Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1873-07-25
NO. 30.
THE Ty.EsTER.v NOME or TuR
PRRSEDRN.T

correspondent Of the Toledo Blade Cos
sips thus of the Western home of the Pres
ident: The homes of great men have more
than local interest. Stratford- -upon-Avon
Is linked with Shakespeare's name the
readers of Walter Scott desire TO visit Alb
botsford while Mount Vernon Is hallow-
ed by the memories of. Washington. About
five miles southwest of st. Louis, on a
smooth turnpike is Wishton-Wish. the
h'lJe Of General Grant. Here is the Pres
idenrs little farm of six hundred and six
ty-six acres. On hillside sloping 10 the
south and west is a somewhat inferior look
ing two-story ive-room frame house, with
goodly porch to protect from the Southern
sun. When first built this was one Of the
few frame houses outside of the city. The
sawmill had not then been "moved out
West" and the only tools used to build the
house were the axe, Ratchet, hammer, frow
ald drawing-knife, while eighth ten win
dow glass were the most paatial then man
ufactured. Near by are distinguishable
the remains of an old "trace,'' or Spanish
road, planted with black locusts that have
evidently been growing for about fifty
years. Such is the Dent homestead of for
mer times, then called White Haven by its
owners. At this place, twenty-five years
and two months ago, there was a wedding.
The groom was U. S. Grant, a young off,
Ger from Jefferson Barracks, the military
post Of st. Louis; the bride was Miss Julia
B. Dent and we presume these old locusts,
if they could talk, might reveal the secrets
of soldiers courtship.
Soon after the marriage Grant resigned
and General Dent gave the young couple
eighty acres of timber land. Here they
built small house, which was soon aban-
| doned for the larger house of General Dent.
If Grant was not success as a farmer, he
certainly was as a chopper. Here he ex-
hibited the same persistence and vigor
which have made him the military hero of
our age. As in the army, so here he did
thorough work for where he cleared off
the land no rough, knotty oaks are left
Standing as an evidence of laziness in the
workman. 1t is related of Grant that be
here chopped for six consecutive weeks,
and didn't lose day; piled and seasoned
the wood, and hauled it into the city at Eve
dollars load. William Elrood, a cousin
of Grants, has Ii I'd charge of the farm for
| the past six years, and is fast bringing it up
fromthe decay into which it had fallen dur
ing the war. Mr. Elrood is one of those hon
est-hearted whole-soued men whose very
presence is source Of pleasure. He has
| been known to remark that there was "some
good cider in the house; - but his nature
didn't permit him TO stop talking after he
had made the remark until he had put on
another very gratifying thought expressed
in this way: "Td like you 10 come in and
try some" He kindly showed US the fine
stock of which the President is such an ad-
mirer. There were about forty horses and
as many cattle, a few sheer, and much
pork.
The famous Holstein cattle recently i'm
| ported from Europe are the most admired.
A band of white encirces their body be-
tween the fore and hind quarters. With
this exception they are jet black. The Vine
yard Of three and a half acres contains sew
cnteen choice varieties of native and for
egn grapes. fine new stone mansion is
now going up, but the President when at
his farm lately, ntimated that he should
probably not make his home there perma-
nenlly in the future. A branch of the Pa
cific Railroad passes through the farm, and
stops its trains at the unromantic name Of
Grant Station" Before the war Grant
had left his home to become an unsuccess-
fu real estate dealer in ST. Louis. In 1856
| 81 be was an unsuccessful office seeker.
He wanted to be county engineer, hut, un-
fortunately, he escaped that great mercy,
as the inlailible county court deemed n ri
val competitor better fitted for the posi-
ton. Grant might take Richmond. pre-
serve the Republic, and with honor fill the
chair at Washington, but in those days the
civil engineer of st. Louis County had to
be made of sterner stuff.