Henry F. Rimer was born around 1836 in North Carolina to Thomas and Sally Rimer. His father was a farmer who owned $300 of real estate and $270 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Rowan County, North Carolina.
Rimer enlisted in the Confederate army on May 5, 1864, and he mustered in as a private in Company K of the 5th North Carolina Infantry. The regiment took part in the Shenandoah Valley campaign and the Appomattox campaign. He swore an oath of allegiance to the Union on June 19, 1865.
He returned to Rowan County after the war. By 1900, he was living with his sister Sarah and her son Robert in China Grove, North Carolina. He died sometime after 1900.