Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site

Visited: Sept 2020

Nearby city: St. Louis, MO

"My oft expressed desire is that all citizens, white or black, native or foreign born, may be left free, in all parts of our common country, to vote, speak and act, in obedience to the law, without intimidation or ostracism on account of his views, color or nativity."

-President Ulysses S. Grant, July 28, 1872

White Haven, an 850-acre plantation, lies a few miles southwest of downtown St. Louis, Missouri. A portion of the property is now preserved and administered by the NPS as Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. The site commemorates the life and times of the important Civil War general and influential President (1869-1877). The property was originally owned by Grant's father-in-law. Grant's wife, Julia Dent, grew up in the home, and Grant and his family lived there before the war (1854-1859).

Ulysses S. Grant was born on April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio. His birth name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, but his parents referred to him as "Ulysses" throughout his childhood. The middle initial "S" did not stand for anything, and derived from an error on his application form to West Point...and it stuck.

Young Grant received an education at a subscription school and seminary, but was not a particularly good student. Grant did not have much interest in religion either. Instead, Grant spent most of his youth riding horses, and became an incredibly skilled rider. Grant's father was a tanner, and he put his son's talent to use driving wagon loads of supplies and transporting people.

At 17 years old, Grant was accepted into the United States Military Academy at West Point. Grant did not excel at academics, but he became known as the most proficient horseman. At West Point, Grant became friends with fellow cadet Fred Dent, from St. Louis. After graduating, Grant and Fred were assigned as brevet second lieutenants at Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis. Grant would spend much time at the Dent home with his friend Fred. During these visits, Grant got to know Fred's younger sister, Julia, and fell in love with her. Grant and Julia were engaged in 1844, but then, world events intervened and led to a long engagement. 

Grant got his first taste of battle during the Mexican War of 1846-1848. He led a charge at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma, and his equestrian skills contributed to the American victory at the Battle of Monterrey. Grant was promoted to first lieutenant for his bravery at the battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec. Grant's assignments and experiences sharpened his military leadership skills. Grant became known as a good tactician on the battlefield and efficient at the logistics of supplying an army.  

After the war, Grant and Julia were married on August 22, 1848. They had four children. Grant fulfilled a few more military assignments in Michigan and California, but resigned from the army in 1854 and moved his family to his father-in-law's home at White Haven in St. Louis. Grant had ventured in a number of businesses with little success, so Grant worked for his father-in-law, farming and managing the plantation. They lived in the house that Julia had grown up in. The home still stands today.

The home was painted a distinct green color by subsequent owners. At the time Grant lived there, the house was painted beige. There have been efforts to restore the color of the home to the time when Grant and his family lived there, but no action has been taken yet. It's certainly a ... unique ... color. 😁 

Julia's father was an outspoken supporter of slavery. Grant was rather apathetic towards the slavery issue at the time and was apolitical in general. However, his upbringing (his parents so disapproved of their son marrying into a slave-holding family that they refused to attend the wedding) led Grant to lean towards the anti-slavery camp. In 1858, Grant acquired a slave, William Jones, from his father-in-law. Grant found that he could not bring himself to force William to work, and would often work in the field alongside William. A year later, Grant freed William via a manumission deed. 

In 1860, Grant moved his family to Galena, Illinois, to work at his father's leather goods business. After about a year in Galena, Abraham Lincoln was elected president and the Civil War broke out.

Grant recommissioned in the army and was appointed as a colonel of the 21st Volunteer Infantry Regiment. In the early stages of the war, Grant saw action in the Western Theater in Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. Grant secured the first major victory of the war for the Union at Fort Donelson in February 1862. Grant's quick thinking and bold moves led to the capture of the confederate fort on the Tennessee River and the "unconditional and immediate" surrender of 12,000 rebel soldiers. Grant's commanding officer, Gen. Henry Halleck, was furious that Grant had acted without his authorization by capturing the fort and thought Grant was too reckless. President Lincoln, happy to have finally notched a significant and decisive victory on the battlefield, rebuffed Halleck's complaint and promoted Grant to a major general. The Northern press praised Grant in the newspapers for the victory, and playing off his initials "U.S. Grant," dubbed him "Unconditional Surrender Grant."

