Colbert County AlArchives Biographies.....Grisham, James Shelby October 20 1839 - living in 1893
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 16, 2004, 11:38 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    JAMES SHELBY GRISHAM, sheriff of Colbert county, and one of the well known
citizens of the county, was born October 20, 1839, near Good Springs station,
fourteen miles south of Tuscumbia, on the Birmingham, Sheffield & Tennessee
River railroad. The family to which he belongs is one of the oldest and best
known families in the county. Sheriff Grisham's father, William Grisham, was
born in May, 1808, near Spartanburg, S. C., and was the son of Thomas Grisham,
who was a native of North Carolina. The father of Thomas Grisham, James Grisham,
was a Revolutionary soldier. Thomas Grisham, our subject's grandfather, at his
death bore marks upon his body caused by being whipped by British soldiers for
refusing to tell where his father kept his guns. During the war he carried the
mail a portion of the time, and passed Guilford's court house the next day after
the battle at that place. In December, 1824, Thomas Grisham left South Carolina
for Alabama, arriving in the state in January, 1825, and locating on a farm near
where Sheriff Grisham was born. He was among the first settlers in that part of
the state. Thomas Grisham died before the commencement of the late war. William
Grisham was married in 1832, to Miss Mary D. Smith, who was a native of
Buckingham county, Va.. but whose father, when she was three years old, moved
his family to Wilson county, Tenn., and settled near Statesville. William
Grisham died in 1879, and his widow in 1882, leaving three children. James
Shelby Grisham was reared in the vicinity of his birth place, and secured his
early education in the country schools. In February, 1861, he removed from
Colbert county to Arkansas, and in the following June enlisted in company I,
Fifth Arkansas infantry. From the fall of 1861 until the close of the war he
served with the army of the Tennessee. There were five of the brothers in the
service, one of whom was killed, another died during the war, and still another
died after the war from the effects of exposure during the war. After the close
of the war James Shelby Grisham returned to his home in Colbert county, where he
engaged in farming until his election to office. In 1888 he was the candidate on
the democratic ticket for sheriff of Colbert county, but with the majority of
the ticket was defeated. In 1892 he was again nominated and won after a hard
fight by a majority of 543, the largest majority of any man on the ticket. He
took possession of the office August 22, 1892. He was married December 20, 1866,
to Miss Elizabeth C. Hurst, who was born near where Mr. Grisham was born. She is
the daughter of John Hurst. To this marriage have been born four children:
Eliza, Mary Caroline, Arthur and William H. Mr. Grisham is a member of the
Masonic fraternity, and a very popular and highly respected citizen.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 693-694


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