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Grant’s Farm

80-seat theatre

Civil War Christmas

Grant Christmas connection Christmas of 1884 Momentous Christmas Dec of 64…When Sherman captured Savannah… Sherman sent Lincoln the news as a Christmas present. Grant preferably or perhaps not…

Mr. Good March, 1864… Lincoln asked Grant to be General in Chief

Wednesday, December 21, 1864. Washington, DC. President telegraphs Mrs. Lincoln at Continental Hotel in Philadelphia: "Do not come on the night train. It is too cold. Come in the morning." Abraham Lincoln to Mary Todd Lincoln, 21 December 1864, CW, 8:174-75. Interviews delegation from Baltimore urging retention of H. W. Hoffman in customhouse. Thomsen to Chestnut, 21 December 1864, Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Writes Gen. Butler: "I now learn, correctly I suppose, that you have ordered an election, . . . to take place on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Let this be suspended, at least until conferrence [sic] with me, and obtaining my approval." Abraham Lincoln to Benjamin F. Butler, 21 December 1864, CW, 8:174.

Saturday, December 24, 1864. Washington, DC. Lincoln recognizes R. Barth as consul of Grand Dukedom of Baden at St. Louis. Washington Chronicle, 30 December 1864. Receives Richard C. Parsons, representative of Common Council of Cleveland, who presents importance of establishing navy yard on Great Lakes. Allen to Lincoln, 20 December 1864, Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Sec. Welles calls on President and gets death sentence commuted and obtains pass to Richmond for Laura Jones. Welles, Diary. O. H. Browning confers with Lincoln about permitting James W. Singleton, Illinois politician and cotton and tobacco buyer, to go to Richmond for purpose of buying cotton. Browning, Diary. President and Mrs. Lincoln send letters to Soldiers' Fair in Springfield, Mass. Washington Chronicle, 1 January 1865. President acknowledges receipt of volume "commemorative of the celebration in honor of the passage of the Ordinance of Emancipation of the State of Louisiana." Abraham Lincoln to Thomas J. Durant, 24 December 1864, CW, 8:179. Endorses letter of Samuel D. Lockwood, Batavia, Ill.: "Judge Lockwood, the writer, is one of the best men in the world." Endorsement Concerning Samuel D. Lockwood, 24 December 1864, CW, 8:179-80. Writes Sec. Seward: "Gen. C. S. Todd, once much of a man, is now superannuated, and would be an incumbrance upon the Commander in New-Orleans, unjustifiable in me to impose upon him." [Charles S. Todd, assessor of internal revenue at Owensboro, Ky., asked for military appointment under Gen. Banks.] Abraham Lincoln to William H. Seward, 24 December 1864, CW, 8:181.

Sunday, December 25, 1864. Washington, DC. Lincoln writes an endorsement on a letter concerning Private David Henry Patterson, a member of the 9th New York Cavalry's Company K. On November 2, 1864, Mrs. Kesiah Patterson, of Durand, Illinois, wrote to Fannie McKean, of Washington, D. C., on behalf of David Patterson's mother. On June 11, David Patterson was wounded in battle at Trevilian Station, Virginia. Kesiah Patterson learned from David's mother that he "has been ill almost from the moment of his entering the army. It seems that he has himself physically unable to endure the rigor of camp life...A recent illness deprived him of the little strength and courage that he had endeavored to sustain himself with and now his only hope is to get to his mother and spend the remnant of his life, which he feels will be brief, with her." Kesiah notes that David Patterson is a patient at Finley Hospital, located in Washington D. C.'s fourth ward. Perhaps McKean showed the letter to Lincoln, who forwarded it to Illinois Congressman John F. Farnsworth with the note, "Can Gen. Farnsworth tell anything about this case?" Kesiah Patterson to Fannie McKean, 2 November 1864, The Lincoln Museum, Ft. Wayne, IN; Newel Cheney,History of the Ninth Regiment, New York Volunteer Cavalry. War of 1861 To 1865 (Jamestown, NY: Martin Merz & Son, 1901), 394.

BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR 
The North and South were divided on the issue of Christmas, as well as on the question of slavery. Many Northerners saw sin in the celebration of Christmas; to these people the celebration of Thanksgiving was more appropriate. But in the South, Christmas was an important part of the social season. Not surprisingly, the first three states to make Christmas a legal holiday were in the South: Alabama in 1836, Louisiana and Arkansas in 1838.

In the years after the Civil War, Christmas traditions spread across the country. Children's books played an important role in spreading the customs of celebrating Christmas, especially the tradition of trimmed trees and gifts delivered by Santa Claus. Sunday school classes encouraged the celebration of Christmas. Women's magazines were also very important in suggesting ways to decorate for the holidays, as well as how to make these decorations. IT BECOMES AN OFFICIAL HOLIDAY
President Ulysses S. Grant declared Christmas a legal holiday in 1870. The bill to make Christmas a holiday was introduced into the House of Representatives by Rep. Burton Chauncey Cook (Illinois). It was approved and passed to the Senate on June 24, 1870. When both houses had agreed on the wording (below) it was passed on to President Grant, who signed it on June 28, 1870. Here is the wording of that act of Congress: An Act making the first Day of January, the twenty-fifth Day of December, the fourth Day of July, and Thanksgiving Day, Holidays, within the District of Columbia. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following days, to wit: The first day of January, commonly called New Year's day, the fourth day of July, the twenty-fifth day of December, commonly called Christmas Day, and any day appointed or recommended by the President of the United States as a day of public fast or thanksgiving, shall be holidays within the District of Columbia, and shall, for all purposes of presenting for payment or acceptance of the maturity and protest, and giving notice of the dishonor of bills of exchange, bank checks and promissory notes or other negotiable or commercial paper, be treated and considered as is the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and all notes, drafts, checks, or other commercial or negotiable paper falling due or maturing on either of said holidays shall be deemed as having matured on the day previous. APPROVED, June 28, 1870 by President Ulysses S. Grant. Short Grant bio: http://shs.umsystem.edu/historicmissourians/name/g/grant

Christmas in the Civil War, year by year: http://americancivilwar.50megs.com/xmas/ChristmasCard.html Grant's Farm is a historic farm and long-standing landmark in Grantwood Village, Missouri. The property was at one time owned by Ulysses S. Grant and prior to that, by the Dent family. It is now owned by the Busch family, who owned the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company for many years until it was sold to InBev in 2008. Grant's Farm has been an animal reserve for many years and is open to the public for free; however, there is a parking fee of $12 per vehicle. This fee helps to maintain the farm. The farm is home to such animals as buffalo, elephants, camels, kangaroos, donkeys, goats, peacocks, the iconic Budweiser Clydesdales and many more. Most of these animals can be seen by visitors on a tram tour of the deer park region of the park, while the Clydesdales are found in their nearby barn and pastures. The farm also contains a cabin called "Hardscrabble," which was built by Ulysses S. Grant on another part of the property and later relocated to Grant's Farm. It is the only remaining structure that was hand-built by a U.S. president prior to assuming office.[1] Also on the farm is the Busch family mansion, and a house in which Ulysses S. Grant resided between the Mexican and Civil Wars -- White Haven. This had been his wife, Julia Grant's, family home. Frederick Dent, Julia's father, gave 80 acres of the farm to the couple as a wedding present. White Haven is now a national historic site: the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, and is located just across the road from Grant's Farm.

