Ulysses S. Grant - Early Life and Family

Early Life and Family

Hiram Ulysses Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio on April 27, 1822. His father Jesse Root Grant (1794–1873) was a self-reliant tanner (leather producer) and businessman of English ancestry, from an austere family. His mother Hannah Simpson Grant (1798–1883) was of Scottish ancestry. Both were natives of Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1823, the family moved to the village of Georgetown in Brown County, Ohio. At one point, according to Grant's memoirs, his father Jesse worked in the tanning business for the father of John Brown.

Raised in a Methodist family devoid of religious pretentiousness, Grant prayed privately and was not an official member of the church. Unlike his younger siblings, Grant was neither disciplined, baptized, nor forced to attend church by his parents. Grant is said to have inherited a degree of introversion from his reserved, even "uncommonly detached" mother (she never took occasion to visit the White House during her son's presidency). Grant assumed the duties expected of him as a young man at home, which primarily included maintaining the firewood supply; he thereby developed a noteworthy ability to work with, and control, horses in his charge, and used this in providing transportation as a vocation in his youth. At the age of 17, with the help of his father, Grant was nominated by Congressman Thomas L. Hamer for a position at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York. Hamer mistakenly nominated him as "Ulysses S. Grant of Ohio." At West Point, he adopted this name with a middle initial only. His nickname became "Sam" among army colleagues at the academy, since the initials "U.S." stood for "Uncle Sam". The "S", according to Grant, did not "stand for anything", though Hamer had used it to abbreviate his mother's maiden name.

The influence of Grant's family brought about the appointment to West Point, while Grant himself later recalled "a military life had no charms for me". Grant, then standing at 5 feet 2 inches and weighing 117 lbs., graduated from West Point in 1843, ranking 21st in a class of 39. Part of Grant's demerits were due to his refusal, at times, of compulsory church attendance, then a West Point policy that Grant viewed as anti-republican. Grant freely admitted that he was lax in his studies; however, he achieved above average grades in mathematics and geology. He established no close or lasting friendships while at West Point, though to his own later advantage, he closely observed the many notable officers he would serve with and command in the future. At West Point, Grant studied under artist Robert Walter Weir and produced nine surviving artworks. Trained under Prussian horse master, Herschberger, Grant established a reputation as a fearless and expert horseman, setting an equestrian high-jump record that lasted almost 25 years. Grant later recalled that his departure from West Point was of the happiest of his times, and that his intent had been to resign his commission after serving the minimum term of obligated duty. Although naturally suited for cavalry, he was assigned to duty as a regimental quartermaster, managing supplies and equipment in the 4th U.S. Infantry, and achieved the rank of brevet second lieutenant.