Nellie Grant

Nellie Grant and Algernon Charles Frederick Sartoris circa 1875 to 1880

Nellie with her mother, Julia Grant; brother, Jesse; and her mother's father, Frederick Dent

Nellie Grant (July 4, 1855 – August 30, 1922) was the third child and only daughter of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant and First Lady Julia Grant.

Biography

Born near St. Louis, Missouri, she was first named Julia, at the insistence of her father, but was christened Ellen Wrenshall Grant at eighteen months to honor her dying grandmother.^[1]

She died on August 30, 1922.

Marriage and children

Despite her father's disapproval, Nellie was married to Algernon Charles Frederick Sartoris (August 1, 1851 – February 3, 1893), a wealthy English singer, son of Adelaide Kemble and nephew of the famous actress Fanny Kemble, in a lavish White House ceremony on May 21, 1874.^[2]

They lived together in England for a time but later separated. They had four children, two sons and two daughters:

• Grant Grenville Edward Sartoris (b. July 11, 1875 d. May 21, 1876)
• Algernon Edward Sartoris (b. March 17, 1877 d. January 17, 1928)^[3]
• Vivien May Sartoris (b. April 7, 1879 d. December 1933), who married Frederick Roosevelt Scovel, a grandson of judge James John Roosevelt and second cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt
• Rosemary Alice Sartoris (b. November 30, 1880 d. August 28, 1914)

Her father had disapproved of the marriage, and Sartoris proved dissolute and a disappointment to his parents, who made it clear that they did not blame Nellie for the breakup. Sartoris died in 1893, leaving her a wealthy young widow.

She married a second time to Frank Hatch Jones (March 6, 1854 - October 2, 1931) a lawyer originally from Springfield who lived in Chicago.^[4] He was a Yale University graduate, who was Chairman of the Sangamon County Democratic Committee, President of the State League of Democratic Clubs of Illinois and Secretary of the Illinois State Bar Association.

At the time of her father's death, she was honored with a popular poem Nellie by the writer Eugene Field. Upon her own death, her remains were buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.^[5]

References

1. "Nellie Grant". Retrieved 2015-04-21.
2. Garland, Hamlin, Ulysses S. Grant: His Life and Character, Macmillan Company, 1898.
3. "Algernon E. Sartoris. Former Diplomat, a Grandson of President Grant, Dies in France". New York Times. January 26, 1928. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
4. "Mrs. H. G. Sartoris to Wed F. H. Jones. Only Daughter of ex-President Grant Engaged to ex-Assistant Postmaster General". New York Times. June 22, 1912. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
5. "Ellen Wrenshall "Nellie" Jones". Find-a-Grave.

Further reading

• Catton, Bruce, Grant Takes Command, Little, Brown and Company, 1968, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 69-12632.
• Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• Garland, Hamlin, Ulysses S. Grant: His Life and Character, Macmillan Company, 1898.
• Grant, Ulysses S., Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885–86, ISBN 0-914427-67-9.
• Hesseltine, William B., Ulysses S. Grant: Politician 1935.
• Lewis, Lloyd, Captain Sam Grant, Little, Brown, and Co., 1950, ISBN 0-316-52348-8.
• McFeely, William S., Grant: A Biography, W. W. Norton & Co, 1981, ISBN 0-393-01372-3.
• McPherson, James M., Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States), Oxford University Press, 1988, ISBN 0-19-503863-0.
• Simpson, Brooks D., Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity, 1822-1865, Houghton Mifflin, 2000, ISBN 0-395-65994-9.
• Smith, Jean Edward, Grant, Simon and Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-84927-5.
• Woodworth, Steven E., Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861 – 1865, Alfred A. Knopf, 2005, ISBN 0-375-41218-2.
• Bell, William Garnder (2005). "Ulysses Simpson Grant". Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 70-14.