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 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, on July 22, 1852. He graduated from

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

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 Ferdinand De Wilton Ward, Jr. (1851–1925), known first as the "Young Napoleon of Finance," and subsequently as "the Best-Hated Man in the United States," was an American Charlatan, swindler. The collapse of his Ponzi scheme caused the financial ...

. 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 scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...

s 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 In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

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. His wife's health failing, Grant's mother suggested moving to California 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. 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 The 'U.S. Grant Hotel'' is a historic and one of the oldest hotels in downtown San Diego, California operating under a franchise of Marriott International as part of theiLuxury Collectionbrand. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Plac ...

, 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, E.S. Babcock, and

John D. Spreckels John Diedrich Spreckels (August 16, 1853 – June 7, 1926), the son of German-American industrialist Claus Spreckels, founded a transportation and real estate empire in San Diego, California, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The entrepr ...

. 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 Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

s 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 Jerome Bunty Chaffee (April 17, 1825 – March 9, 1886) was an American entrepreneur and United States Senator from Colorado. Chaffee County, Colorado is named after him. Biography He was born in Cambria, New York. He moved to Adrian, Michigan ...

, 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. Grant died at age 77 at the Sandberg Lodge on the Ridge Route north of Los Angeles 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)