When Alexander Grimes was born on 23 February 1793, in Orange, North Carolina, United States, his father, William Wilson Grimes, was 35 and his mother, Millie Ricketts, was 28. He married Sarah Sally Hart on 1 June 1814, in Maury, Tennessee, United States. They were the parents of at least 8 sons and 2 daughters. He died on 6 June 1841, in Maury, Tennessee, United States, at the age of 48, and was buried in Hampshire, Maury, Tennessee, United States.