President Ulysses Grant Comes to Stamford to Write his Memoirs

Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States (1869-1877)

This Plaque dedicated to President and Civil War General

Ulysses Grant is located on Strawberry Hill Ave., Stamford, CT

A View of Holbrook Estates Development off of Strawberry Hill Ave.

The Plaque dedicated to President Grant can be seen on the right brick post

The 18th President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822-July 23, 1885) served as our country's chief executive from 1869-1877. He is best remembered as the Civil War General that President Lincoln called on to restore unity to our fledgling republic that was torn by the War between the States. The civil war ended at Appomattox in April 1865 when Lee surrendered to Grant

So how did he come to Stamford to write his memoirs from 1881-1884 just shortly before his demise?

The facts are simple: after a trip around the world in 1880-81, he had gone through most of his assets and needed to earn money. After purchasing a home in New York City, he entered into an investment banking partnership with Ferdinand Ward who was an associate of Grant's son, Ulysses, Jr. who had a reputation as a financial whiz on Wall Street. Grant, it is widely held, borrowed money to invest with Ward

Ward had an estate in Stamford's Strawberry Hill area and arranged for Grant to stay on his estate beginning in 1881 to generate funds by writing his memoirs. It is known that Grant worked feverishly day and night here in Stamford to rush his memoirs to the publisher so he could get funds.

Alas, General's are oftentimes better at conducting war than investing funds in business.

Ward turned out to be a swindler and fleeced not only Grant but other investors as well. He bankrupted his company, Grant & Ward and fled. According to Wiki, "Grant was forced to repay a $150, 000 loan to one of his creditors, William H. Vanderbilt , with his Civil War mementos.

On the bright side, Grant's writings did get him and his family out of debt and improved his reputation greatly. He successfully wrote Civil War articles for the Century Magazine. An angel appeared in the guise of Mark Twain who fathered a generous contract with Grant for his memoirs, "including 75% of the book's sales as royalties."

A bill was passed by Congress thanks to the efforts by President Grover Cleveland (the 22nd and 24th President) that restored to General Grant the full retirement pay that had been withheld when he assumed the Presidency. In 1958, Congress passed a bill that granted the Grant family a pension that is still in effect today.

The memoirs were completed days before Grant's death; they sold over 300,000 copies and yielded over $450,000 to his family.

Grant's tomb, in Riverside Park along the Hudson River near 125th Street, is the largest mausoleum in North America.