Grant would later acheive significant successes at the battles of Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga. When Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Grant shared the President's beliefs concerning the ultimate aim of the war. The goal was more than simply the preservation of the Union, the goal should also be the abolition of slavery. On August 30, 1863, Grant wrote in a letter to Congressman Elihu Washburne the following: 

"I never was an abolitionist, not even what could be called anti-slavery, but I try to judge fairly and honestly and it became patent in my mind early in the rebellion that the North and South could never live in peace with each other except as one nation, and that without slavery. As anxious as I am to see peace established, I would not therefore be willing to see any settlement until the question is forever settled."  

On March 2, 1864, Lincoln promoted Grant to lieutenant general, giving him command of all Union armies. Grant's tenacity proved successful against Lee in Virginia during the Overland Campaign, finally leading to Lee's surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. The war was over. 

A few days later, April 14, 1865, Grant attended a cabinet meeting in Washington DC. Lincoln invited Grant and his wife to attend a play at Ford's Theater that night, but Grant, at Julia's urging, declined the invitation. Grant and Julia had plans to travel to Philadelphia, and Julia was anxious to begin the journey. Fatefully, Lincoln was assassinated that very night at the theater. 

portraits of Ulysses and Julia Dent Grant

Grant's military rank and Congressional Medal

Grant's early military uniform and dress worn by Julia

At the 1868 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Radical Republicans rallied behind the popular war hero, and Grant was unanimously nominated for the Presidential ticket. Grant ran on a slogan of "Let Us Have Peace" and won the general election in a landslide. Grant urged the passage of the 15th Amendment, extending the vote to African-American males. The amendment was ratified in 1870. To help enforce Reconstruction and civil rights in the South, Grant and Congress created the Justice Department in 1870. This allowed Grant's attorney general, Amos T. Akerman, to prosecute members of the Ku Klux Klan for federal crimes. Formed shortly after the end of the war, the Klan used violent tactics, known as "outrages," to intimidate, harrass, and persecute African-Americans, particularly to suppress their right to vote. The new department prosecuted Klan members vigorously, gaining over 600 convictions in the first year. This aggressive prosecution greatly reduced racial violence, collapse of Klan power in 1872, and led to a record number of African-Americans voting in the South.

Grant signed legislation creating the first National Park, Yellowstone, in 1872. Grant was easily re-elected to a second term in 1872.

Grant's second term in office was less successful. The Coinage Act of 1873 ended the legal basis for bimetallism (use of both silver and gold as money) and established the gold dollar as the sole monetary standard. The gold supply did not increase as quickly as population, which led to deflation and the Panic of 1873, a deep economic depression. This led to a sweeping Democratic takeover of the U.S. House in the 1874 midterm elections. Corruption and graft was exposed in many federal agencies, particularly the notorious Whiskey Ring. Whiskey distillers had been bribing U.S. Treasury officials for years in order to evade paying taxes. Secretary of War William Belknap resigned in disgrace after it was discovered that he had been accepting bribes in exchange for appointments to lucrative trading post positions at military forts. Although Grant was personally not involved in these scandals, it was obvious that he had misjudged the character of many in his administration. Grant opted not to run for a third term in 1876. Economic strife and political scandal took its toll on Reconstruction policy as well, and many in the North tired of attempts to fully integrate the South. After the 1876 election, the last federal troops, essential to preventing political and racial violence in the South, were removed from the capitals of South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida. Reconsturction was abandoned. This eventually led to the era of Jim Crow segregation and effective disenfranchisement of African Americans in the south.              

After leaving the White House, Grant and Julia embarked on a highly-publicized world tour. They met with Queen Victoria, Pope Leo XIII, Otto von Bismarck, Emperor Meiji and many other world leaders. Grant was the first US President to visit Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Grant returned to the country with much fanfare and was met by cheering crowds at San Francisco harbor.

In 1880, Grant sought the nomination at the Republican convention in an attempt for a third term. Although the world tour had brought a resurgence to Grant's popularity, reform-minded Republicans balked at his return to the White House and Grant failed to secure the nomination.

In 1884, disaster struck for Grant's family. Grant went into debt to invest heavily in an attempt to save a business venture between his son, Buck, and Wall Street financer Ferdinand Ward. Unfortunately, Ward had been running a Ponzi scheme, and Grant was left bankrupt and essentially penniless. Grant sold all his assets (including his home in St. Louis and the White Haven farm) to William Henry Vanderbilt to pay off his debts. Grant's health started to fade at the same time, and he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Grant devoted his final days to writing his memoirs, which became an instant best-seller, in order to provide for his family once he passed. Julia lived comfortably off of the royalties of the memoirs for the rest of her life.

