Daniel A. Grimsley

Daniel Amon Grimsley (April 3, 1840 – February 5, 1910) was a Virginia lawyer, Confederate officer, ten-year member of the Virginia senate and for 23 years judge in Culpeper County.[1]

Daniel A. Grimsley
Member of the Virginia Senate
from the Orange, Culpeper and Madison Counties district
In office
October 5, 1869 – December 8, 1879
Preceded byPhilip W. Strother
Succeeded byJohn R. Strother
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the Culpeper County, Virginia district
In office
December 2, 1885 – March 6, 1887
Preceded byJ. C. Gibson
Succeeded byJames Barbour
Personal details
BornApril 3, 1840
Rappahannock County, Virginia
DiedFebruary 5, 1910
Culpeper County, Virginia
NationalityAmerican
Spouse(s)Elizabeth A. Browning (1845–1919)
Occupationlawyer, Confederate officer, politician, judge
Military service
Allegiance Confederate States of America
Branch/servicecavalry
Years of service1862-1865
RankMajor
Unit6th Virginia Cavalry
Battles/warsBattle of Front Royal,

Early and family life

The son of Baptist minister Barnett Grimsley and his wife Ruth Updike, he had an older brother Thomas F. Grimsley (1835–1913, who had also become a teacher and Baptist minister by 1860) and older sisters Elizabeth (b. 1831) and Martha (b.1838), as well as a younger sister Louisa (b. 1842).[2]

He married Elizabeth (Bettie) A. Browning, and they had children: Margaret (Maggie) Grimsley Drewry (1868–1941), Virginia (Birdie) L Grimsley Burckmyer (1869–1950), T. Edwin Grimsley (1871–1930), Mary Browning Grimsley Barbour (1873–1962), Frances (Fannie) Grimsley Smith (1875–1952), Elizabeth Barnett Grimsley Theus (1880–1951), and Ethel Grimsley (1882–1894).

Career

As the American Civil War began and Virginia seceded from the Union, Grimsley's elder brother Thomas enlisted almost immediately in the 6th Virginia Cavalry, on May 8, 1861. Daniel Grimsley (who was characterized as a schoolteacher on the 1860 census but as a farmer on the enlistment roll) joined the same unit as a corporal at Manassas, Virginia on April 22, 1862. He was a member of Payne's Brigade, Fitz Lee's Division. After the Battle of Front Royal, although Thomas would remain a private for the rest of the war, Daniel was promoted to sergeant on June 20, 1862. He was wounded at least twice, and also frequently assigned to court martial duty. Daniel Grimsley was promoted to Captain on April 20, 1862 and to Major on June 4, 1864.[3]

After the war, Grimsley read law under commonwealth attorney Horatio G. Moffet (1808–1892) of Rappahannock County, Virginia. Following admission to the Virginia bar, Grimsley moved to Culpeper and practiced law with James Barbour.[4]

After adoption of the Virginia Constitution of 1869 and the Commonwealth's readmission to the Union, Culpeper County's voters elected Grimsley to represent them in the Virginia Senate. He served from 1869 and was re-elected twice times, serving for a decade. He ran again in 1885, this time to represent Culpeper County in the House of Delegates.

Not long afterward, fellow legislators elected him a judge of the Circuit Court in Culpeper, so his longtime law partner (and later in-law) James Barbour resumed the seat he had held before the American Civil War.[5] Grimsley served as a judge in Culpeper for 23 years.

Death and legacy

Judge Grimsley experienced a stroke on February 2, 1910 and died three days later at his home. He was survived by his wife, son Capt. T. Edward Grimsley (who had become a lawyer by 1900) and five daughters. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Culpeper, as would be his elder brother Thomas three years later.[6]

References
  1. Cynthia Miller Leonard, The General Assembly of Virginia 1619–1978 (Richmond, Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 511, 515, 519, 523, 527, 541and n.1
  2. 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Rappahannock Virginia family no. 833; 1860 U.S. Feceral Census, Rappahannock Virginia family no. 221
  3. Virginia Regimental Histories Series available through ancestry.com
  4. Eugene M. Scheel, Culpeper: A Virginia County's History through 1920 (Green Publishers for the Culpeper Historical Society, 1982) pp. 141, 150–151
  5. Scheel at p. 363
  6. "Maj Daniel Amon Grimsley (1840 - 1910)". findagrave.com. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
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