William Grimes & Mary Indian

Children of William Grimes and Mary Indian

William Grimes

Children
Mary Grimes b: 10 Nov 1744 in Swanzey, Cheshire, New Hampshire
James Grimes b: 10 Feb 1746 in Swanzey, Cheshire, New Hampshire
William Grimes Sgt. b: 12 May 1747 in Swanzey, Cheshire, New Hampshire
Charles Grimes b: 15 Apr 1754 in Swanzey, Cheshire, New Hampshire
Sarah Grimes b: 3 Apr 1751 in Swanzey, Cheshire, New Hampshire
Susannah Grimes
Elizabeth Grimes b: 12 Apr 1749 in Swanzey, Cheshire, New Hampshire
John Grimes b: 24 May 1741 in Swanzey, Cheshire, New Hampshire
Samuel Grimes b: 3 Apr 1751 in Swanzey, Cheshire, New Hampshire

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!BIRTH-MARRIAGE-DEATH-RELATIONSHIPS: Benjamin Read, HISTORY OF SWANZEY
NEW HAMPSHIRE; 1734-1890; The Salem Press, 1892; p 497; FHL Book
974.29/S1 H2r.

!BIRTH-RELATIONSHIPS: Swanzey, NH Town Records; 1741-1844; Town Clerk,
Swanzey NH, Vol 2; Pg 2; SLC Microfilm #0015328; NOTE: Contains original
volumes C & D; Book given to the town by Mr. William Grimes and Mr.
Nathaniel Heaton. NOTE: Page 50 of Town records contains a list of names
of men who had permanent residence in town previous to its abandonment,
where they came from and time when name first appears on records (Lower
Ashuelot) - William Grimes, Lancaster, Oct 10, 1737

!PROBATE-SPOUSE-CHILDREN: Probate Packet for William Grimes; ; Cheshire
Co NH Probate Court, will dated 19 Dec 1780, estate settled July 1787;
Case #8; ; photocopy in the possession of Pat Geary, Harrisonburg VA;
NOTE: will names wife Mary and six children, however, Mary dies before
the estate is settled.

!RELATIONSHIP: Vermont Bible Records Vol 36; 1786; NSDAR; p 9; DAR
Library, Washington, DC; NOTE: Abstract of the will of Mary Grimes dated
12 Sept 1786 at Swanzey, NH. Mary Grimes gives her son William his
father's silver shoe buckles because "he bearing up his father's name."

!MILITARY: DAR PATRIOT INDEX, Part 2; ; NSDAR; p 1239; NSDAR Library,
Washington, DC; NOTE: William born abt 1721, died 14 Jan 1781, mrd Mary
(surname unknown), Pvt NH.

