The Ironic Death
of General Grimes
Grimeslaiid Plantation remains
beautiful — 100 years after the time of
assassination and lynching.
By l\l(OW Ml lilt. \Y
from the stream that ran across the old
Washington-Grimesland road.
Suddenly a blast of shot exploded
from behind the bushes on the roadside.
The Satterthwaile boy sat stunned as he
watched Grimes relax his grip on the
reins and slump forward— dead from an
assassin's bullet. Thus, ironically,
ended the life of a prominent landowner
and a Civil War soldier who had sur¬
vived dozens of bitter battles.
William Grimes, an ancestor of
General Grimes, lived in Norfolk
County. Virginia, which had been a
long time home of the Grimes family.
About 1760. William Grimes’ son.
Denise, came to North Carolina and
married Penelope Coffield. a wealthy
young woman from Bertie County.
Growth of the Plantation
Eventually, they moved to Pitt
County and bought several farms which
they combined into one farm. Avon.
Denise's son. William, grandfather to
the General, bought several more farms
near Avon in 1786 and consolidated
them into Grimesland Plantation, which
included the land on which the town of
Grimesland now- stands. In 1790. soon
after purchasing the additional land.
William married Ann Bryan.
Their son Bryan first married Nancy
Gist, the mother of his daughters and
his son Bryan. Jr. His second w ife was
Lucy Olivia Blount, daughter of John
Gray Blount.
The two-story Grimes house is lo¬
cated about two miles northeast of
Grimesland. at the end of a cedar- lined
dirt I a ik. leading off a rural paved road.
With its narrow windows, tall ceil¬
ings. and floors planked with heavy,
wide boards, it stands in a spacious yard
amid huge, ancient, gnarled oaks.
Steep, narrow stairs lead from the en¬
try foyer to bedrooms on the second
tioor. Red brick chimneys project above
THE STATE. January 1987
Grimesland Plantation, the Grimes home, stands about two miles northeast ot the present town ot Grimes-
■< d which was once part ot the Grimes property. It is situated on a tract ot 1,100 acres owned lor tho past
twenty -live y»a«s by lormer State Senator Vernon White
It is easy to Imagine Gen. 8ryan Grimes riding
leisurely down this sandy, cedar-lined lane in the
days bctorc he was ambushed and shot. This ap¬
proach to the Grimes home leads from a rural paved
road In eastern Pitt County near the Tar River.
Chances arc the humidily of the early
August evening in 1880 hung low and
heavy over Pitt County in eastern North
Carolina. A man and a twelve-year-old
boy rode along in a buggy over the hard
dirt road, unaware of the tragedy that
was ahead.
One can surmise that they were en¬
gaged in conversation or perhaps being
lulled into silence by the rhythm of the
horses hooves, a hound's discontented
howl, or the clank of a distant cow bell.
The Grimes plantation, their destina¬
tion, lay four miles ahead. Major
General Bryan Grimes Jr., and his com¬
panion. Bryan Satterthwaite. had been
to Washington, about eight miles to the
east, to attend a political meeting, and
in a short while they would be home.
Records show that General Grimes
reined the horses in to let them drink
to
