Leonard Andrew Grimes
Rev. Leonard A. Grimes (b. between 1812-1815, d. 1873)
Abolitionist Rev. Leonard Andrew Grimes was born free in Virginia and spent his life working to liberate people from lives of slavery, poverty, homelessness and illiteracy undertaking direct action as an Underground Railroad operative, by leading two Baptist churches, and as a recruiter for the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.
Leonard Grimes was born in Loudon County between 1812 and 1815 to free black parents. Leonard was orphaned at the age of 10 and left the home of an uncle not long after to work and provide for himself in Washington, D.C.
Leonard became a successful hack driver and he used his carriages at night to transport enslaved people north toward freedom under the cover of darkness. The Boston Globe credited him after his death in 1873 with assisting at least 400 freedom seekers.
In early 1840, Grimes was arrested for transporting a mother and her six children out of Virginia and onto the Underground Railroad. He was sentenced to two years hard labor in the Virginia state penitentiary in Richmond where he began preaching to guards and prisoners.
After his release from prison, Grimes was formally licensed as a Baptist minister and moved with his wife Octavia and his young children to New Bedford, Massachusetts and then to Boston where he became the minister of Twelfth Baptist Church, which became known as the Fugitive Slaves’ Church. Rev. Grimes restarted his Underground Railroad activities in his new home and church on the North Slope of Beacon Hill and provided shelter, food and clothing to freedom seekers.
Grimes did his best to protect his parishioners from slave-catchers and, as a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee, played a leading role in highly-publicized cases involving the capture of three fugitive slaves who were members of his congregation: Shadrach Minkins in February 1851; Thomas Sims in April 1851; and Anthony Burns in 1854. The publicity surrounding Rev. Grimes’ efforts to free his parishioners caught by slave-catchers in the 1850s, helped turn public sentiment in the North against the Fugitive Slave Law and against slavery.
During the lead up to the Civil War and throughout the war, Twelfth Baptist Church became a safe place for Rev. Grimes and leading black and white abolitionists to give both protest and celebratory speeches.
In 1863, Grimes worked with Frederick Douglass to recruit Black men for the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment and then raised funds to outfit the unit with equipment and flags. After the war, Rev. Grimes utilized his leadership and fundraising abilities to work with white allies to build schools in the South to educate newly freed men and women and turn them into preachers and teachers.
He died at his new home in East Somerville, Massachusetts, in 1873 after returning from delivering a $100 check to support the new schools. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, Massachusetts.
Written by Stephen Wyman, nominator
Abolitionist Rev. Leonard Andrew Grimes was born free in Virginia and spent his life working to liberate people from lives of slavery, poverty, homelessness and illiteracy undertaking direct action as an Underground Railroad operative, by leading two Baptist churches, and as a recruiter for the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.
Leonard Grimes was born in Loudon County between 1812 and 1815 to free black parents. Leonard was orphaned at the age of 10 and left the home of an uncle not long after to work and provide for himself in Washington, D.C.
Leonard became a successful hack driver and he used his carriages at night to transport enslaved people north toward freedom under the cover of darkness. The Boston Globe credited him after his death in 1873 with assisting at least 400 freedom seekers.
In early 1840, Grimes was arrested for transporting a mother and her six children out of Virginia and onto the Underground Railroad. He was sentenced to two years hard labor in the Virginia state penitentiary in Richmond where he began preaching to guards and prisoners.
After his release from prison, Grimes was formally licensed as a Baptist minister and moved with his wife Octavia and his young children to New Bedford, Massachusetts and then to Boston where he became the minister of Twelfth Baptist Church, which became known as the Fugitive Slaves’ Church. Rev. Grimes restarted his Underground Railroad activities in his new home and church on the North Slope of Beacon Hill and provided shelter, food and clothing to freedom seekers.
Grimes did his best to protect his parishioners from slave-catchers and, as a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee, played a leading role in highly-publicized cases involving the capture of three fugitive slaves who were members of his congregation: Shadrach Minkins in February 1851; Thomas Sims in April 1851; and Anthony Burns in 1854. The publicity surrounding Rev. Grimes’ efforts to free his parishioners caught by slave-catchers in the 1850s, helped turn public sentiment in the North against the Fugitive Slave Law and against slavery.
During the lead up to the Civil War and throughout the war, Twelfth Baptist Church became a safe place for Rev. Grimes and leading black and white abolitionists to give both protest and celebratory speeches.
In 1863, Grimes worked with Frederick Douglass to recruit Black men for the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment and then raised funds to outfit the unit with equipment and flags. After the war, Rev. Grimes utilized his leadership and fundraising abilities to work with white allies to build schools in the South to educate newly freed men and women and turn them into preachers and teachers.
He died at his new home in East Somerville, Massachusetts, in 1873 after returning from delivering a $100 check to support the new schools. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, Massachusetts.
Written by Stephen Wyman, nominator