Grimsley Genealogy

(November 2008)

 

          With November getting here before I realized it and a new web page needing to be put up, I decided to do something a little different this month.  I thought I would share a little of my family history.

 

          Two of John Bennom Grimsley’s children came to Lexington Township in McLean County, Illinois from Kentucky in September 1852. One of whom was my great-great-grandfather Thomas Jefferson Grimsley.  He was a single man at the time and made the journey with his sister and his brother-in-law William Kendrick and Elizabeth Jane (Grimsley) Smith.  He then married Martha A Fowler, the daughter of Washington and Martha L. Fowler on July 1, 1855 in St. Louis, Missouri.  To this union were born nine children, six sons and three daughters; Charles Curtis Grimsley married Lourinda May Wonderlin; Mary Emma Grimsley only live a little over a year; Richard Washington Grimsley (my great-grandfather) married Laura Jane Williams; Nathanial T.P. Grimsley died at the age of 2 years old; Benjamin Allen Grimsley died when only 2 months old; Frances Lourinda Ann Grimsley married Basil D. Starkey; William Irvin Grimsley died at the age of 4 months; John Bennom Grimsley married Eva Belle Davis; and Nancy Attie Grimsley married Howard Paul Rosenberger.

 

          My great-grandfather Richard Washington Grimsley married Laura Jane Williams September 13, 1883 in Lexington, Illinois and to this union were born four children; Mabel Grimsley who lived less then a month; Benona Eldridge Grimsley married Arnettie “Nettie” Adaline Dawson (my grandparents); Lester Jacob Grimsley married Reba R. Nothstein; Richard Elmo Grimsley married Frances Hanson and after her death married Hazel Hanson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a picture of

Laura Jane (Williams) Grimsley

Richard Washington Grimsley     Benona Eldridge Grimsley

Richard Elmo Grimsley     Lester Jacob Grimsley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is another picture of the family taken years later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          My grandfather Benona Eldridge Grimsley married Arnettie “Nettie” Adaline Dawson on August 17, 1908 in Lexington Illinois.  To this union were born three children; Burl Maxwell Grimsley married Bernadine Mae Adreon (my parents); Laura Ruth Grimsley married Verne R. Adams; Elmon Harvey Grimsley married Vernice May Spencer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nettie Dawson and Benona Grimsley's wedding picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ruth, Benona, Burl, Nettie and Elmon Grimsley

 

Dated 1918

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite pictures that I have of my father at a young age

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a four generation picture of

Nettie (Dawson) Grimsley

My Grandmother

 

       Adeline (Hefner) Campbell          Arabelle (Campbell) Dawson

     My Great-Great-Grandmother       My Great-Grandmother

 

Burl Maxwell Grimsley

My Father

 

I'm guessing this picture was taken around 1910

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But this side of my family tree is another story for another day.

 

 

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