Robert E. Grimshaw Biography


	This biography appears on pages 302-303 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				ROBERT E. GRIMSHAW.  

	Robert E. Grimshaw is serving his seventh year as postmaster of 
Deadwood and has managed the affairs of the office to the satisfaction 
of its patrons, all of the numberless details of the work being 
carefully looked after, as he is very systematic in everything he does. 
He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 4, 1849, a son of 
Robert E. and Mary (Nicholson) Grimshaw. The mother was a sister of 
James B. Nicholson, one of the leading members of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows in the United States and widely known as a lecturer. The 
Nicholson family have been in the United States for a long time but the 
Grimshaws were residents of England not so many years ago. The father 
of our subject, however, was born in Philadelphia and was an architect 
and builder in his native city for many years, but in 1856 removed with 
his family to Minneapolis, Minnesota. They traveled by rail to 
Pittsburgh and then by boat down the Ohio and up the Mississippi to St. 
Paul. They arrived in that city before there was any railroad there and 
were among the pioneers of that section. The father followed his 
profession in Minneapolis and erected many of the public buildings, 
such as schools. He was an extensive land owner, having large holdings 
in Minnesota, and was also active in public affairs, serving on the 
city council of Minneapolis for a number of terms and as a director of 
the board of education for several years. At one time he was a director 
of the First National Bank and in many ways he took part in the life of 
the community. He died in 1900, having survived his wife for many 
years, her death occurring in 1857, just one year after the arrival of 
the family in Minneapolis. They were the parents of six children, 
namely: Virginia, the wife of J. B. Hunt, a resident of River Falls, 
Wisconsin; Robert E., of this review; Eliza, who married George W. 
Cooley, city engineer of Minneapolis; Maud, the wife of Professor 
Jourdan, who has been superintendent of the Minneapolis schools for 
more than twenty years; Blanch, the wife of Dr. Benjamin, a practicing 
physician of that city; and William H., who for a period of twelve 
years has been United States marshal for the state of Minnesota.  

	Robert E. Grimshaw attended the public and high schools of 
Minneapolis but when only fourteen years of age he ran away from home 
and joined an expedition which was sent to locate a government post 
upon the frontier just after the Minnesota massacres. The post which 
was established was Fort Wadsworth, now the Sisseton agency, in Roberts 
county, South Dakota. Mr. Grimshaw was clerk to the captain of the 
commissary and during the trip had many interesting experiences, as the 
expedition was gone for a whole season and at that time there was not a 
single white man's house in the northern part of South Dakota. On his 
return to St. Paul, Mr. Grimshaw found employment with a wholesale 
grocery establishment in Minneapolis, continuing in that connection for 
about five years. At the end of that time he engaged in the manufacture 
of carriages until 1876, when he started for the Black Hills, going by 
railroad to Bismarck, which was then the end of the Northern Pacific, 
and from that point by ox team to Deadwood. He located the road from 
Bismarck to Deadwood and for two years operated a freighting team 
between the two settlements. He located permanently in Deadwood and 
engaged in the hay and grain business until 1886, in which year he 
obtained a contract from the state for the construction of the first 
building at the School of Mines in Rapid City and the same year he took 
a contract to furnish ties and timber for the Chicago & Northwestern 
Railroad for their line from Buffalo Gap, South Dakota, to Rapid City. 
He completed his contracts in 1886 and since then has devoted his time 
chiefly to public affairs. He has held a number of local offices and he 
has always discharged the duties appertaining thereto ably and 
conscientiously. For the past seven years he has been postmaster of 
Deadwood and under Governor Harred served as oil inspector. For four 
terms he was a member of the city council, being appointed by the 
legislature when the city was first organized and being elected the 
following three terms. He was city assessor for two or three terms and 
city marshal one term. He also served as deputy county treasurer for 
four years, besides holding various minor offices. He is likewise 
interested in a number of mines in the Black Hills and his investments 
return him a fair profit.  

	Mr. Grimshaw was married on the 24th of May, 1871, to Miss Alice 
Paine, a native of Providence, Rhode Island, and a daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. Charles F. Paine. Her father was a newspaper man in the east and 
upon removing to Minneapolis continued in that line of work. His wife 
died in that city in 1874 and he later went to Bismarck, North Dakota, 
passing away there in 1886. To Mr. and Mrs. Grimshaw were born three 
children, namely: Myrtle, the wife of E. A. Ricker, now a resident of 
Salt Lake City, Utah, and general agent of the Equitable Life Insurance 
Company for that state; Alice, the wife of George F. Bagley, who is 
engaged in the real-estate business and also conducts a curio store at 
Deadwood; and Maud, the wife of William Garberson, a Baptist minister 
residing in Denver. Mrs. Grimshaw died January 17, 1900, and Mr. 
Grimshaw was again married, July 17, 1903, his second wife being Mrs. 
Mae Cannon, of Chicago, whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Wearne, now 
reside in Los Angeles, California.  

	Mr. Grimshaw is a republican in politics and staunchly supports 
that party at the polls. He has been a resident of Deadwood for many 
years and recounts many interesting stories of pioneer days which make 
the past live again and which enable the hearer to appreciate the 
conditions under which the old settlers of the locality lived and 
worked. As a private citizen and as a public official he has always 
adhered to the highest moral standards and has won the unqualified 
respect of all who know him.