Grant House

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Historical Marker #1594 in Kenton County marks the home of Jesse and Hannah Grant, the parents of President Ulysses S. Grant. The Grant family lived there from 1859 to 1873.

Jesse Root Grant married Hannah Simpson on June 24, 1821, in Clermont County, Ohio. Jesse learned tannery from his half-brother and family friends, while Hannah was the educated daughter of a nearby farmer. Ten months later, Hannah gave birth to a son, Hiram Ulysses Grant, who would become known as Ulysses S. at West Point. U.S. Grant would become a Civil War hero and the eighteenth President of the United States of America.

The Grants had five more children between 1825 and 1839. In 1854, they moved to the home on Greenup Avenue in Covington.

U.S. Grant visited his parents' home in Covington on numerous occasions, including a week-long visit shortly after the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861. Although he was retired from military service at the time, Grant was itching to get back into the army. It was in Covington that he received an invitation from the Governor of Illinois to command a regiment, which he accepted in June 1861. This began his meteoric rise to fame during the Civil War.

Over the course of the war, the Grant home in Covington played host for more than a year to Ulysses's wife, Julia, and his children. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman also visited the house with Grant. Other noted visitors included Confederate General Kirby Smith, Union General George Stoneman, and future Secretary of War, John Rawlins. Grant spent another week-long visit in Covington in 1872 while he was President of the United States.

The House itself was built around 1850 and underwent later additions. The home was featured in an 1865 issue of "Harper's Weekly" after the first renovation.