After our brief stop at Gateway Arch, Tom and I traveled the ten miles to Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site. Ulysses Grant was born in Ohio to abolitionist parents, but he fell in love with his best friend’s sister when he was stationed in Missouri. The National Historic Site preserves the home of his wife’s family where Grant lived and worked for five years.
Ulysses S Grant graduated from West Point in 1843. Although he wanted to be in the cavalry, he was assigned as a Lieutenant to the 4th Infantry Regiment, stationed near St. Louis. His best friend from West Point, Frederick Tracy Dent, was also assigned to Jefferson Barracks. Frederick took Ulysses to his home where Ulysses met Julia Dent and fell in love. They became engaged, but did not marry until after the Mexican American War. This established the pattern of their relationship with Ulysses away from Julia for long periods of military service.
When Julia and Ulysses married at the Dent home, called White Haven, in 1848, his parents refused to come because the Dents used enslaved labor. After their marriage Julia accompanied Ulysses to his military postings until he was sent to California. Julia, with two young children, stayed at her parents’ house in Missouri. Ulysses missed her so much that he started drinking heavily and eventually resigned his commission in order to return to her.
When Ulysses returned to Missouri, he worked for his father-in-law for five years. Ulysses did not agree with slavery and worked alongside the enslaved people on the plantation. He was given one enslaved person as a gift and chose to free him, rather than own someone. After living with the Dents for these five years, Ulysses chose to move his family to Illinois, a free state.
The Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site preserves 10 acres of the Dent plantation where Ulysses lived with Julia for five years. This was the place Grant lived the longest, as an adult, aside from the White House. The house is large and elegant, but painted a bright green. Tom and I took a tour of the house and the ranger said the color was called “Parisian Green” and was the height of style in the 1850’s. In addition to touring the house, Tom and I walked around the grounds and spent quite a while in the park museum and Visitors Center. The museum was very interesting because it was about Julia and Ulysses life together. They obviously loved each other very much and were devoted to each other throughout their lives.
I got the stamp for the historic site and then checked out the bookstore while we waited for the next showing of the movie. I bought Julia Dent Grant’s memoirs, which were written during her life but not published until 1975, long after her death. We watched the very interesting movie about the Grants’ life at White Haven.
I always find visits to the presidential historic sites to be very interesting. I always come away with a more nuanced understanding of the man who tried to fill the office of president. Visiting the Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site helped me understand his early life and the things that made him a great general and shaped his decisions as president.
