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

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

Early life and education

Grant was born in

Bethel, Ohio Bethel is a village in Tate Township, Clermont County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,711 at the 2010 census. Bethel was founded in 1798 by Obed Denham as Denham Town, in what was then the Northwest Territory. Bethel is the home of th ...

, on July 22, 1852. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1870,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1874, and

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

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 United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

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 and the Grants lost their initial investments and the paper profits. Ward was convicted of fraud and served over 6 years in prison. Grant Sr. died the next year; Grant Jr. 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 Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

. His wife's health failing, Grant's mother suggested moving to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

since his younger brother,

Jesse Root Grant Jesse Root Grant (January 23, 1794 – June 29, 1873) was an American farmer, tanner and successful leather merchant who owned tanneries and leather goods shops in several different states throughout his adult life. He is best known as the ...

, was already living in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

. 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. During his time in San Diego, Grant became a close associate of

Charles T. Hinde Charles T. Hinde (July 12, 1832 – March 10, 1915) was an American industrialist, tycoon, riverboat captain, businessman, and entrepreneur. He managed many businesses and invested in numerous business ventures over the course of his life. ...

, 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 The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

Personal life

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). Grant's wife died in 1909 and four years later he married a widow, America Workman Will (1878–1942). Grant and America 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 Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) is an American congressionally chartered fraternal organization that carries out activities to preserve the history and legacy of the United States Armed Forces veterans who fought during the Civil ...

. Grant died at age 77 at the Sandberg Lodge on the

Ridge Route The Ridge Route, officially the Castaic–Tejon Route, was a two-lane highway between Los Angeles County and Kern County, California. Opened in 1915 and paved with concrete between 1917 and 1921, the road was the first paved highway directly ...

north of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

while on a road trip."Son of Soldier and Statesman Expires," ''Los Angeles Times,'' September 27, page A-1. He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in San Diego.

References

Banning, Evelyn I. (1981) "U. S. Grant Jr.: A Builder of San Diego." ''Journal of San Diego History'' Vol. 27, No. 1.
* Black, Samuel T., ''San Diego County California'' vol. 2, pp. 14–15 (Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913). Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Ulysses S. Jr. 1852 births 1929 deaths American people of English descent American prosecutors Columbia Law School alumni Children of presidents of the United States Harvard University alumni New York (state) lawyers Phillips Exeter Academy alumni People from Bethel, Ohio Businesspeople from San Diego Grant family Lawyers from San Diego California Republicans People from North Salem, New York Burials at Greenwood Memorial Park (San Diego)