Grimshaw, William A.

Born: 1813-06-01 Ireland, United Kingdom

Died: 1895-01-07 Pittsfield, Illinois

Flourished: Pittsfield, Illinois

William A. Grimshaw was a lawyer and older brother of Jackson Grimshaw. In 1815, William immigrated with his family from his native Ireland to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He read law and earned admission to the Philadelphia bar at age nineteen. In 1833, Grimshaw moved to Pike County, Illinois, settling in Pittsfield, where he practiced law for the remainder of his life. In 1843, William entered into a law partnership with his brother Jackson--a partnership which lasted until 1857, when Jackson moved to Quincy, Illinois. William represented Pike County at the 1848 Illinois constitutional convention, preparing the article that prohibited dueling. In 1850, he owned real property valued at $6,100. In 1860, William owned real property valued at $2,000 and a personal estate of $6,400. In 1864, he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention. William was married three times: in 1840, he wed Maria Ann Sellon; in 1856, he married Margaret Grimshaw, and in 1876, he wed Almarina E. W. Campbell.

Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Clark County, ed. by H. C. Bell (Chicago: Munsell, 1910), 212; Grimshaw Origins and History, http://grimshaworigin.org/prominent-grimshaw-individuals/william-grimshaw-noted-historian/, accessed on 18 December 2020; John M. Palmer, ed., The Bench and Bar of Illinois: Historical and Reminiscent (Chicago: Lewis, 1899), 1:4-5; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Pittsfield, Pike County, IL, 139; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Pittsfield, Pike County, IL, 26; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Pike County, 24 November 1840, 10 June 1856, 20 December 1876, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Gravestone, Saint Stephens Episcopal Cemetery, Pittsfield, IL.