The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-09-06
Gena..T Grant.

Grants father established 9 leather store 4
here under the firm Of Collins s. Co.. The
was tanned at Covington Kentucky
sent hlther. The firm did well, and is I
TO have made q fortune. The
firm was dissolved, and q son came o to
conduct tne business, but in about two
years ne died OF consumption. de was
well liked and was an excellent business
man. Itga -sillrfJ -fHa4
Meanwhile Ulysses Grant, having grad
uated at West Point, went into the Mexi-
can war, where be- distinguished him self IN
every battle except one, when he was not
present, that was fought; thence he went
TO Oregon, and acted as Captain in the
Qusrtermsster's department.. Eleven years
since he resigned his commission n went
to St. Louis, where he had some interest in
q piece of land, and | SIN told he engaged
in hauling wood to market, himself driving
his own oxen. -oyi- % -*'9Ffa TO m7.G
On the death of his brother his father
engaged him to come hitler, and take
charge of the store. Now / come to men,
ton things never before related, / have
to tell q hard story. Statements previous
ly made about General Grant will be blown
away. Many 8 young man on reading
what folloE VS.. will be encouraged. lgather
my account from the most trustworthy
sources. Captain Grant IS he was called,
found the affairs of the concern in great
disorder, but he vent to work, and, in three
weeks had everything straight There
was one clerk besides himself, and Sener-
ally more or less hired men. As this was
the only establishment of the kind in the
place, the trade of which is larger, there
was much business to do Captain Grant
was not remarkable as q salesman, but he
was good to oversee and to msnsge. Gen-
orally he bought the hides as they were
brought to the store, in country wagons
He took them in himself. That he might
not dirty his clothes, he had sshort leather
| apron which he always wore. Those not
| scqusinted mistook him for q porter. In
this way, here in the city of Galens, he
toiled for two long years. He Wss employ
| ed st forty dollars q month. The intention
on the part of his father was, after q while,
to establish him in the business, but he was
expected to live on $3.50 q year. TODD this,
and to live in society, is impossible. Every
thing must be cheap and plain. Some
times his wife had a hired girl, but usually
she did her own work.
During these two years Captain Grant
made very few acquaintance. There were
plenty of business men in the street who
did not know him, and who never heard
his name spoken. l presume it would be
easy to number his associates with ones
finger. I have heard business men ssy
that they never heard of him till he was
put in command at Cairo. On his arrival
here to-day, the vast msjority of the citi-
zens of Gslens are able to recognize him
only by his portraits, and yet this is the
only home he has.
a few knew him intimately. Among
these was q H. Houghton, editor of the Ga
lena Gazette for over thirty years. Mr..
Houghton learned rtost of the Captain
from his father, and he came TO admire
and respect him; in fact he had studied
him, and bscsme one of the best frien DIS
he had On earth. 'I-i. ID
Those two years were years of trials and
Encouragement. In fact the Captain came
hither from st. Louis in a great degree
disheartened, butthe would not give up.
He is described as a broken down man.
This snecdote is related: During the
great depreciation in currency, Captain
Grant bought porkof the farmers, to send
on east to get New York exchange. One
day some farmers sold him some pork;
they inquired where they could get gold
they must lave it TO pay taxes. The clerk
in the house would sell it at a certain fig
ure; Captain Grant said he believed this
was too much; he did not know exactly
what it ought to be, but he advised them
TO go to the bank and inquire. The re-
suit was the farmers saved twelve dollars.
That wa the style of the man.
AT this same time, Captain Grant WIS
drawing beyond his expenses, though this
was not ascertained till the end of the
year. He could not live on $40 q month.
He seldom went abroad. A few near
neighbors were all he visited here he
would sit and smoke his pipe. His couver-
i Re- Ae~ieoa
81 sslienee. Nj. Washburn tells me that
he seemed to him to be thinking on some
abstract subject, and that he took him to
be thoughtful, reflective, and large minded
man. such being his condition, one is re-
minded of Frederic the Great during the
years ne was banished by his father. But
in whstever makes q man, Grant, the
American hero, far excels. 1 will say
here, that he always was temperate, and
every way correct in his behavior.
A month or SO before the Fort Sumter
outrage, and afterward, Capt. Grant WAS
uneasy. He walked through the streets,
I III W ou0 liz IL hAO DbOAC1 . lnE hOahAuR
and apparently was in q troubled state Of
mind. About those days the Douglas
Guard organized in the city to counteract
the Lincoln Wide Awskes, and Captain
Grant, as q military man, WAS appointed
orderly sergeant. His reply was that q
captain in the United states Infantry was
not the one to take such q position. He
did not go near them. He meddled so lit.
II k1o NTH v@olitIoc that - = 10 Nb., a.
known whether he voted for Lincoln OF
Douglas. . ~
At last war came; 8 war meeting was
held, and Captain Grant was appointed
chairman. Then he went TO MI. Wash
burne and said he had been educated at
West Point at the expense of the Govern
meRt; he had resigned, expecting never to
serve again, but now he Offered his services
for what they were worth. A COMPANY
wss raised in the town, and under his d.,
rection it was equipped and sent to Cairo.
Gslena is in the northwest part of the
State. Sometimes the wants of this corner
was disregarded. At Springfield there is
always q ring of politicians who are snx,
ious b provide for their set It is difficult,
to do anything with them Mr.. Wash
burne urged Captain Grant to go down
and offer his services. He would help him
all ne could. The Captain went down, and
after some delay he was. set to work draw
ing up and copying papers. After a while
he told them they could get somebody to
do such as well rs he for sdollsr q day. 1t
was not in his line TO be kept in a corner
at a desk, seeing nobody and doing SO lit
tie. He was met .coldly; nobody knew
him, nobody cared for him. 0!her persons,
then took sn interest in him, among them
Mr.. Houghton and Mr.. Mcclellan, Presi-
dent of the bank here. The latter in par
~iticulsr pressed the Captains claims.
Then he was appointed an aid Of Gov,
Yates, and directed to hum up the State
arms. He found about 1900 rusty mus
kets. He also mustered in men. Still, so
many were his .dis~coursgements and SO
coldly was he looked upon, that he told his
friends that he was, not wanted, and that
he had better go home.
The Importance of hiring q man Of mill.
tary knowledge was urged upon the Gov
ernor. It was proposed that he should be
the Colonel of the 2lst Regiment, but
another got it FsEaBe
About this time Captain Grant went to
Ohio 70 zee his father, when Governor
Dennison was urged TO give him an ap.
pointment. The prospect here was good.