In August of 1880, former Confederate General Bryan Grimes was returning from a political convention in Washington County when he was killed by a hitman. The murder occurred in Bear Creek, just five miles from Grimes’ home, known as Grimesland.
Grimes was a signer of North Carolina’s secession ordinance and joined the Confederate army shortly after, eventually becoming a major general. Early in the war, he turned down two offers of higher rank from Gov. John W. Ellis because he wanted to gain experience first. He was at the Appomattox surrender.
He returned home to farm after the war. He became a successful planter and served as a trustee of the University of North Carolina.
Two local brothers hired William Parker to kill Grimes. They were trying to keep Grimes from testifying in a trial. Parker shot Grimes. The 12-year-old son of a neighbor was traveling Grimes and helped get the body home. Parker was caught but found not guilty at his trial.
Years later, in November 1888, Parker got drunk in a bar and began bragging about killing Grimes. He was arrested and jailed for public drunkenness. Early the next morning a mob of vigilantes grabbed Parker from the jail and hanged him from the Pamlico River Bridge.
No one was indicted for the crime and the coroner’s report read: “death by hanging at the hands of parties unknown.”
Grimes grew up about eight miles west of Washington, N.C. There is a town of roughly 441 people in the Pitt County town on the same land today known as Grimesland. As a boy, he briefly attended a school in Nash County and later UNC.
Sources:
N.C. Office of History and Archives
NCPedia
I stayed in Grimes Dorm my freshman year at UNC. And a distant relative of his, named Charles Grimes from Raleigh, a contemporary of mine, became one of my best friends. The strands of history go on and on…
What a small world. I wonder if that dorm will retain the name?
Considering the amount of wokeness at UNC, I doubt it.
I did a book report on General Grimes back in college. He had 5 horses shot out from under him during the war. He was kicked by a horse and was in a hospital during the time of Gettysburg. When he was young, he would float a boat down to Washington and climb a certain tree that legend had it that Blackbeard would climb the tree and use it for a lookout.
It’s amazing to survive the war and then get taken out by a hitman in the middle of nowhere. Never heard the story about the tree — I love legends like that.
Man, I love all these local history lessons that you share!
Thanks for following and reading!