Legislative Reference Library

Texas Legislators: Past & Present

Jesse Grimes

Jesse Grimes
Full Name: Jesse "Father Grimes" Grimes
Birth date: February 6, 1788
Death date: March 15, 1866

Terms of Service

(1) Entire Senate went up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting. Act passed Feb. 6, 1860, 8th Legislature, ch. 45, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950 1950.
(2) Entire Senate went up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting. Act approved Mar. 1848, 2nd Legislature, ch. 162, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950 1950.
(3) Entire Senate went up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting. Act approved Jan. 16, 1850, 3rd Legislature, ch. 44. Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950 1950.
(4) Entire Senate went up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting. Act passed Feb. 2, 1853, 4th Legislature, 1st C.S., ch. 4, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950 1950.
(5) History of Grimes County notes "the creating act was passed April 6, 1846, and organization was perfected July 15," Volume III, p. 953. East Texas: Its History and Its Makers 1940.
(6) Census of 1860 - Jessee Grimes, Western District, Plantersville post office, Grimes County, age 72, born circa 1788 in North Carolina. Enumerated 7/11/1860. FamilySearch .
(7) "In the fall of 1827 he [Jesse Grimes] settled on Grimes Prairie, now in Grimes County." Handbook of Texas Online .
(8) Anderson, Grimes County. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(9) Anderson, Grimes County. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004 2005.
(10) Grimes County - Act approved April 6, 1846, creating the county of Grimes. "Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage." Gammel, Hans Peter Mareus Neilsen. The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897, Volume 2, Laws Passed by the First Legislature of the State of Texas, p. 1356. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
(11) Listed in "Senators holding over: Opposition." Roster of 7th Legislature, "Texas Legislature Complete for 1857-8," Civilian and Gazette. Weekly. (Galveston, Texas), 9/8/1857, p. 2, crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
(12) Roster of members of the 2nd Legislature, The Texas Democrat (Austin, Texas), 12/15/1847, p. 2, crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
(13) Roster of members elect of the 3rd Legislature, Matthewson, R.C., Texas State Gazette (Austin, Texas), 9/29/1849, p. 6, crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
(14) Jesse Grimes included on the August 1859 Union Democratic ticket for state senator, p. 91. Sam Houston: For Texas and the Union 2001.
(15) 8th Legislature, Regular Session - Roll of Senators elected since the last adjournment, oath of office administered, 11/7/1859, p. 2. Senate Journal .
(16) 6th Legislature, Regular Session - Roll of Senators elected since the last adjournment presented their credentials, and being qualified, took their seats, 11/5/1855, p. 2. Senate Journal .
(17) 4th Legislature, Regular Session - Roll of Senators elect presented their credentials, qualified, and took their seats, 11/3/1851, pp. 3-4. Senate Journal .
(18) 3rd Legislature, Regular Session - Roll of Senators, oath of office, 11/5/1849, p. 3. Senate Journal .
(19) 1st Legislature - Roll of Senators, oath of office administered, 2/16/1846, p. 4. Senate Journal .
(20) 1st Legislature - Drawing for Terms of Office and Classification of Senators, 3/3/1846, p. 60. Drew "first class" (2-year term). Senate Journal .
(21) Anderson, Grimes County. Senate Journal .
(22) Anderson, Grimes County. Senate Journal .
(23) 7th Legislature - Roll of Senators (holdover Senator), 11/2/1857, pp. 1, 4. Senate Journal .
(24) 2nd Legislature - District of Montgomery. Roll of Districts, oath of office, 12/13/1847, p. 3. Senate Journal .
(25) Lists town of Grimes Prairie (no longer exists), Grimes County. Texas Towns Database (Texas Almanac) .
(26) Description of drawing of terms for Senators, first-class two-year terms and second-class four-year terms, 3/3/1846, p. 180. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861 1990.
(27) 7th Legislature - Listed in "large cadre of returning senators," p. 276. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861 1990.

Biographical Notes and Resources

Photographs

Other Resources

  • Jesse Grimes, mentioned as a participant in the first Democratic state convention, canvassing against Hardin Runnells and Frank Lubbock, Volume II, p. 46: "Their opponents in the canvass were General Sam Houston for governor, then still a Senator in Congress, and Jesse Grimes for lieutenant-governor. The latter had been in the convention of 1836, in the Congress of the republic, and in the State legislature, and was a much respected and patriotic citizen from an early period." A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685 to 1897 .
  • Biographical sketch, p. 92. "Though opposed to secession, Jesse Grimes was affiliated with the Democratic Party, saying of himself in a letter dated March 26, 1857: 'Politically I have ever claimed to be a Democrat but it has been alleged that I am rather of the old fogey order.'" Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832-1845 1942.
  • "Another Patriot to Be Reburied," 10/16/1929. Death date 10/16/1866. Dallas Morning News .
  • Biographical sketch, Jesse Grimes, pp. 72-76; listed in "Men who have represented Grimes County in the House of Representatives/State Senate, 1846-1931." Includes Date, Legislatures, District, and Source of Data, pp. 205-209. Early History of Grimes County 1930.
  • History of Grimes County, Grimes County towns, and biographical sketch of Jesse Grimes, Volume III, pp. 951-959. East Texas: Its History and Its Makers 1940.
  • GRIMES, JESSE (1788-1866). Handbook of Texas Online .
  • GRIMES COUNTY named for Jesse Grimes. "On April 6, 1846, the first state legislature accepted the petition of local residents and established Grimes County, named in honor of Jesse Grimes, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence who was then representing the area in the state Senate." Handbook of Texas Online .
  • Mentioned in Ralph A. Wooster, "Membership in the Early Texas Legislatures, 1850-1860," The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 69, Number 2. October 1965, pp. 163-173, crediting Texas State Historical Association. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
  • Jesse Grimes, "first to locate in Grimes County . . . member of the Senate of both the State and Republic," mentioned in biographical sketch of Jesse W. Womack. Lewis Publishing Company. History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties, 1893, pp. 620-621. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries) .
  • Biographical sketch, Jesse Grimes, pp. 108-109, April 1937 issue. ". . . was the beloved 'Father Grimes,' so called because of his long and faithful service to Texas and the Republic." Southern Historical Research Magazine 1937.
  • Delegate to Constitutional Convention, 1836. Journals of the Convention of the Free, Sovereign, and Independent People of Texas, in General Convention, Assembled. H.P.H. Gammel, The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897, Volume 1., The Gammel Book Company, 1898, pp. 821-904. Texas Constitutions Digitization Project (Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin) 2009.
  • Grimes, Jesse. Texas State Cemetery .
  • Biographical sketch, p. 165; portrait, p. 166; mentioned throughout. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861 1990.
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