The NPS purchased the Grant home at White Haven in 1989, and it was designated as Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. You can tour the home (it is mostly unfurnished, but there are a few period pieces inside) and explore the grounds. There is also a fantastic museum with a great introductory video to learn all about the life and times of Ulysses and Julia. 

this outbuilding was used as a laundry and as a summer kitchen.

There is also archaeological evidence that the elder Dent used the attic of this building as slave quarters

Ice House (on the left) and Chicken House (on the right)

the grounds

Visitor's Center

museum

After battling throat cancer for a year, Grant passed away on July 23, 1885 at the age of 63. A thirty-day nationwide period of mourning was declared, and hundreds of thousands of people viewed the funeral train as it traveled from West Point to New York City. It is reported that over 1 million people attended the funeral in New York. Grant's pallbearers were Union generals William Tecumseh Sherman, Philip Sheridan, and John A. Logan; Naval Admiral David Dixon Porter; and former Confederate generals: Joseph E. Johnston, and Simon Bolivar Buckner (who had surrendered to Grant at the Battle of Fort Donelson). 

The great abolitionist Frederick Douglass eulogized Grant as follows:

"...the most illustrious warrior and statesman of modern times, the captain whose invincible sword saved the republic from dismemberment, made liberty the law of the land.

A man too broad for prejudice, too humane to despise the humblest, too great to be small at any point.

In him the negro found a protector, the Indian a friend, a vanquished foe a brother, an imperilled nation a savior.

To him, more than to any other man, the negro owes his enfranchisement ... May we not justly say that the liberty which Mr. Lincoln declared with his pen, General Grant made effectual with his sword - by his skill in leading the Union armies to final victory?"

We had a great time at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site learning about Grant (both his failures and successes) and if you are in the St. Louis area it is definitely worth a stop of about an hour or two.

Learn more about this remarkable man, general, and President here: 

https://www.nps.gov/ulsg/index.htm

James A. Garfield National Historic Site

Visited: Sept 2020

Nearby city: Cleveland, OH

"Let us not commit ourselves to the senseless and absurd dogma that the color of the skin shall be the basis of suffrage. 

In the extremity of our distress [the Civil War], we called upon the black man to help us save the Republic; and amid the very thunders of battle, we made a covenant with him, sealed both with his blood and with ours ... that, when the nation was redeemed, he should be free, and share with us its glories and its blessings.

God will appear in judgment against us if we do not fulfill that covenant. Have we done it? Have we given freedom to the black man? What is freedom? Is it the bare privilege of not being chained - of not being bought and sold, branded and scourged? If this is all, then freedom is a bitter mockery."

-James A. Garfield

as a member of the US House of Representatives, from a speech advocating for extension of right to vote to African-American males in Ravenna, Ohio on July 4, 1865

James A. Garfield, our nation's 20th president, has unfortunately slipped into obscurity in our history books. It is entirely undeserved. Despite his long career as a progressive and forward-thinking congressman, and a promising presidency that came to a terribly tragic end, his legacy has faded to "one of those late-19th century, nondescript, bearded presidents sandwiched between Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt." If a student does recognize his name, it may only be due to a certain cartoon cat with a penchant for lasagna. 😁 

Thankfully, the NPS manages and administers his beautiful home and estate, Lawnfield, to preserve the memory and heritage of this remarkable man who rose from utter poverty to the highest office in the land.

James Abram Garfield was born on November 19, 1831 in Orange Township, Ohio (now the suburb Moreland Hills in the metro-Cleveland area). He was the youngest of five children of Abram and Eliza Garfield. When Garfield was 2 years old, his father died. He was raised in abject poverty by his strong-willed mother, who found solace in the Protestant Church of Christ. Northeastern Ohio (known at the time as the Western Reserve) was ardently anti-slavery. This upbringing shaped Garfield's religious and abolitionist views. Young Garfield also found solace and comfort in books, and became a voracious reader.

Garfield was the last president born in a log cabin. A cabin has been reconstructed at the birthplace site.

At 16, Garfield left home and took his first job on a canal boat. Garfield was responsible for managing the mules that pulled the canal boat. Later in life, during his presidential campaign, his supporters dubbed him "Boatman Jim" to emphasize his humble roots.

