FLOTUS: First Ladies of the United States

Julia Grant

Julia Boggs Grant (née Dent; January 26, 1826 – December 14, 1902) was the first lady of the United States and wife of President Ulysses S. Grant. As first lady, she became a national figure in her own right. Her memoirs, The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant were published in 1975.

Early life and education

Julia Boggs Dent was born on January 26, 1826, at White Haven plantation west of St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents were Frederick Dent (1787–1873), a slaveholding planter and merchant, and Ellen Wrenshall Dent. Frederick owned about 30 African slaves, whom he freed only when compelled by law, having previously resisted moral arguments against slaveholding.

Julia, a distant maternal relative to Confederate General James Longstreet, was the fifth of eight children. In her memoirs, Julia described her childhood as "one long summer of sunshine, flowers, and smiles..."

Around 1831–1836, Julia attended the Gravois School, a co-educational one-room schoolhouse in St. Louis. From age 10 to age 17, Julia attended the Misses Mauros' boarding school in St. Louis with the daughters of other affluent parents. Julia was a boarding student during the week and returned home to White Haven on weekends.

The Dent family was highly social with visitors coming from among the elite class of Cincinnati, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. William Clark (of Lewis and Clark) and politician Alexander McNair were family friends.

As a young woman, Julia was a skilled pianist, an expert horsewoman, and a voracious reader of novels.

Strabismus

Julia was born with strabismus (more commonly known as "crossed eyes") which prevents both eyes from lining up in the same direction. When she was younger, one of the best surgeons in the country offered to perform the simple operation that would fix them. Julia was not keen on surgery, however, and declined.

After her husband became president, Julia reconsidered surgery. "I never dared to consent, but now that my husband had become so famous I thought it behooved me to try to look as well as possible." Ulysses objected: "Did I not see you and fall in love with you with these same eyes? I like them just as they are, and now, remember; you are not to interfere with them. They are mine and let me tell you, Mrs. Grant, you had better not make any experiments, as I might not like you half so well with any other eyes."

Because her strabismus was never corrected, Julia almost always posed in profile for portraits.

Engagement and marriage to Grant

While a student at West Point, New York, Fred Dent wrote his sister Julia about how impressed he was with a fellow student, Ulysses S. Grant. "I want you to know him, he is pure gold." In 1844, Ulysses S. Grant began visiting the Dent family. At one point her pet canary died, and Ulysses crafted a small yellow coffin and summoned eight fellow officers for an avian funeral service. In April of that year, Ulysses asked Julia to wear his class ring, as a sign of their exclusive affection. Eighteen-year-old Julia initially demurred. Grant's regiment was then ordered to Louisiana, in preparation for service in the Mexican War. Distraught at their separation, Julia had an intense dream, which she detailed to several people, that Grant would somehow return within days, wearing civilian clothes and stating his intention of staying for a week. Despite the unlikeliness of the dream, Ulysses did return just as Julia had predicted and the two became engaged.

In July 1848, after they had been apart for four years, Grant's regiment returned to the United States, and he took leave so that he could make wedding arrangements in St. Louis. Grant's father, Jesse Grant, refused to attend their wedding (August 22, 1848), objecting not to Julia, but to her family's owning slaves.