Thursday, January 22, 2009

Midwestern Presidential Pathway: Where Grant worked as a clerk

After resigning from the army, Ulysses S. Grant moved to Missouri and became a farmer--he failed, then worked as a bill collector, he failed at that too.

His father owned a leather goods business in Galena, Illinois, which was run by one of his younger brothers, his youngest brother worked there too. Grant was hired as a clerk in 1860, worked there for a year until volunteering for the Illinois State Militia when the Civil War broke out. When the war ended, we was the commanding officer of the United States Army. Quite a reversal of fortune for this clerk.

The leather goods store, Grant & Perkins, closed in 1864, but the structure sill remains, and can be found roughly in the center of downtown Galena, on Main Street, a popular thoroughfare for shoppers and tourists.

Galena Teddy Bear...and Friends is there now. Little Marathon Pundit and I tookd a walk inside, and found quite a few adorable stuffed animals.

Stuffed bears existed then, but it was Theodore Roosevelt, as you'll read below, who as the inspiration of the Teddy Bear.

As I noted below, there is a Roosevelt-Grant connection. The 18th president's son, Frederick Dent Grant, succeeded the future 25th president as New York City's police commissioner.

Related posts:

My Mississippi Manifest Destiny: Teddy Bear

Midwestern Presidential Pathway: Mrs. Butterworth

Midwestern Presidential Pathway: Ulysses S. Grant Home

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4 comments:

Jim Roper said...

There was a winery on the edge of
town and a restaurant just above
it. It used to be called Grant's
Place. Grant's Place used to serve
the food on metal dishes that
looked like big pie tins. It's
probably gone now. It was said that
the town of Galena had a flood gate
to prevent flooding, but did it
really keep the town from flooding?
Is there any businesses left that
bear Grants name?

Jim Roper said...

Are there still B&B's in Galena????

Jim Roper said...

Free gold would be nice Wow gold!

Marathon Pundit said...

Quite a few B & Bs still in Galena.