A Family's Legacy at the Alamo by Cheryl Rae Johnson

My mother loved history. She especially loved family history. Because my father was a mission pastor, I was not raised in my parents' home state of Texas, but I grew up knowing that I had a third great grandfather who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, that this same grandfather has a Texas county named after him, and that he had a son, my great, great uncle, who had at the tender age of eighteen, died at the Alamo.

The author's third great grandfather, Jesse Grimes

Jesse Grimes married my third great grandmother, Martha Smith in 1813. They would have nine children together, but Martha would die in 1824 giving birth to their final children, twins. Two years later, Grimes married widow Rosanna Britton, with whom he had six more children. Jesse and Rosanna moved to Texas shortly after their marriage, where he eventually settled in what is now Navasota on land they named Grimes Prairie. That area is now Grimes County, Texas, named in his honor in 1846 while he was still living. 

By formulanone - FM1774 North - Grimes County Line, CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=119993786

It did not take long for Jesse Grimes, a lawyer and judge, to become involved in the politics of Texas, especially as the territory fought for its freedom from Mexican rule. Tensions with the Mexican government had been brewing for well over a decade. Political and social differences, lack of religious freedom, and unkept promises from the Mexican government kept tensions brewing. But when General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna declared he was now the dictator, negotiations with Mexico ended. Delegates were elected for the Convention of 1836 to meet and draft the Texas Declaration of Independence. Jesse Grimes was one of the fifty-nine delegates sent as a representative of Washington on the Brazos, and on March 2, 1836, he became the fifty-ninth person to the sign the document declaring Texas its own Republic. 

Copy of Texas Declaration of Independence
Cheryl Rae Johnson's personal collection

Jesse Grime's Witness as Representative from Washington on the Brazos
Cheryl Rae Johnson's personal collection

  While Grimes was attending the convention and signing the declaration, one of his sons with his first wife, Martha, was doing his part to help Texas win its independence. Eighteen-year-old Albert Calvin Grimes fought at the Battle of the Alamo alongside men like Davy Crockett and James Bowie. 

Around the first of December 1835, Calvin Grimes traveled to San Antonio with other young men who would also fight at the Alamo. Upon arriving, he served as an orderly sergeant in the Corps of the Artillery in the Army of Texas, helping to maintain the eighteen cannons there. Santa Anna attacked the fort on February 23. After a thirteen day fight and three battles, the Mexican dictator prevailed. The more than two thousand men of the Mexican army was no match for the two-hundred and sixty Texans fighting for their freedom. 

On March 6, 1836, four days after Jesse Grimes signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, his son, Albert Calvin Grimes died fighting for that independence, unaware that his father had signed the declaration. The battle cry went forth, Remember the Alamo, and Calvin Grimes' death, along with all 189 soldiers who died that day, was avenged when, a little over a month later, Santa Anna was captured and Texas gained its independence. 

Veteran's

Memorial in Grimes County
Albert Calvin Grime's name is incorrectly
listed as Alfred.
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/grimes-albert-calvin.

It is not surprising that Calvin Grimes would take up the fight, as he came from a long line of patriots. His father fought in the War of 1812, and both his great-grandfather and grandfather fought in the American Revolution. 

Jesse Grimes would stay active in Texas politics, running alongside Sam Houston as Independent candidates for governor and lieutenant governor in the 1857 state election. They lost that year, but Houston would win with another running mate two years later in 1859. 

Grimes died March 15, 1866, and is buried in the Texas State Cemetery in the state's capital of Austin. 

Grave marker for Jesse Grimes in Texas 
State Cemetary, Austin
Author's Personal Collection

.

Albert Calvin Grimes Memorial at the Alamo
Two of the grands pointing to his name.

Every so often our family makes the trek to San Antonio, where we Remember the Alamo and those, like my great, great uncle who gave their lives fighting for independence. And like my mother, we teach the family legacy to future generations.

Two of the grands learning family history
at the Alamo in San Antonio.

About Cheryl Rae Johnson:  

Cheryl Rae Johnson writes historical romance set in the American South. She has made her home in all corners of the US, but is now settled on the eastern edge of Texas, where she teaches writing and literature at her local university as well as ministers alongside her husband of over forty years in her local church. She can often be found drinking coffee and hanging out with her ever-growing brood of grandchildren. She loves to connect with readers. You can join her at:                                       Cheryl Rae Johnson Website 

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