Clarissa Cesar

Female

1796

December 16, 1869

New Haven, CT

Woodbridge, CT
Woodbury, CT
Litchfield, CT
San Francisco, CA

William Grimes (August 18, 1817)

Clarissa Caesar's birth date is 1796 on her tombstone, but 1799 in family records. She was the daughter of Timothy Cesar/Caesar and Tryal/Trygal. Her father served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. She married William Grimes in New Haven in 1817. They had thirteen children, one of whom, Corporal John R. Grimes, died in 1865 while serving in the 29th Colored Regiment, Connecticut infantry. She died in San Francisco, CA where her daughter had gone to live and was interred in New Haven, CT.

"While I was looking round, I found a plain looking girl in New-Haven, and I found she was the very one providence had provided for me; though her beauty, before it faded, and her figure before it was spoiled, as it always must be soon, were such as a fine Virginian like me, might be proud to embrace. I paid my attention to her. I loved her into an engagement."
William Grimes, Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave, 1825.

Mason, Regina E. "Rediscovering “William Grimes, the Runaway Slave” Connecticut Explored Winter 2021-2022 Accessed at https://www.ctexplored.org/rediscovering-william-grimes-the-runaway-slave/ March 5, 2024

Overton, Katherine, Timothy Cesar accessed at https://www.6thconnecticut.org/timothy-cesar March 5, 2024