WILLIAM B. GRIMES, a retired agriculturalist and veteran of the Civil War, has spent all of his life in the Johnsville District, Frederick County, where he is well known and esteemed.  He was born on his father’s farm near Ladiesburg in that district, September 2, 1838.  His parents were William C. and Eliza Ann (Baer) Grimes.

                The Grimes are of old and honorable English lineage.  The first of the name came to this country from England and took up their residence in the lower counties of Maryland.  William C. Grimes, the great-grandfather of William B. Grimes, came from that part of the state to Frederick County, where he took up land in the Glade Valley.  He left the lower counties on account of the effect of the dew on wheat, it causing smut.  Another family, the Groffs, came at the same time and located on the Monocacy in what is now Carroll County.  The Groffs was great Whigs, and were large slave holders.  William C. Grimes also held a number of slaves.  He participated in the Revolution as a member of the American Army.  He had a son, also named William C.

                William C. Grimes, 2^nd, was born in Glad Valley, Frederick County.  He became a planter and large owner of slaves.  He later removed to the vicinity of Woodsboro, this county.  Here he bought a large tract of land, on which he built a large mill and distillery.  The home he erected was of brick, and it was at that time the largest and best in that part of the State.  The brick were brought from England.  This house is still standing, the farm now being owned by William B. Cutshall, register of wills.

Mr. Grimes was married to Mary Clance or Clantz.  Her father was a tailor at Woodsboro.  Indians were plentiful in those days and often visited the homes of the whites.  One came to the cabin of the tailor, and, having peeled an apple for Mary, handed it to her on the end of his long knife.  She refused to take it, and the Indian becoming angry darted at her with knife in hand.  Her father was sewing nearby, and springing at the Indian felled him with the lapboard.  Mary Clantz was but thirteen years at the time of her marriage.  William C. and Mary Grimes were the parents of six children: Mary, became the wife of Nimrod Beck; Susan, married David Rupp, who was a well-known school teacher; Charles; Frederick, married a Miss Beck; Clinton, married Eliza Martin; and William C.

            William C. Grimes, son of William C. and Mary (Clantz) Grimes, was born on the homestead near Woodsboro, Frederick County.  His father was very wealthy and kept a large sum of money in his room.  One day, while William C. 3^rd, was yet in dresses, his father found him on the porch with a large bunch of bills and his dog “Bull.”  Upon being asked what he was doing, the youngster replied that he was “paying bull off.”  He had seen his father pay off hands.  William C. 3^rd, was educated at Mount Pleasant school.  He became a farmer and slave owner.  He was a great lover of the fox chase, and one of the prominent citizens of the county.  He was a member of the Lutheran Church, and a man of much strength of character.  Mr. Grimes was married to Eliza Ann Baer, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Stitely) Baer, of Ladiesburg, Johnsville District.  They were the parents of sixteen children, eleven of whom grew to maturity: Mary Ann, the wife of Joseph Haugh; Ephraim D., married Ann Harmiss, and lives in Winchester, Va.; Sarah Jane, deceased, was married to Samuel M. McGinnis; William B., our subject; Charles, married Ann Warfield; Susan, became the wife of Frederick Miller; Taylor, married a Miss Miller; Johanna, became the wife of William Adams; Josephine, married Daniel Yingling; Scott, married a Miss Frock; and James, is unmarried.

                William B. Grimes, son of William C and Eliza Ann (Baer) Grimes received his education at Pleasant Hill, under Messrs. Rupp, Parsons and Stitely, and Miss Norris.  He passed the early years in the routine of a farmer’s boy, and learned the many duties of an agricultural life.  On August 22, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company F, Seventh Maryland Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Rhinhart, Colonel Webster, in French’s Command.  After the battle of Gettysburg his company became part of the Army of the Potomac.  Mr. Grimes made a very credible record as a soldier and took part in about thirty battles.  His first engagement was at Boonsboro, then Haymarket, Va., the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and all the battles of that campaign.  At the Wilderness his companion on either side was shot down.  He participated in the struggle at Bloody Angle.  In the fight at Dabney’s Milld he was shot in the right arm above the elbow.  He was on the picket line at Lee’s surrender.

                At the close of the war, Mr. Grimes returned to his home.  In 1867 he was married and for the next four years cultivated a rented farm on Beaver Dam.  In 1871, he purchased his present property, which consists of 60 acres of excellent land, well improved.  This estate is called “Grand Spring” and is a most desirable country home.  Mr. Grimes is also the possessor of two other farms in Johnsville District, one containing 60 acres and the other 50 acres.  He is one of the prosperous and representative citizens of his district, and is held in high regard in the community in which he lives.

                In politics, Mr. Grimes gives his support to the Republican Party.  He is not a member of any religious body, although he is a contributor to the Lutheran Church.

                Mr. Grimes was married in 1867 to Ann Louisa Garber, of Johnsville District.  She is a daughter of William and Mary (Saylor) Garber.  There were ten children born of this union: Mary Elizabeth, who died aged twenty-nine years, was married to Payton Brown; William Grant; Anna May, who was born April 7, 1871, was the wife of Harry Winebrenner and died at Woodsboro; Maurice Ellsworth, who was born June 19, 1873, married Jennie Coleman, of Baltimore, and has two daughters, Beatrice Virginia and Evelyn Irene; Francis E., who was born March 7, 1875, married Florence Stitely, by whom he has four children, Roland, Russel, Leoda and Rena; Joseph H., who was born February 22, 1877, is unmarried; John Hayden, who was born July 5, 1879, is unmarried; Oscar Sherman, born April 7, 1882; Belva Irene, born June 30, 1884; and James Blaine, born May 9, 1888. (Page 1070)

History of Frederick County Maryland, Volume II

T.J.C. Williams and Folger McKinsey