Ulysses S. Grant Jr.

Ulysses S. "Buck" Grant Jr. (July 22, 1852 – September 25, 1929) was an American attorney and entrepreneur. He was the second son of President Ulysses S. Grant.

"Buck Grant" redirects here. For the ice hockey player, see Buck Grant (ice hockey).
Ulysses S. Grant Jr.
Grant in 1913
Private Secretary to the President
In office
1876–1877
PresidentUlysses S. Grant
Preceded byLevi P. Luckey
Succeeded byWebb Hayes
Personal details
Born(1852-07-22)July 22, 1852
Bethel, Ohio, U.S.
DiedSeptember 25, 1929(1929-09-25) (aged 77)
Sandberg, California, U.S.
Spouses
Fannie Josephine Chaffee
​
​
(m. 1880; died 1909)​
    America Workman Will
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1913)​
    Children5. including Ulysses IV
    Parents
    RelativesFrederick Dent Grant (brother)
    Nellie Grant (sister)
    Jesse Root Grant II (brother) Ulysses S. Grant III (nephew)
    Alma materHarvard University (BA)
    Columbia University (LLB)
    OccupationAttorney, entrepreneur

    Early life and education

    Grant was born in Bethel, Ohio, on July 22, 1852. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1870, Harvard University in 1874, and Columbia Law School in 1876.

    Career

    Grant served as personal secretary to his father for part of the time he was president, and as Assistant United States Attorney in New York.

    Grant then worked in private practice and became wealthy. He partnered in a banking and brokerage firm with Ferdinand Ward. Grant and his father each put $100,000 in the firm, as two of the four partners, and asked veterans and millionaires to invest. Neither Grant practiced due diligence in overseeing the operations of the firm, Grant & Ward.

    The Grants were earning 2-3% per month on their money, but didn't care that Ward was using the Grant name to bring in new investors, whose money would pay the earlier investors. Other members of the extended Grant family, their associates, and many innocent people likewise invested. As such Ponzi schemes are unsustainable in the long run, the firm went bankrupt in 1884 – setting off a financial panic – and the Grants lost their initial investments and the father was virtually wiped out. Ward was convicted of fraud and served over 6 years in prison of a 10 year sentence.

    The elder Grant died the next year, but not before testifying against Ward. Historians generally consider that he was unaware of any irregularities in the firm's business; the extent of Grant Jr.'s culpability is less certain, but he was never tried.

    Real estate

    When Ulysses Jr. was back on his feet financially, he bought Merryweather Farm in Salem Center, Westchester County, New York. His wife's health failing, Grant's mother suggested moving to California since his younger brother, Jesse Root Grant, was already living in San Diego. The Grants moved into a three-story house in San Diego in 1893.

    Grant set up a law practice, then gave it up to invest in real estate. He purchased property throughout San Diego. In 1895, he bought the Horton House hotel. He wanted to run the hotel and name it after his father. In 1905, he razed the old hotel and built a new one, the U.S. Grant Hotel, in 1910. San Diego voters helped finance $700,000 for the $1.5 million needed to construct the hotel after Grant lacked the funds to do so.[1] During his time in San Diego, Grant became a close associate of Charles T. Hinde, E. S. Babcock, and John D. Spreckels. Hinde and Grant served on the boards of directors of multiple banks and invested in many companies and business ventures together.

    Grant continued to speculate in real estate. He also became a leading citizen, who pushed for the creation of a city park, that would become Balboa Park. Grant was a delegate-at-large for California at the Republican National Conventions in 1896 and 1900. He was also an elector for California in the 1904 and 1908 presidential elections (see U.S. Electoral College).

    Personal life
    Ulysses S. Grant Junior's children depicted in an 1895 newspaper.

    In 1880, Grant married Fannie Josephine Chaffee (1857–1909), daughter of Jerome B. Chaffee, U.S. Senator from Colorado. They had five children: Miriam (born 1881), Chaffee (born 1883), Julia (born 1885), Fannie (born 1889), and Ulysses IV (born 1893).[2] Grant's wife died in 1909 and four years later he married a widow, America Workman Will (1878–1942). Grant and his wife traveled extensively. In his later years, they stayed closer to home and traveled in California.

    He was a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

    Grant died at age 77 at the Sandberg Lodge on the Ridge Route north of Los Angeles while on a road trip.[3] He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in San Diego.

    References
    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ulysses S. Grant Jr..
    1. Montes, Gregory (Winter 1982). "Balboa Park, 1909-1911 The Rise and Fall of the Olmsted Plan". The Journal of San Diego History. 28 (1). Archived from the original on June 4, 2011.
    2. Note: Ulysses III (born 1881) was the son of Frederick Dent Grant.
    3. "Son of Soldier and Statesman Expires," Los Angeles Times, September 27, page A-1.
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