Thursday, June 17, 2010

Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?

Today was a great day for an "educational" field trip.
So we loaded up the car, picked up some great friends
and took off for Georgetown, Ohio about 40 minutes
southeast of Cincinnati.

Our quest...
to find and visit Ulysses' S. Grant's
Boyhood Home
School House
and then travel back up the Ohio River road
to his birth place home.

Above is Ulysses' Boyhood home.
(Zac, in blue, toted his skateboard along for the ride)

A few interesting facts we learned today:

1. Ulysses S. Grant was not his given name.  His given name
was Hiram Ulysses Grant and was changed
due to a clerical error upon his entry to West Point.

2. He loved horses and is the only US President to
be ticketed and have his carriage impounded
for exceeding the carriage speed limit!

3. He was an accomplished artist!

4. Later in life he lost everything in a bad investment.
Mark Twain convinced Ulysses to allow him to write
a biography, which was published a short time after Ulysses
death.  The royalties, in the neighborhood of 1/2 a million,
from this book allowed for financial freedom for Ulysses's wife.

5. And most likely he was buried in Grant's Tomb!

7 comments:

Jane said...

Looks like a fun, educational field trip. I love history so this trip would have been an interesting one for me. Sounds like you guys are enjoying the summer.
Jane

Sue said...

Looks like a fun and educational trip...great combination!

Judy@judyfriendphotography.com said...

Very interesting facts. Sounds like a fun day. What a great way to start the summer. Jude

Wendy said...

History is so much fun! Looks like a fun trip! Never realized he was an artist..that's cool! I didn't know he lost it all in a bad investment. Thank goodness for Mark Twain.
Have a great weekend!

corners of my life said...

I love learning random facts about famous people. It makes them seem more real doesn't it? Looks like you trip was a success . . .

Christine said...

You live in such a historical area. All we have that is historical are Indian Teepees.
Just kidding.
Seriously, ypur rich history is intriguing.

Katie said...

Hey there Dee Dee, I'm so glad you were able to locate me. I haven't been here hardly one bit since I have been under the weather, but certainly brings a smile to my face to see you! It looks like your summer is off to a great start!!!
Much Affection, Katie