 

At 17, Garfield enrolled in a religious school, the Geauga Seminary, in Ohio. Garfield excelled as a student, particularly in the disciplines of Greek, Latin, and elocution. He became known as a compelling and talented orator. He paid for his schooling by working as a teacher, a carpenter's assistant, and as a janitor. At Geauga Seminary, Garfield met a fellow student, Lucretia Rudolph, and fell in love. After a long courtship, they married in 1858. They had 7 children, 5 of whom lived to adulthood.

Shortly after getting married, Garfield read law at the office of attorney Albert Riddle (who was also a member of Congress) in Cleveland and was eventually admitted to the bar in 1861.

Garfield's anti-slavery views attracted him to the newly-formed Republican Party, and he campaigned for its presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, in 1856. Garfield proved to be an effective and persuasive speaker on the stump. Garfield was elected to the Ohio State Senate in 1860.

The Civil War broke out shortly after his election to the state senate. Garfield, eager to enlist to support the Union cause, was commissioned as a colonel in the 42nd Ohio Infantry regiment, and helped recruit many friends, neighbors, and former students.

Garfield served with distinction at the battles of Middle Creek, Shiloh, and Chickamauga. He served as chief of staff to General William Rosecrans, and was later promoted to a Major General. 

While serving in the army, Garfield was elected to the U.S. Congress as representative of Ohio's 19th congressional district in 1862. Garfield would serve in the House for 17 years, garnering a reputation as a progressive and Radical Republican. Garfield supported harsh Reconstruction policies (clashing with Pres. Lincoln, who aimed for a more forgiving Reconstruction policy), the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, African-American suffrage and other civil rights, the gold standard, and civil service reform (breaking with some of his fellow Radical Republicans on this issue).

By 1876, Garfield's law career had made him financially successful, and he bought property northeast of Cleveland (in the town of Mentor), and built his estate Lawnfield. His beautiful home is preserved today.

As the election of 1880 approached, former President Ulysses S. Grant eyed a return to the White House and a third term. Garfield attended the nominating convention, pledged to support fellow Ohio senator John Sherman. 

The convention quickly became a contest between two factions, (1) the "Stalwarts" - led by powerful New York Senator Roscoe Conkling, supporting former President Grant, and (2) the reform-minded "Half-Breeds" - supporting Senator James G. Blaine of Maine. The faction was largely personality-driven, but the two camps also differed greatly on the issue of civil service. The Stalwarts preferred the status-quo, that appointments to federal jobs/positions were made on the basis of political support and loyalty (i.e. "the spoils system"), while the "Half Breeds" were justifiably concerned that the spoils system led to corruption, and wanted federal appointments to be reformed and based on merit and experience. 

John Sherman, Garfield's preferred candidate, placed a distant third on the first ballot at the convention. After dozens of ballots, neither Grant nor Blaine could manage a majority of the delegates to become the nominee. Delegates began to look for a compromise or "dark horse" candidate. Eventually, they settled on Garfield, who won the nomination on the 36th ballot.       

Garfield had connections with both factions, but was mostly aligned with the "Half-Breeds." To appease the "Stalwart" faction of the GOP, Chester Alan Arthur, the Collector of the Port of New York and a loyal Stalwart, was confirmed as the Vice-Presidential nominee.

Garfield conducted a relatively quiet "front-porch campaign" from his home in Lawnfield, this style of campaigning became emblematic of presidential races of the late-19th and early-20th centuries.

Garfield delivered several speeches from his front porch during the 1880 campaign.

Garfield's opponent in the general election was the Democratic candidate, Winfield Scott Hancock, a career military officer who had served with distinction as a Union General during the Civil War at Gettysburg and several other battles. The Republicans campaigned on "waving the bloody shirt" (essentially, "vote the way you shot" - which proved relatively ineffective due to the passage of time from the Civil War and the fact that Hancock had been a Union General), the gold standard (to help combat inflation), and a higher, more protective tarriff (to benefit business and industry, particularly in the North). Garfield won the popular vote by an incredibly close margin (only 1,898 votes!), but carried the Electoral Vote by a comfortable margin (thanks to sweeping nearly every Northern state).

Garfield was now the President. To this day, Garfield is the only sitting member of the US House of Representatives to win the presidency.

