The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1864-04-06
SKETCH OF GENERAL GRANT.

zen Grant vas born ~ Point Pleasant Clef-
Gont County. Ohio OF the @7th day of April
ls22, aud l. consequently m lis forty second
year. His father, Jsse K Graut, tanner by
trsie. j. a native of Peuus,ivanis. AMI was born
10 Wes,morelard county in l79t. ard i now liv-
ing a. Covng on, Kentucky The Grant fam
~ i OF Scotch extraction. In the early part OF
the sixteenth century Two brothers rusgratec
from Scotland 10 the colOt les Ole settled ID
Corntctic .- tut IT, other in Nez J-,sev -
! on the on WHO heated in tie former colony
/ ave sprung the u snis - the North. and from
the one "a the latter. the Grants Of the South
The mother u G,u Gr4it ~As Hannah Simp.
-on, wonan remarkable Tor good seuse, atteu-
tentiOn 10 her q n. duties and serious Chri--
! tian character. blended viii easy manners. Shc
: a type of the mothers Nho produced the he-
roes Of the Revolution. Ia 1915 she removed
nth her father john SIM p-ou, from Montgomery
county, Pennsylvania, where she Mas born. to
CleTmont County, Ohio, and welded in June
! o2l, with her present husband. Ulysses Is tht
hrst child born OF that marriage. and the " ; ~
10 his name stands for Simpson, The name o. his
/ mothers family Il i significant however. that
| he Initials L :" stand far the United States
and UncondItol a. Surrender by which soubri
quet he Is 50 well aud popularity known in the
army.
Jesse r Grant emgrated with bis fathers
family, to the Northwestern Territory in 1893
and settled in what Is now Columbia county,
OHIO. In sO4 the family removed 10 Deerheld,
10 What IS low Portage county. Jesse subse-
queutly went TO Rtveuna and for few yesrs
carried ON = taunery there. In ls20 he located
n southeastern Ohio where, a. We have seen,
his iiiustfious son was born.
| In father aud son that mixture of cordially
with reserve, Of resolution with caution, ard
,arnestnes- with sOberness, so prominent 10
:, Otch character, are 80 striking that one might
'eckOu on more imm, diate foreign extraction
Like his Graitorous opponent, Joe Johnston,
| hough American for several generations, Gen.
Grant il Scotch IN many OF his qualities. la his
oyhood he always exhibited d business turn,
aud Was never without some partcua purpose
IA hand requiring responsibility, perseverance,,
aud zeal--erious enough Tor Gle mature il
years. Al Iucident in point will illustrate this.
At the age Of twelve he aspir,d to the man.
Agenlcnt OF his fathers dr4ueAt team, and
entrusted with it for the purpose Of hauling
-ome heavy hewed logs which were 10 be loaded
with the ad OF levers AID the usual appliances
Oy several stout men. He came with ms team
and found the logs, but not the men. BOY
If more Imaginative genus, aud OF equal but d.i-
ietently directed coutrivance, might have laid
down u listen or dream, or build houses OF
chips Not so with hts boy, who, unlike Otters,
| acted upon the idea that where there is viii
there is a way, aud hesitated not at the under
aking Observing a fallen tree, having grad
ual upward slope he unhtched lis horses, al
ached to a log, drew it horizontally 10 the tree
and then drew Oue end Ut il up the inclIned
trutk higher than the wagon track, and so a.
/ 10 project few feet over, and thus continued
70 operate until he brought several 10 this pO-
stion. Next he backed the wagon under the
pr, Getting ends, and finally, one by one, htchee
70 aud drew the logs leugthwise across the iallei
trunk on 10 his wagon, hitched up again and re
turned with his load 10 ms astOnzhed ather.
This auecdOte is well remembered bv old citi-
zens OF Georgetown, Brown county, Ohio where
| q ant spent his early OyhOOd This incident,
/ being similar To the many Others will not admit
- az, d@,'yrp,e;alIor % otner Inan ,fvIdenclng
measures TO conditions. Aud if, indeed We
think is the plain truth, the true genuine d,fn
ton OF a public agent IL that be il better THAI
other men only in applying public means to pub
| ie euds, We should not be surprised at the bril-
hant results OF Grants cOmpaigus, sgnalized a.
/ they are 10y holiness, strategy, aud cOmprc-
/ heusiveuess Of thought aud execution which
stamps the character of great captain II W
never admitted these qualities IN the man before,
it was because circumstances did not call them
INTO public exercise. The very soul of their ex-
c-llebce Is that they are incapable OF shining in
| themselves, and only exist 20 our eles in IhriI
| CONNECTION with events ifom which they ATE -.
.loriousl, ref cted Il was not So with the ge-
| MUS which made traitor OF Charles Lee, Of the
Revolution; a mailman OF Nolare, and tool OF
Byron. Such genius maiks the very physiogno-
my, the opposite o' the hOmcly but mighty e.
-en'ials which compose practical fitting expedi-
Adj to this natural proclivity Tor pubic ob
jrcts. aud We have the very type OF public ser
want in i Who, ont OF purlc cmpio, menr
~Ould attract 10 notice, and might even impcr-
ieclly conduct his private Concerns. But sdprr
aid restless ambition and some brilliant grtS
and though thev might impair aud could uOl
augment the actpal usefulness OF the man, they
~ould help him iutO poN,r aud place. Thes,
seem To ne the lacking things u Grant, aud lei
he people thank their Maker Tor the lack.
H. early life Young Grant showed a faculty iol
business, was fond OF school and learned rapidly
HIS opportunities for acquiring kno~ledge we're
however. limited. HIS fathers circumstance
being moderate at the time. aud "a ULYSSES VA
useful 10 him. he had tut little more than three
winter months 10 attend school, and those onl,
the common ones kept IN the village where h'
lived " ben he was seventeen he manifested
j
-uggested West Point, which meeting the ap
proval of his son. he at once wrote to the lat
Senator Thomas Morris, OF Ohio. to gam him al
n,s.ion into that Institution Mr.. Morris replie'
10 Mr. Grant that he had disposed OF hIs ngh
e 10 recommend a cadet, but that there was a va
cancy in thedistrct OccasiOned by the failure q
Young man bv the name OF Bailey TO pass a
examination aud advised him 70 write 10 th
= then Representative, Hon. Thomas l.. HOsmeI
: ou the subject. Mr.. Grant did 30. aud was zuc
= cessiul in hi. application no knows ou
y there was providence IN the failure of Cade
= Bailey in order 10 make room for his now HUI
Il triOus successor:
D On the Ia, Of July, 1889. GRAFT entered III
|, Academy in a class Of about one hundred, an
5 While at West Point did not seem 10 be parti'
nlarlv attracted nv Specializing philosophy, b,
: was remarkably fond of the more solid and cor
r. crete ioiui- of deuOustratlve mathematics and
B. All expcrimental exercises lie was the 'on
Of one that had not studied the course at least OF
wear. aud many of them had received a coIlesia
education Only thirty nine Of the numb'
graduated, be graduating in the middle Of tn
Of number June S0th 1913, and was soon ait
attached to the Fourth Regiment Of Unit,
IS States Infantry as Brevet Second Lieutenant
1. The Regiment was then stationed Jefers,
- Barracks. hear s.. Louis In the same class
NJ fad the names Of fifteen others who are nc
ID Generals in the Union and Reb.l im'e-.
= In the summer of ls44 the Fourth Regime
"a vas snoved to Natchitoches, Louisiana. and
n ls45 10 Corpus Christi, where Lieut.. Grant -
promoted to First Lieutenant on the 3Oih
September He served uuder Gen. TAYLOR, a.
81 in tho battles Of palO Ito Rosa