William Grimes was found to be buried in Swanzey, N.H. His wife Mary was
also buried there, five years later in 1786. William was 68 years old at
the time of his death which would make his year of birth 1713, back
dating from date of death. Page 50 & 51, Film #0015577 Swanzey Cemetery
Records. Also on page 350 of the Swanzey History it states that William
died Jan 14, 1781.
His birth place of England is listed in the Ancestral File, which is yet
to be confirmed. What is known, is, William was one of the original
grantees of the town of Swanzey. William arrived in Swanzey, from
Lancaster on Oct 10, 1737. That fact was written on page 50 of the
Swanzey History.
Little is known about goods that were sold in Swanzey or who sold them
previous to 1800. The old meeting house was built between 1753 & 1755.
William Grimes furnished the rum for the raising, which may suggest he
was a merchant and sold other things in early times. (pg. 246)
At the time William came to this area along the Achelot River, it was
still mostly wilderness. This area was settled by mainly men of
Massachusetts, as they thought it was in that province. Some sixteen
years later, in 1753, the area was deemed to have the name of Swanzey,
and be in the province of New Hampshire. Again, William is listed as an
orginal grantee in July, 1757.
He fought the Indians, in the company of Captain Josiah Willard Jr.
during the winter of 1748. William was one of the company that had lived
along the Lower Ashuelot, before the place was burned, in 1747. During
the enlistment of this company, they were paid a bounty of 5 pounds for a
years service. Most of the men in the company came from Middlesex County.
Among some of the men, fighting at Fort Drummer, some were taken prisoner
and subsequently sent to Canada. One of which was a Daniel Farmer.
In 1745 England and France were at war and the fighting transmitted to
the colonies. March 26, 1745 the home of Rev. Timothy Harrington on
Meeting House Hill (known as the Carpenter farm in 1892) was burned.
In Febuary of 1746 the Indians attached the fort at Keene. Colnel Pomroy
with 450 men from Swanzey to Keen in 48 hours. (a distance of some 90
miles) Massachusettes sent forces of men to protect N.H. under the
direction of Captain Stevens on May 24, 1746. In August, Winchester was
attacted. and three days prior on the third, Charleston fort had sent out
scouts, which resulted in the death of Ebenezer Phillips. Later in the
year Mass. withdrew their protection, and Charleston was abandoned. Capt.
Stevens and others he led appealed to Governor Shirley of Mass. for
protection in March 1747.
resident of Swanzey, when it was rebuilt by 1755. He was on the grantee
list in 1753. On page 524 of the History of Swanzey, film #1033865 is
also note that William lived where his great grand daughter, Susan
Johnson, now resides. The place has always been in the Grimes family,
Dea. John living there during his long life.
The same history states on page 64, and in the military history of the
town, that William and William Jr. James and Charles all served in the
Revolutionary War. William, the father of these boys' military record is
shown on page 123 of the Swanzey History. He served 5 months away in the
army at Ticonderoga, 1776, by hire and 9 months in the Continental army
by hire. His pay was 30-6-8. William was 63 years old when he fought in
the Revolutionary War. He died in Swanzey at the age of 68 years.
In the Town Records of Swanzey/film #0015368 the following was recorded:
Swanzey was created in December of 1734. The area known as Richmond was
the ajoining community. William Grimes was one of the proprietors of the
Lower Township of the Ashuelot River. The proprietors were in charge of
the various lots, each lot being 100 acres. As the areas became more
populated, the lots
were surveyed and "drawn" for. The first drawn was Sept. 7, 1737. William
was part of a three man committee appointed to investigate a highway from
the road down to the Mill to Winchester.
In 1734, William Grimes was one of the persons hired at ten shillings a
day to build "The Round House", which was to be the home of Captain
Nathaniel Hammond. The first order of business for the towns committe
members seemed to be to hire a minister. An incentive of two hundred
pounds was offered to attract a minister, plus a salary of up to one
hundred and eighty pounds. It seems that having a resident minister was
of the utmost importance to the community. William was still on land
committees from 1737 to 1763. It appears he retained on house lot of each
of the three lots he was proprietor of. Those were lots 36, house lot 59,
Lot 37, also the lot 1 was in his name on a land
division in April 29, 1760. Lot 35, and Lot 61 also were divided, with
William retaining a lot on each of these parcels. He had a total of over,
350 acres of land. May 15, 1759, William was on a committee to measure
the township of Swanzey. In December of the same year, he served on a
committee to lay out the Governer and Secretary's land. Having worked so
hard to help create this town, it is no small wonder that William chose
to fight in the Revolutionary War, to preserve all he had worked for.

** The Clampitt file records the same death date for William. What is
different from research of Allan-Cox, 1997 is: birth and recorded
Achuelot findings. William was there in 1737, and no wife name Agnes has
been found. Only a wife name Mary. Also the birth year for my research
says he was born in 1713, not 1715 as Clampitt file suggests. To date, no
record of his birth in England is found, and until then, it will be
searched for in North America. The Grimes families were in Mass. as early
as 1660's. This is where I believe the family originated, not in England
as yet.....
Mary died before William's estate was settled. Probate: Probate
Packet for William Grimes; Cheshire Co. NH. Probate Court, will date 19
Dec
1780, estate settled July 1787; Case #8.
Also recorded in source of relationship: Vermont Bible Records Vol 36;
1786; NSDAR; pg. 9, DAR Library, Washington DC. NOTE: Abrstract of the
will of Mary Grimes dated 12 Sept 1786 at Swanzey, NH. Mary Grimes gives
her son William his father's silver shoe buckles because "he bearing up
his father's name."

Mary Indian