The NPS site has a great visitor center/museum to learn about the life and times of President Garfield. You can also tour the grounds and see the numerous outbuildings. Unfortunely, during our visit, no tours were being conducted inside the house.

Visitor Center/Museum

unique and interesting windmill

Garfield's term got off to a shaky start, leading to an acrimonious split between the two factions of the GOP. Garfield appointed James G. Blaine (the Half-Breed leader at the convention) to be the Secretary of State. This appointment infuriated New York Senator Roscoe Conkling and his Stalwart allies. Garfield also further angered Stalwarts when he supported Democratic-led congressional investigations into corruption at the US Post Office.

Garfield's actions also angered a delusional office-seeker named Charles J. Guiteau. Guiteau was an unsuccessful lawyer who drifted between Chicago, New York, and Boston. During the 1880 campaign, he wrote a speech supporting Garfield and delivered it at a few Republican gatherings in Massachusetts. After the election, Guiteau believed that he had played an important role in Garfield's election. Believing that his efforts entitled him to a federal appointment, he showed up at the White House, insisting that he be appointed consul to the US Embassy in either Vienna or Paris. Unsuprisingly, Guiteau was turned down for the positions and quickly shown the door.

Guiteau began to plot his revenge. Guiteau was a Stalwart, and he believed that if Vice President Arthur (a fellow Stalwart) was president instead, he might have better luck obtaining a job in an Arthur administration. Guiteau began to follow Garfield's schedule (this was back in the day when presidents usually travelled without any kind of security detail) and waited for an opportunity to assassinate him.

On July 2, 1881, a mere four months into his term, Garfield planned to join his family at Long Beach, New Jersey and celebrate Independence Day. He arrived at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington DC and waited for his train. Sec. of State James Blaine and Sec. of War Robert Todd Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln's son) accompanied Garfield to the station to send him off. As Blaine and Garfield were in deep conversation, Guiteau emerged from the ladies' waiting room, where he had concealed himself, and shot Garfield twice at point-blank range, once in the back and once in the arm. Guiteau tried to escape but was quickly apprehended by a throng of onlookers. As he was carried away, Guiteau is reported to have said "I did it. I will go to jail for it. I am a Stalwart and Arthur will be president."

Garfield managed to initially survive the shooting. The shot to Garfield's arm ended up glancing off his sleeve, but the shot in his back shattered his rib and embedded in his abdomen. Garfield was treated by Dr. Willard Bliss. Bliss and the other doctors probed Garfield's wound in the back with unsterilized fingers and instruments (as was common at the time) in an unsuccessful attempt to dislodge the bullet.

Over the next few days, Garfield's health improved, and he was able to conduct a cabinet meeting from his bed, and managed to sit up in his bed and compose letters. However, in late July, his wounds developed a serious infection (likely from the unsterile treatment by his doctors), and he took a turn for the worse. After an agonizing and painful month-and-a-half, Garfield passed away on September 18, 1881. He was 49 years old. 

As for Guiteau, he was found guilty of the murder after a highly-publicized trial and was executed by hanging on June 30, 1882. 

The new President, Chester Alan Arthur, was heartbroken by Garfield's death and sickened by Guiteau's antics and motivation for the assassination. As President, Arthur bucked his Stalwart philosophies and advocated for civil service reform, passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883. The act, which is still on the books today, mandates that most positions within the federal government should be awarded on the basis of merit instead of political patronage or favoritism. 

Garfield was buried in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland. His funeral was attended by former Presidents Grant and Hayes, as well as Union War Generals William Tecumseh Sherman, Philip Sheridan, and his 1880 opponent, Winfield Hancock. A beautiful memorial was built to commerorate the slain President.

The First Lady, Lucretia, was grief stricken by her husband's tragic death, and never remarried. She lived a very private life afterwards, but did make a few appearances in support of Theodore Roosevelt's campaign for President, and became a volunuteer for the Red Cross at the outbreak of World War I. In later life, Lucretia spent her winters in southern California, where she passed away on March 14, 1918, at the age of 85. She is buried next to her husband. 

For whatever reason, President Garfield has slipped into obscurity, but learning about his life and legacy at the NPS site was very rewarding. Garfield's traits, accomplishments, and leadership qualities deserve to be studied, celebrated, and emulated.

For more info: https://www.nps.gov/jaga/index.htm