When Ulysses S. Grant resigned from the military in 1854, he longed to spend time with his wife Julia and their young children. Since the army no longer provided him an income, he planned to support his family by farming at White Haven. Cultivating the 80 acres given to the Grants as a wedding gift, Ulysses also managed the rest of the land of his father-in-law, Colonel Frederick Dent. With the help of the Dents’ slaves, Grant planted crops of potatoes and wheat, corded wood, harvested fruit from the orchards, and tended a vegetable garden. He was so dedicated to this future that he commented to a friend, “whoever hears of me in ten years will hear of a well-to-do old Missouri farmer.” Establishing himself as a successful, independent farmer included the construction of his own house. Grant selected an elevated location about 100 feet from the road (the site of present-day St. Paul’s Cemetery) and close to his crops. In the fall of 1855, he began cutting, hewing, and notching logs for the cabin. Accustomed to the relative finery of Wish-ton-wish, the stone home built by Julia’s brother Louis Dent, she lamented Ulysses’ decision to build a log cabin, not even “a neat frame house.” The next spring and summer, he set about digging a cellar and setting the stones for the foundation; neighbors and slaves then assisted in the house raising. Grant completed much of the work himself, shingling the roof, building the stairs, and laying the floors. The cabin was divided into four rooms, two upstairs and two downstairs, with a hall running between them on both floors. Julia did her best to decorate the place, but even her standards of refinement could not conceal its rustic nature. Julia recalled that it was “so crude and homely I did not like it at all, but I did not say so. I got out all my pretty covers, baskets, books, etc., and tried to make it look home-like and comfortable, but this was hard to do. The little house looked so unattractive that we facetiously decided to call it Hardscrabble.” Even though Hardscrabble was the first house that the Grants ever owned, they lived there for only a short time. Julia remembered moving in during September 1856, and living there only three months. At the request of Colonel Dent, Julia and Ulysses returned to White Haven when her mother died in January 1857. The little cabin never again served as the Grants’ domicile. After the Grants vacated Hardscrabble the building acquired a history of its own. Due to its association with the famous General and President, it was dismantled and moved three times, until it was finally located on the property of present day Grant’s Farm, which is owned and operated by Anheuser-Busch, and adjacent to Ulysses S. Grant NHS. The History of Hardscrabble Fall 1855 - Grant prepares logs for building the cabin. Summer 1856 - Grant sets the foundation and builds the house. September 1856 - The Grants move into Hardscrabble. January 1857 - The Grants move out of Hardscrabble. August 23, 1859 - Frederick Dent (who retained legal title to the land Hardscrabble was built on but was acting for Grant), sells the farm to Joseph W. White for $7,200. February 12, 1863 - Joseph white defaults on his payments, and Julia regains title to her land and property. April 20, 1863 - Julia leases out the farm; after a payment dispute, the Grants win the resultant legal battle which reached the Missouri Supreme Court in 1868. May 17, 1884 - Grant mortgages his property (which now includes nearly 650 acres) to William Vanderbilt in order to cover a loan of $150,000.

April 15, 1885 - Grant formally conveys the property to Vanderbilt.

1888 - Luther H. Conn purchases the farm.

December 2, 1889 - Luther Conn sells 132 acres to nurseryman Henry J. Weber for $10,175, but retains the rights to sell the cabin separately.

1891 - Conn sells the cabin for $5,000 to Edward and Justin Joy, two real estate developers. They carefully number each log, disassemble the structure, and rebuild it in Old Orchard, part of nearby Webster Groves, Missouri.

March, 1903 - C. F. Blanke buys the cabin for $8,000 and uses it to attract crowds to his company’s coffee display at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Blank intends for the cabin to remain permanently in Forest Park, but fails to reach an agreement with city authorities concerning maintenance of the structure.

1907 - August A. Busch purchases Hardscrabble and rebuilds it upon his estate, which encompasses over 280 acres of the land once owned by Grant. The cabin, situated about one mile from its original site, remains there today.

1946 - The Webster Groves Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erects a place marker in St. Paul’s Churchyard Cememtery at the original location of Grant’s cabin.

1977 - Anheuser-Busch restores the cabin, replacing rotted wood and other structural elements, rebuilding it to its present-day appearance. The cabin is open to the public on a periodic basis.