CINCINNATI

The two counties just east of Cincinnati are Clermont and Brown.  You can take US Route 52 along the Ohio River or State Route 125 or US Route 32.  Smack on Rt 125 in Clermont County is the little Village of Bethel and down below it on Rt 52 is the even smaller Point Pleasant.  Further out Rt 125 is the City of Georgetown, the county seat of Brown County.

In 1799, Jesse Root Grant's father moved his family from Pennsylvania to the growing area along the Ohio River in Ohio.  Work was scarce but Jesse learned the job of a tanner as an apprentice.  He married a local girl and moved to Point Pleasant where a new tannery was established.  There, they had three of their children.  Jesse moved his family up on the hill to Georgetown where he had three more children.  From 1837 to 1839, Jesse was the mayor of Georgetown.

Two years later, Jesse moved his family to a home in Bethel and opened his own tannery.  He served as the mayor of Bethel from 1851 to 1855. He eventually retired to Covington, Kentucky.

Jesse's eldest son, Hiram, went sent off to boarding schools but never really excelled.  Jesse encouraged an Ohio state senator to nominate Hiram for appointment to West Point Military Academy when he was 16.  The Senator's letter of nomination incorrectly identified Hiram Ulysses as Ulysses S.  The name stuck and the boy they thought was named Uncle Sam did well.

U.S. Grant went on to become Commanding General of the U.S. Army during the Civil War; later Secretary of War; and ultimately, the 18th President of the United States. 

Born in little Point Pleasant, Ohio.
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