April 29, 1726, married Susanna De Harcourt, daughter of Jean De Harcourt, of French nobility. Their son, Abraham Bertolet, born December 11, 1712, died July__, 1776; in 1736 he married Esther De Turk, born September 29, 1711, died May 19, 1798. Their son, Samuel Bertolet, born September 14, 1743, died January 1, 1805; he was a member of the militia, and General Washington and his aides made their headquarters at his home while his army was encamped at Camp Pottstown; after the battle of Germantown. His first wife was Esther Frey, and his second Elizabeth Frey, sisters, the latter named born June 6, 1762, died August 8, 1823. They were descendants of Henry Frey (the first German settler in Pennsylvania), who emigrated from Germany in 1675, married, April 26, 1692, Anna Catharine Levering. Their son, William Frey, born in 1693, married, about 1718, Veronica Markley, and died June 15, 1768. Their son, Jacob Frey, born January 1, 1726, died April 26, 1770; he married Susanna Bertolet, born November 17, 1724, died January 12, 1788. John Bertolet, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Frey) Bertolet, was born November 5, 1790, died January 12, 1864; he married Catharine Detweiler, born February 15, 1799, died March 14, 1842. They were the parents of the following named children: John, Elizabeth, aforementioned as the wife of Silas Grubb, whose occupation was that of farmer, and in their religious affiliation they were Mennonites; Catharine, Mary, Esther, Susan, and Lydia Bertolet.

Nathaniel B. Grubb received his education in the public schools of the township, Frederick Institute, then an academy and preparatory school for teachers, now the “Mennonite Home” for the aged of the church, and later at the “Build- ings Anstald” at Wadsworth. He lived and worked on the farm until the age of seventeen, when he was apprenticed to the owners of the Schwenksville flouring mills to learn the trade of a miller. He followed this calling for about five years, and worked as day laborer for several years. In 1877 he established a printing house for the execution of book and job printing. In response to a call from the better element of the community for a clean local household paper, in the fall of the same year he established The Schzwenksville Item, which he conducted on a strictly moral basis, with fearless expressions of religious convictions. This special feature gave the paper from the first a substantial support, making it a channel of influence and usefulness for good. For six years he continued its editor and publisher, and then having a desire to devote all his time to the Gospel ministry, and having accepted a call to the First Mennonite church of Philadelphia in the fall of 1882, he sold the paper on condition that it must always retain its strict moral tone. This has been retained in a high degree to the present day.

He united with the Mennonite church on confession of faith, and the rite of baptism in the spring of 1865 was administered by Moses H. Gottshall at the Schwenksville congregation. He served as superintendent of the Sunday school at that place for a term of four years, 1869 to 1872. He was called to be assistant in the ministry of the congregation by unanimous vote of the congregation, May 9, 1872, and was ordained on June 30 of the same year by Bishop Moses H. Gottshall, who also ordained him to the office of Bishop in the Philadelphia church, May 22, 1884. In 1884, while serving as pastor of the Philadelphia and Germantown congregations, a great need for an English publication for the benefit of his people was felt. Plans for such a paper had been formulated and it was about to be published, when several brethren urged that the need of his own congregation was the need of the entire conference. Accordingly, in the fall of 1885 the prospectus of the Mennonite was prepared and presented to the conference with two propositions: 1. That the conference assume the publication of the same, and elect a committee which shall be held responsible for its management, and thus make it a conference publication. 2. That the paper be published by individuals with the endorsement of the conference and a commendation of the same to the churches. The first proposition was accepted, and for six years the founder was continued as its editor. The great press of pastoral work compelled him to decline the further duties as editor.

