Aaron Grimes was born around 1853 in North Carolina. Grimes worked as a laborer and resided in Wayne County, North Carolina. Grimes was charged with larceny on September 26, 1878, and sentenced to one year in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Grimes was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2824. Grimes's race is recorded as Black. Grimes was twenty-five years old when he was arrested. Grimes was noted as being able to read and write. During his incarceration, Grimes was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was killed while attempting to escape on February 5, 1879.