Leonard Andrew Grimes (November 9, 1815 – March 14, 1873) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

and pastor. He served as a conductor of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

, including his efforts to free fugitive slave Anthony Burns captured in accordance with the

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers. The Act was one of the most con ...

. After the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

began, Grimes petitioned for African-American enlistment. He then recruited soldiers for the

54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the second African-American regiment, following the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry ...

Abolitionism

Born of free parents in

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in the state of Virginia, and the county seat of Loudoun County. Settlement in the area began around 1740, which is named for the Lee family, early leaders of the town and ancestors of Robert E. Lee. Located in the far northeas ...

on or about November 9, 1815, he was orphaned about age 10 and sent to live with a uncle; unhappy there, he left and eventually headed to Washington, D.C. Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p662-665 Stevens, Charles Emery. Anthony Burns: A History. Boston : John P. Jewett and Co., 1856. p203. https://archive.org/details/anthonyburnshiststev. Grimes was fortunate to grow up a free man, but because he was of mixed race, he identified as African American; witnessing the horrors of slavery in the south, he devoted his life to assisting

fugitive slaves In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called freed ...

and advocating for abolition. After moving to Washington, D.C., Grimes began a career as a hackney driver, providing transportation for people in and around Washington, D.C. Owning his own coach enabled him to serve as a conductor of the

for years without suspicion. He transported fugitive slaves from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

to Washington, D.C. and then assisted in moving them North. In 1839, Grimes was caught attempting to rescue a family of slaves from Virginia, and he was sentenced to two years in jail in Richmond. At this time his wife taught schools for black youths in Washington. In jail he found religion and after his release in 1840, Grimes was baptized in the Baptist faith and was licensed to preach by a panel chaired by the president of Columbian College, a Baptist institution in the District of Columbia (now the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

). In 1846 he moved to

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

and associated himself with the American Baptist Missionary convention in New Bedford, Massachusetts and in Boston. In November 1848 he was ordained as pastor of the Twelfth Street Baptist church. He was pastor of the Twelfth Baptist Church for 27 years. Grimes actively opposed the Fugitive Slave Act, and his church became known as "The Fugitives Church." He became an important figure in national church organizations and at the American Baptist Missionary Society Convention at Philadelphia in 1858 he, along with Theodore Doughty Miller,

William Spellman William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, and Sampson White, pushed the organization to oppose slavery. They voted to have no fellowship with slave-holding ministries. He was president of the American Baptist Missionary convention and the Consolidated Baptist conventions for several years.

Case of Anthony Burns

Anthony Burns was an escaped slave from Virginia who came to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and became a member of Grimes's church in 1854. When Burns's former slaveholder discovered where Burns was living, he ordered his arrest. Grimes led a fierce effort to free Burns from jail, but the trial commenced, and the judge, in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Act, ruled that Burns was still property of his slaveholder. Grimes was able to raise enough funds to purchase Burns's freedom, and Burns was freed from his life of servitude. The Burns case was the last time that a fugitive slave was prosecuted under the Fugitive Slave Act in Massachusetts.

Colored Conventions

Grimes was a delegate to the

Colored Conventions Movement The Colored Conventions Movement, or Black Conventions Movement, was a series of national, regional, and state conventions held irregularly during the decades preceding and following the American Civil War. The delegates who attended these convent ...

, including the 1853 convention in Rochester, the

Colored National Convention of 1855 The Colored National Convention of 1855 was a colored convention event held on October 16, 17, and 18 at Franklin Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consisted of delegates from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, N ...

in Philadelphia, and the 1859 convention in Boston. Grimes also served as a member of the Massachusetts State Council, where he and other members advocated for opportunities for black Americans and for equal school rights.

Massachusetts 54th Regiment

The

was one of the first African-American regiments to serve in the

, forming in 1863. Many members of Grimes's church wanted to fight for the Union, and Grimes lobbied for the establishment of an African-American regiment. When their efforts prevailed, Grimes recruited men to serve in the infantry.

Death

Grimes took ill just after a meeting of the Home Mission Society and died of apoplexy March 14, 1873 at his home in East

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area o ...

near Boston.

Memorialization

On July 18, 2007, the

unveiled a plaque honoring Grimes on the site of his former home--the residence he owned from 1836 to 1846 at the corner of 22nd and H Streets NW, Washington, DC, now in the center of GW's

Foggy Bottom Foggy Bottom is one of the oldest late 18th- and 19th-century neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., located west of the White House and downtown Washington, in the Northwest quadrant. It is bounded roughly by 17th Street NW to the east, Rock C ...

campus. The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

has designated the Loudoun County, Virginia, Courthouse as an Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site in part because of Grimes's trial and conviction there.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grimes, Leonard 1815 births 1873 deaths People from Leesburg, Virginia People from Washington, D.C. People from Massachusetts Underground Railroad people Colored Conventions people African-American abolitionists Abolitionists from Boston Christian abolitionists