In response to a crying need for a local congregational paper to be enabled to better prosecute the more aggressive work in his charge, on January 1, 1897, the Mennonite Endeavorer made its first appearance. At the suggestion of the pastor the Christian Endeavor Society of the church authorized the publication of the same. The circulation at present is a thousand copies monthly. The paper is distributed free among the members and friends of the congregation and Sunday school. The actual cost is about $350.00 a year. The publication is carried on under the management of the pastor with the assistance of two associate editors. The conditions that no debt can be contracted and that no deficiency can be allowed is strictly adhered to. He served as assistant pastor to Bishop Moses H. Gottshall for ten and a half years prior to his acceptance of the call to the First Mennonite Congregation of Philadelphia. He assumed the pastorate October 1, 1882.

The “Mennonite Home,” an institution for the care of the aged and the indigent of the church, was established by his untiring efforts, he first purchasing the property, believing that the offer made would be accepted, and then collecting the larger amount of money needed to place the institution free of debt on a self-sustaining basis. For many years he has been a member of the Evangelical Alliance of Philadelphia; since 1887 a member of the board of management of the same; aid since the organization of the Pennsylvania State Evangelical Alliance (1897) its recording secretary. For a number of years he has been the presiding officer of a district comprising twenty-two churches representing almost as many different denominations. The object of this organization is not to unite the churches under one government, but to lead the different churches to cooperation on general principles, and to united work against the enemy of the church, thus cultivating charity for each other and loyalty to one’s own church and denomination. As a direct result of such work in one winter recently 8700 souls were gathered into the churches of Philadelphia.

For many years Bishop Grubb has been a member of the board of the First Day Society of Philadelphia, now one hundred and twelve years old, composed of thirteen persons, to manage a fund invested a century ago, the income of which is applied to the needy Sunday schools of this city. Amounts of from five to twenty-five dollars a year are donated to such schools as apply and are found to be worthy of support, with 110 distinction as to denomination or race. He was one of two persons who established the National Anti-Treating Society, and since its organization has served as its general treasurer. The object of this society is to labor for the abolition of the social custom of treating another to intoxicating liquors. A bill before the Pennsylvania State Legislature three years ago making the treating to malt or spirituous liquors a crime, punishable by fine or imprisonment or both, and defeated only by a majority of three votes, originated in this society. Since 1872 Bishop Grubb has been a regular delegate to the triennial sessions of the general conference of the Mennonite church of North America, and for nearly twenty years the chairman of the publication board of the same. For six years he has been a member of the board of trustees of Bethel (Mennonite) College, Newton, Kansas; a member of the board of trustees of Perkioinen Seminary, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania; chairman of the board of management of the “Mennonite Home,” Frederick, Pennsylvania; and a member of the board of trustees of the United Society of Christian Endeavor, headquarters at Boston, Massachusetts. During the winter of 1893, when there was so much suffering among the working people of Philadelphia, and the city spent nearly $200,000 for relief, a large territory was personally super vised by Bishop Grubb, this covering one of the twenty-five districts of the city, and the needs of the people supplied. He visited the homes of the poor and suffering, which included from forty to seventy families, once and sometimes twice a week. Bishop Grubb spent the summer of 1900 visiting eight different countries of Europe.

At Tremont, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, July 4, 1872, by the Rev. Frederick Klinefelder. Bishop Nathaniel B. Grubb was married to Salome C. Gottshall, daughter of Joseph H. and Catharine (Clemens) Gottshall, and a descendant from the earliest Mennonite family in America, as is also her husband. Six children were born to them, as follows: Silas Manasses, born October 1, 1873, was ordained to the Gospel ministry in the Mennonite church, May 26, 1897; he married Catharine Roth, June 7, 1899, and their child, Robert R. Grubb, was born June 17, 1900. Katie Augusta, born May 27, 1875, died June 23, 1883. Arthur Eugene, born November 30, 1877, died April 23, 1878. William Henry, born September 28, 1879, married Della Reed, January 2, 1904; was ordained to the Gospel ministry, August, 1903. Lizzie Irene, born June 19, 1881, died September 22, 1884. Wallace Bertolet, born September 22, 1883, married Mary Evans Christman, March 28, 1904.