Biography

01/25/1777 - 11/04/1860

Judge John Jacob Grosh (Federalist4) Lancaster County 1818-1822

Early Life:

Judge John Jacob Grosh, born January 25, 1776, East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, Province of Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; son of John and Maria Barbara Bort Grosch; allowed only three summers of schooling, all in German, before he went to work full-time at age 12; captain, Pennsylvania Volunteers, War of 1812; elected, Federalist, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1812-1817; elected, Federalist, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1818-1822; Judge, Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas; married, first, 1796 (d. 1796); married, second, Margaret Gutedel, 1799 (d. 1823), children, Hannah Grosh, Aaron Burt, (Burt was Jacob's mother's family name), Gabriel Grosh, Charles Cotesworth Pinkney Grosh, Benjamin Franklin Grosh; married, third, Eva Margaret, 1824 (d. 1842); married, fourth, Leah Bushong, 1843 (d. 1847); married, fifth, Sarah Albright, 1849, who survived him; died, November 4, 1860 (aged 84), at home, Marietta, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; interment, Marietta Cemetery, Marietta, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 

Early Career:

Captain, Marietta Grays, mustered in, 9th Company, 2nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Light Infantry, commanded by Colonel Lewis Bache, War of 1812.

Allowed only three summers of schooling, all in German, before he went to work full-time at age 12. So, he never learned English as a youth and he spoke no English when he settled at Anderson's Ferry, which is now Marietta, as a young adult. Speaking only German limited his potential greatly, but Margaret, his second wife, could not speak German. So, the couple's communication was constrained. Margaret taught Jacob English, and afterwards, his career took off. Because, at a time when native intelligence and common sense were sufficient to promote a man, the now English-speaking Grosh achieved much success.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1813-1817.

Elected, Federalist, Pennsylvania State Senate, 4th district, Lancaster County, 1818-1822. 

Judge, Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Not currently available. 

Legacy:

Judge Jacob Grosh laid out Moravian Town or known locally as Bungletown in 1814. 

As a judge, never returned an escaped slave to bondage, even after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was enacted. 

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members "G"". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

A New Nation Votes (tufts.edu)

Biography extracted from; A Biographical History of Lancaster County Being a History of Early Settlers and Eminent Men of the County by Alexander Harris, Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Elias Barr and Company, 1872.

Judge Jacob Grosh (1776-1860) - Find a Grave Memorial