John Faucheraud Grimké
| John F. Grimké | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Associate justice, South Carolina's Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions | |
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In office 1783–1819 |
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| Intendant (mayor) of Charleston, South Carolina | |
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In office 1786–1788 |
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| South Carolina state legislature | |
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In office 1782–1790 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | December 16, 1752 |
| Died | August 9, 1819 (aged 66) Long Branch, New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Federalist |
| Alma mater |
Trinity College, Cambridge; Princeton University |
| Occupation | judge |
John Faucheraud Grimké (December 16, 1752 – August 9, 1819) was an American jurist who served as Associate justice and Senior Associate Justice of South Carolina's Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions from 1783 until his death. He also served in the South Carolina state legislature from 1782 until 1790. He was intendant (mayor) of Charleston, South Carolina for two terms, from 1786 to 1788.
Grimké's maternal grandparents were Huguenots who left France in the 17th century after the Edict of Fontainebleau stripped Protestants of their rights. They emigrated to South Carolina; other Huguenots went to New York and Virginia. His paternal grandparents were German merchants from Alsace-Lorraine, who came to South Carolina in the 17th century. Their name was originally "Grimk" until changed by Grimké's grandfather, John Paul Grimké. He was a silversmith whose work was said to rival that of Paul Revere.
Grimké was tutored as a boy and did his undergraduate work at Princeton University. He went to England to study law at Trinity College, Cambridge, and at the Inns of Court of the Middle Temple. After his return to the colonies, he became increasingly caught up as a young man in the movement for independence. Together with Benjamin Franklin and others, he signed a 1774 petition to King George III and the British government protesting against the Boston Port Act.
After the 1776 outbreak of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War, Grimké returned to South Carolina and joined the Continental Army; he was commissioned as a Captain in Charleston's Regiment of Artillery. He was promoted to Major in 1778, and later that year became Deputy Adjutant General, holding the rank of Colonel. He was taken prisoner by the British in the Siege of Charleston in 1780. He was released in a prisoner exchange and paroled. Arrested the next year on a flimsy pretext, he was imprisoned by the British for five weeks, which he considered to have nullified his parole.
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