Alexander Grimes was born April 27, 1790, at Marysville, Kentucky. He married, first, Belle Frances Burnett, and had one son—William Burnett Grimes. Mr. Grimes was a merchant, in partnership with Steele and Peirce, under the firm name of Alexander Grimes & Company. They dissolved partnership in 1817, and Mr. Grimes was afterwards county auditor, commissioner of insolvents, and cashier of the Dayton Manufacturing Company, the first bank in Dayton, at a salary of $550 per annum. Mr. Grimes and Mr. Edward W. Davies, as trustees of the estate of David Zeigler Cooper, changed the bed of Mad River, opening the way for the extension of the canal basin from First Street to its junction with the canal at the east end of the Oar Works, and throwing into the town much valuable real estate. Mr. Grimes was a public-spirited citizen, always foremost in any enterprise for the good of Dayton. When the citizens subscribed one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to build the Mad River Railroad from Dayton to Springfield, he was appointed custodian of the funds, and the first receipts were signed by him. In 1827 Mr. Grimes was elected to the State Legislature, and again in 1830 by the Whigs. In 1820 Alexander Grimes married Marie Antoinette Greene, a sister of Charles Russell Greene. He died January 12, 1860, and Mrs. Grimes died February 26, 1875, at the advanced age of ninety-four years. They had two children: Susan (Mrs. Marcus Eells), who is now living, in California, and Charles Greene Grimes born January 28, 1828, married Mary Isabel Keifer, daughter of Daniel Keifer, of this city, and died December 11, 1895, leaving one son—Edward Grimes.
