proved the title beyond dispute, and perfected the claim of the owners
for a consideration--three thousand dollars, I think. I remember the
circumstance well, and remember, too, hearing him say on his return that
he found some widows living on the property, who had little or nothing
beyond their homes. From these he refused to receive any recompense.

My mother's father, John Simpson, moved from Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania, to Clermont County, Ohio, about the year 1819, taking with
him his four children, three daughters and one son. My mother, Hannah
Simpson, was the third of these children, and was then over twenty years
of age. Her oldest sister was at that time married, and had several
children. She still lives in Clermont County at this writing, October
5th, 1884, and is over ninety ears of age. Until her memory failed her,
a few years ago, she thought the country ruined beyond recovery when the
Democratic party lost control in 1860. Her family, which was large,
inherited her views, with the exception of one son who settled in
Kentucky before the war. He was the only one of the children who
entered the volunteer service to suppress the rebellion.

Her brother, next of age and now past eighty-eight, is also still living
in Clermont County, within a few miles of the old homestead, and is as
active in mind as ever. He was a supporter of the Government during the
war, and remains a firm believer, that national success by the
Democratic party means irretrievable ruin.

In June, 1821, my father, Jesse R. Grant, married Hannah Simpson. I was
born on the 27th of April, 1822, at Point Pleasant, Clermont County,
Ohio. In the fall of 1823 we moved to Georgetown, the county seat of
Brown, the adjoining county east. This place remained my home, until at
the age of seventeen, in 1839, I went to West Point.