The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-05-22
THE MATCH FAILED.
NELLIE GRANTS ROMANCE wHilE
VISITING AT WEST POINT.

Iaaag0rstpd President ar the United
states. and She Mas Ia Consequence the
Belle OF the Gatherings.
/ IL was the closing week Of commence
ment exercises at tho military academy
in June. 1869. and historic West Point
had never appeared moro brilliant. Dis
/ tinguished guests from all over the
/ country We're assembled 10 witness tho
| cereinonies, and tho wealth and fashion
of New York, Brooklyn, Boston. Phila.
| delphia. Baltimore, Washington and
| other cities crowded Roe's and Cozzen's
hotels aud the private cottages To their
| fullest capacities. First and foremost Of
| all those there was tho newly inauSu-
rated president of tho United States
Ulysses 5, Grant, then in the splendor
OF his fame. Then there was General
William L. sherman. his successor in
command OF the army; General Rufus
Ingalls,, General Quincy Gilmore and a
host Of lesser military chieftains and
also the officers of the academy rcsplen.
dent IN uniform. besides many civic dig.
uitaries.
Mrs. John y. Dix and Mrs. John Bige-
low occupied cottages at Cozzen's. and
the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was
present 10 deliver the sermon 10 the
graduates The glories and the chivalyy
of West Point still chung To it and made
it an attraction 10 the fair sex Benny
Ravens. with its many legends of elan
destine cadet revelries, yet remained at
the rivers edge. The faculty were all
noted gray haired professors who had
been engaged in tutoring future military
heroes for half century, some of them
Their dean was Denis Mahan, professor
of mathematics. who was afterward to
seek suicides death in the Hudson
river.
President Grant was accompanied To
the academy by Mrs Grant and their
daughter. Nellie Grant The presidents
son, Frederick Dent Grant, was cadet
IN the third class, and for that reason
the exercises had u special attraction for
the members of the Grant family. Gen
eraf Thomas q. Pitcher, the superin-
tendent of the academy; Colonel Henry
NJ. Black, the commandant of the cadet
corps; Lieutenant Colonel John NJ.
Elildt, who was wooing at the time Miss
Jerome, daughter of Leonard jerome,
and whom he afterward married: Ed
ward G. Boynton, the adiutaut of the
post, and the rest of the officers had pre-
pared an elaborate and interesting pro-
gram1ne for the commencement and
during the week or longer that President
Grant and his family were at the Point
there was mortar practice. signal service
movements, the building of pontoon
bridges, cavalry maneuvers and other
object lessons in the art of war, with
parades every afternoon on the plateau
by the battalion of cadets, and concert
afterward by the government band
Among the junior officers of the SUI
perintendent's staff was John E. Hosmer,
a lieutenant of infantry, who was as
signed as escort to the president and his
family during their stay at West Point
He was a native of Massachusetts, OF
good family and attractive personal ap-
pearance. The daughter of the White
House, Miss Nellie Grant, was new TO
society in the east, and the young lieu |
tenant devoted much time to her enter
tainment. He WAS her daily chaperon
over the military grounds and explained |
to her the many points of historic inter |
est there. He arranged private eater |
PARTIES III III llle
houses of the professors, while old dow |
ayers. with little else to do than watch |
passing events, noted the growing init |
macy of the daughter of The White House |
and the junior lieutenant, looked on the |
young couple approvingly and said to
each other, "a match, sure"
The commencement of the academy
terminated on the evening of Saturday |
June IA, with the bail of the graduating
class at Roe's hotel 1t was a brilliant |
gathering. and in the opening quadrille
there was a conspicuous set composed of
President Grant and Miss Strother of |
Washington, General Sherman and Mrs.
Grant, Lieutenant Hosmer and Miss Nell
lie Grant and Colonel AEdendried, chief
of General Sherlnan's staff. and Miss
Kinney, southern belle. The l,gizZled |
hero OF the march TO the sea had his eyes
open to what was going on, and in one
of the pauses Of the dance said 10 his
partner, Mrs. Grant, in his quick, abrupt
way, what the dowagers had previously
remarked. Looks like a match" nod
ding with his head toward Miss Grant
and her lieutenant escort. Mrs Grant
had her eyes opened.
The next day Sunday Nellie Grantre-
manned in seclusion in the hotel, and
bright and early on the following Mon
day morning was hurried away by her
mother to Washington, while the presi-
dent departed for the east in response to
public invitations. Lieutenant Hosmer
quilted West Point few days later and
went to his home in Massachusetts, where
he died in few months Afterward the
presidents daughter was married to the
Algernon Sartoris. who died
in Italy.-Brooklyn Eagle