![]() ![]() When his congressman applied for Grant's appointment to West Point, he incorrectly wrote the name as Ulysses Simpson (his mother's family name) Grant instead of Hiram Ulysses Grant. His father stated that he thought his son would go, and Ulysses "thought so too, if he did." With his father's encouragement, Grant decided to go to West Point to fulfill his own desire to travel and take advantage of the education being offered to him. Told of his acceptance, the shy Ulysses did not want to go. Without telling Ulysses, Jesse Grant applied for an appointment to the Academy for his son, who was accepted. The family had little money for college, but the United States Military Academy at West Point, then as now, offered a deal: a superior free education in return for Army service after graduating. Grant's father supported his son's ambitious nature to go beyond the limited life of a tanner. On the family farm, his father often gave him the responsibility of taking care of the horses and the other farm animals, and he was renowned in the area for managing unruly horses. The simple local schools bored him, and other children mistook his quietness for stupidity, nicknaming him "Useless." The boy, however, had an incredible knack in what was a critical skill in that time and place-horsemanship. Ulysses was a small, sensitive, quiet youth. Although Grant occasionally worked in the tannery as a child, he hated the work and swore to his father that once he was an adult, he would never do it again. ![]() He made a good living, but the work conditions were horrible-skinned and raw animal carcasses everywhere, their hides tossed into kettles of stinging, stinking chemicals. His father was a tanner who took animal hides and processed them into leather. He was the first of six children born to religious and hard-working parents, Jesse and Hannah Grant. Hiram Ulysses Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |