Grimes, James W.

Born: 1816-10-20 Deering, New Hampshire

Died: 1872-02-07 Burlington, Iowa

Flourished: Iowa

James W. Grimes attended Dartmouth College but left before graduating to study law. He moved to what would become Burlington, Iowa, in 1836 and opened a legal practice with William Chapman. Shortly after Grimes’s arrival, he was appointed to negotiate treaties with the Meskwaki and Sac tribes, which he did successfully. Iowa earned territorial status in 1838, and Grimes was elected as a Whig to the territorial legislature. He opened a new law practice with Henry Starr in 1841, which he maintained for the rest of his life. In 1846, he married Elizabeth Neally, with whom he adopted a child.

In 1852, Grimes won election to the Iowa General Assembly and became a leading advocate of railroad development. Two years later, he successfully ran for governor on a platform of drafting a new state constitution that allowed for state banks. As governor, he delivered on his promise - passing the new constitution in 1857. Grimes also became involved in the state’s anti-slavery movement and switched to the Republican Party by the end of his gubernatorial term. In 1858, Grimes secured a seat in the U.S. Senate, where he remained until 1870. In 1860, Grimes was one of the members of the Committee of Thirteen but believed compromise with the South was impossible. During the war, Grimes was a member and later chair of the Committee on Naval Affairs and occasionally protested the policies of the Lincoln Administration.

Joseph Frazier Wall, “Grimes, James Wilson,” American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 9:617-19; William Salter, The Life of James W. Grimes, Governor of Iowa, 1854-1858; A Senator of the United States, 1859-1869 (New York: D. Appleton, 1876); Gravestone, Aspen Grove Cemetery, Burlington, IA.