Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-06
Some Memories
of General Grant

day. She is delightful, mentally
energetic old lady, who reads tour news
papers a day in an effort To keep mp with
the war news. but she is ono of the few
privileged Americans who can drop the
curtain on the nations present conflict at
a moments notice. and roll IT up on
leisurelv landscape of the nineteenth
century when American history was
enacted in stove-plpe hats and hoop
skirts.
Mrs. Casey has pictures of American
history in her brain rs far back rs Polk 3
administration She can give you glimpScS
Of American troopers gong of To fight
the war with Mexico. crowded on the
flat Mississippi River boats strong men
of pioneer blood eager for adventure and
prepared TO face the greatest hardships.
She can picture for YOU the intense an
tagonism between the early Democrats
and Republicans. temporarily smoothrd
over by the pcaCcmakCr. Henry Clay, but
reaching an n rupt climax with the
election of Abraham lincoln of the
dreadful. wearing suspense OF the period
OF the Civil War. which WAS predicted to
last ninety DAYS and which lasted four
years. and OF the DAY when the mourniul
tolllng of the village Ncll and the APP
pcarance of crepe on every door told tn"
news Of the assassination ct llrCCin.
TUE OH sot-ru's HoNr r1rF.
Then Mrs Casey Will summon a cheer
ful picture If the quiet plantation lltc
before the war. the old colonial hol:sCs
with their wide stairwavs, their walnut
ar6 mahogany furniture, thor Vinc-covcr-
Cd vcrlndahs and their simple, Chlld-hke
slave Such 4 place WAS he old Dent
home where Grant met and courtcd MIR
Casev's sister Julia Dent
Mrs Cascy was ten wears old when she
first mot Grant rather prcc"clou~.
tom-hoyish girl with curkscrcw curls and
rufFled pantaloons that hung several
inches below her skirt Accompanied 10y
three Of her plck anmnIes, She had Just
returned from \ profta!c VISIT 10 various
birds nests when \ Young officer IN
uniform rode M TO the front gate II
will he difficult for those Who have scCn
pictures of Grant 10 tchcvc thus Tut
Mrs t'aecy declares that he WAS very
handsome nj this pcroi 81 his career
50 handsome that Mrs Casey young
heart t,uttcrcd dangcrous, and the lutlc
bird which She held in her hand was
almost squeezed 10 death
Recovering her dignity N umc. how
ever. she escorted hun around to he
back vcraudah where the family WAS
seated. and who're hc explained that he
was a classmatc of Mrs CASEY $ brother
West Point and 10th were licutonantS IN
the army Julla was not ~ home on thus
suspicious occasion.
GRANTS LoNE-NtklNG
Grant announced that hc was stationed
nj jefferson barracks not far from The
Dent place. ana Was thcrcupnn invited t"
visit the plantation IS often as possible
The lieutenant took advantage ~ thus
I -,x ,Nl
Julia Dent came home Ntcr that, the
Young man visited the Dent home almost
every dav
Grants love affair is one Of the few
instances which prove that tho coursa ot
true love sometimes ulns smoothly Tor
Julia frankly showed her liking for hm
from the beginning and raised no obstacles
to his suit She was not beautiful She
had a cast in one Of her brown ewes. due
to a cold contracted IN infancy, b'it her
pcrSon:t charm vas So great that people
forgot 10 notice this defect She had .
pretty figure. trim hands and ank les
abundant brown HAIR. and > firm, dc
termined chm Grant and SHE usrd - 60
fishing together AMI discuss Dlrkcus and
sir Waiter Scott Grant loved her de
votedlv She was his one and only love
affair
Suddenly came the declaration Of war
on Mexico and Grant received his orders
to the border He had only twcntyfour
hours III which to make sure of JuiIa
He set ont on horseback for the Dent
place late NJ night About midnight lac
came 10 the stream which separated It
from the jefferson Barracks. and found
that II was greatly swollen \evcrthc-
less. he plunged IN The water was cN-
tremely cold and over his head, nut ne
swan beside ms horse and gained the
o'4cositc shore / few minutes later
shIvering and hc-dragcIcd he presented
himself u the Dent be-. d
FUTURE HERO Much AGGLED.
II must bc recorded tn.t the fair JuhA
laughed herself nearly into Mysteries AT
the sight OF her swain, sneczng and
dripping with water And later, when
he appeared attIred in her brother
clothes. which were much too large for
him. only with heroic efforts did she
control her mirth and promise 20 marry
him when ne came back from Mexico
Mrs Casey 5 recollcctions Of the Men
can war are somewhat blurred, although
her brother, Fred was wounded IN II
Grant returned from Mexico captain.
and married julia All went we'll until he
was ordered 10 post in the west and
Julia. unable to stand the rigar OF travel,
went to live with her people Then
Ulysses Grant the second was born.
Grant asked for leave Of absence TO visit
his family, and was refused He left the
army.
Upon her marriage. Julia : father had
gwen her several acres Of land and three
slaves and Grant nov proposed 70 farm
this aided Toy the neghbors, they bWlt
the famous log cabin. which was on eN-
hibition at the World. Fair IN 81 Louis
and moved into It
Followed that portion Of Grants life
that has been referred to bv historians
as a period Of failure He made q good
farmer; raised better crops than most
OF his nelghbors, but be was not satisfied
His heart was with the army He be
came a reserved and taclturn man.
They did not live in abiect poverty,
but they had to work hard to make ends
meet Often Grant chopped wood loaded
il on the family wagon, and drove il to
st. Louis himself Il Is not true. Mrs.
Casey asserts. that Grant ever peddlcd
wood through the streets He supplied
if by contract 10 couple Of men who were
friends Of the Dent family On one Of
these expeditions, while seated on load
of wood, he came face To face with bis old
commander, General Harvey The genera
stared at Grant IN amazon nj
JUST LIKE GRANT.
80