Frederick Grimke
Frederick Grimke was elected Judge of the Common Pleas Court, for this judicial district, at the session of 1829-30. He came from the Southern States to Chillicothe, early in the present century, and was a cotemporary of Ewing, Beecher, Swan, Irwin, Baldwin and other distinguished lawyers who rode the circuit during those pioneer days. As already mentioned, he served throughout 1819 as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, after which he practiced his profession until his election to the Judgeship by the General Assembly. He sat upon the bench but three years of his second term, when he was promoted to a Supreme Judgeship, and was noted for his eminent legal ability, and high-toned sense of justice. Like many able men, he was very eccentric on one point—his dislike of women, which he carried to extremes. It is said of him that upon one occasion while out horseback riding near Chillicothe, he was met by a hevy of young ladies, who, knowing his aversion to their sex, mischievously determined to make him speak to them. They joined hands across the road, which was flanked on one side by a fence, while upon the other the bank led down a steep descent toward the Scioto River. Seeing the trap set for him and divining their intention, he turned his horse's head, and with the contemptuous remark, "What an infernal set of fools," rode in the opposite direction. Judge Grimke was of medium size, possessing a slender figure, and lived and died a bachelor, carrying to the grave this foolish eccentricity. He was very well liked by the bar throughout the district, and is said to have been an honorable upright man, whose mind was of the highest judicial cast, and whose decisions were always just and equitable.
From History of Madison County - W. H. Beers [Chicago, 1883]