This web site provides genealogical information for descendants of the Grimms who settled in the Big Bend area of the Ohio River valley in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Several problems exist for the genealogist regarding settlements in this area. Transport across the Ohio River put antecedents sometimes in the state of Ohio, sometimes in the state of Virginia, and later, sometimes in the state of West Virginia. Then if the people themselves weren't moving, borders were. What was part of Kanawha County, Virginia in 1804 became Mason County, Virginia, and in 1863 became Mason County, West Virginia. If a family moved across the river, today's researcher now has two state archives to visit. Birth, marriage and death records for one generation of Grimms will be found in Richmond, Virginia, but records for their children are to be found in Charleston, West Virginia, even though those children were born on the same land as their parents.

Why I don't believe David Grim is the father of Simon Grim

I have noticed in a number of family trees in Ancestry and on the LDS website FamilySearch, that David Grim of Preston County, Virginia, (now West Virginia) is referenced as the father of Simon Grim. I have two reasons I believe this is in error. First, there is the two volume A History of Preston County, West Virginia, by Oren F. Morton, published 1914. The family of David Grim is detailed on pages 435 and 436 of Volume 1. There are ten children numbered as the offspring of David Grim and Catherine Fortney, none of them named Simon. The four youngest children, born circa 1800 and later, were all daughters.

Second, the U.S. Federal Census of 1810 lists a Joseph Grimm living in Mason County, Virginia. The Census shows 2 males in his household under the age of 10 and none from the ages 10 through 15. The 1820 Federal Census lists a Joseph Grim living in Mason County, Virginia. This household shows 3 males under the age of 10, and one between the ages of 10 and 15. Simon was born in 1813, between the two censuses. Unfortunately, the early censuses did not list all household members by name. But here is a family, in the right place and with a male child born in the right timeframe, to be the family into which Simon Grim was born. Based on the information available, I believe it is much more likely that Joseph Grim(m) was the father of Simon.

NOTE: Out of respect for privacy and identity protection, living persons are not included on this website unless we have their permission so to do.