Margaret Grubb
Margaret Grubb | |
---|---|
Born | Beltsville, Maryland, United States | September 22, 1907
Died | November 17, 1963 United States | (aged 56)
Occupation | Glider pilot |
Spouses | |
Children | L. Ron Hubbard Jr. Katherine May Hubbard. |
Margaret Louise "Polly" Grubb (September 22, 1907 – November 17, 1963)
Background
Margaret Louise Grubb was born in
Although christened Margaret, Grubb preferred to be known as Polly. She lived with her father in Elkton, Maryland.[5] She took her first job, in a shoe shop, at the age of sixteen, to support herself and her father.
Grubb was a keen glider pilot and met L. Ron Hubbard on a Maryland gliding field in early 1933, where both of them were learning to fly as preparation to obtaining a pilot's license. At the time, Hubbard was self-employed as a writer of pulp fiction stories. The two began a relationship after going on a blind date.[6]
Marriage
Hubbard and Grubb married on April 13, 1933, after only a short courtship. They settled in Laytonsville, Maryland. She had a miscarriage not long afterwards, and became pregnant again in October 1933.[7]
On May 7, 1934, Grubb gave birth two months prematurely to L. Ronald Hubbard Jr. (died September 16, 1991, in Carson City, Nevada), while on a vacation with her husband at Encinitas, California. Ron Jr. legally changed his name to Ronald Edward DeWolf in 1972,[8] and the new name is thusly reflected in the California Birth Index, 1905–1995.[9] On January 15, 1936, the couple had a daughter, Katherine May (or "Kay"), in New York City.
In the spring of 1936 the Hubbards moved to Bremerton, Washington, to be near Hubbard's own family, the Waterburys. They settled in the community of South Colby, Washington, where Hubbard established a "writing studio" from where he produced many of his pulp short stories and novels. The marriage came under strain when Hubbard began spending increasingly long periods in New York in order to be nearer his publishers and fellow pulp writers. Grubb suspected that he was having affairs with other women in New York and confided her suspicions to family friends. According to Robert MacDonald Ford, a friend who later became a state representative, matters came to a head when she found hard evidence of her husband's philandering:
It seems Ron had written letters to a couple of girls in New York and left them in the mail box to be picked up. Polly found them and got so mad that she opened the envelopes, switched the letters and put them back in the box. She didn't tell him what she had done until they had been picked up.[10]
The couple appear to have patched up their relationship afterwards, as they went on an extended sailing trip to
For his part, Hubbard had moved in with the rocket scientist and
Divorce
On August 10, 1946, Hubbard married Sara Hollister, with whom he had been living for about a year. Grubb filed for divorce in Port Orchard, Washington, on April 14, 1947, on the grounds of "desertion and non-support", since neither she nor her children were obtaining any support from her absent husband. She had no idea that he had already committed bigamy by being married to another woman, nor did Hollister know until then about Grubb. According to Hollister, "I did not discover that he was still married to her until after the divorce proceedings had begun."[12] Hubbard agreed to the divorce on June 1 and subsequently agreed to Grubb having custody of the children, costs, and $25 a month maintenance for each child. The divorce was final on December 24, 1947.[13] Hubbard later said that "it was I who obtained the divorce and have never really had an upset marital background" and that he got the divorce when "I was written to and advised by the judge that I should obtain one as he was tired of service wives deserting their husbands."[11]
Hubbard appears to have avoided meeting his side of the agreement in the divorce decree. Around February/March 1951, Grubb sued him for maintenance, charging that her former husband had 'promoted a cult called
In April 1951, Hollister filed for a divorce from Hubbard after he left for
If I can help in any way, I'd like to – you must get Alexis in your custody – Ron is not normal. I had hoped that you could straighten him out. Your charges probably sound fantastic to the average person – but I've been through it – the beatings, threats on my life, all the sadistic traits you charge – twelve years of it. I haven't asked for anything but with the money rolling in from "Dianetics" I had hoped to get enough for plastic surgery for Kay's birthmark – Please believe I do so want to help you get Alexis.[16]
Remarries
Although she played a major part in Hubbard's life, Grubb is not mentioned in official Church of Scientology biographies.[17] Indeed, Hubbard said in an interview for the British television series World in Action that he had only been married twice and had four children. In fact, he actually had seven children, but was counting only those he had with his third wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, and omitted mentioning his marriage to Sara Northrup Hollister:
HUBBARD: "How many times have I been married? I've been married twice. And I'm very happily married just now. I have a lovely wife, and I have four children. My first wife is dead."
INTERVIEWER: "What happened to your second wife?"
HUBBARD: "I never had a second wife."[18]
Grubb later married John Ochs and moved to Pennsylvania.[6] She passed away at the age of 56 on November 17, 1963.[1]
References
- ^ a b "Margaret Louise "Polly" Grubb Ochs". Find A Grave. n.d.
- ISBN 9780245543340
- ^ Christopher Evans, Cults of Unreason, p. 26 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974)
- ^ Grubb, David (2008). The Grubb Family of Grubb's Landing, Delaware. Higginson Book Co. p. 230.
- ^ Russell Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, pp. 59-60 (Michael Joseph Ltd, 1987)
- ^ a b c Interview conducted by FBI Inspector W. Beale Grove Archived 2006-08-21 at the Wayback Machine, Philadelphia District, February 20, 1963
- ^ Russell Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 61 (Michael Joseph Ltd, 1987).
- ^ Around the Nation; Son of Church Founder is Sued by Stepmother, The New York Times, October 24, 1984
- ^ California Births, 1905–1995, Family Tree Legends Records Collection (Online Database), Pearl Street Software, 2004–2005
- ^ Russell Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 75 (Michael Joseph Ltd, 1987)
- ^ a b Hubbard, "Autobiographical notes for Peter Tompkins", 4 June 1972. Exhibit 500-I in Church of Scientology of California vs. Gerald Armstrong, Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, case no. C 420153
- ^ Bent Corydon, L. Ron Hubbard: Madman or Messiah?, p. 294 (Lyle Stuart, 1987)
- ^ Russell Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 134 (Michael Joseph Ltd, 1987)
- ^ Russell Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 180 (Michael Joseph Ltd, 1987)
- ^ Jon Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 118 (Lyle Stuart, 1990)
- ^ Bent Corydon, L. Ron Hubbard: Madman or Messiah?, pp. 281–282 (Lyle Stuart, 1987)
- ^ United Press International, May 21, 1982. "Official biographies of Hubbard do not mention Margaret Grubb."
- ^ The Shrinking World of L Ron Hubbard, produced & directed Charlie Nairn: in World in Action – Volume 3, Network, 3 DVD set (Region 2), originally Granada Television, 1968