Ulysses S. Grant, our 18th President of the United States of America, and the victorious Civil War General, lived here in St. Louis between 1854-1860. U.S. Grant first met his bride Julia Dent at her family home known as "White Haven" in 1848 (pictured). Grant and Julia lived at White Haven home from 1854 to the summer of 1856. They received 80 acres of land, just southwest of St. Louis as a wedding present, close to the Dent family home.
Ulysses started sawing and notching the logs that would be used to build his four room, two story cabin on the property. The cabin was completed in just three days with the help of freinds.
Grant established his farm, and called it "Hardscrabble"(pictured). The Grant family out of the Dent estate, and moved into hardscrabble in 1856. Grant did most of the work on the cabin himself. He layed the floors, built the staircase and layered the shingles on the roof. The Grant family lived at Hardscrabble for a short period of time, from September to the following January 1858 when Ulysses and Julia moved back to the Dent family home following the death of Julias mother. Ulysses rented out hardscrabble while he worked in St. Louis, as a real estate business man, and as a clerk in the US Customs House.
Ulysses ran both his farm and his father in-laws farm for some time; he grew potatoes, wheat and other vegetables, gathered fruit from the orchards, too. In 1860, the Grant family moved to Illinois, and following that move Grant entered the Civil War years 1861-1865. In 1885, the home passed out of the hands of the Grant family. Sold through various hands, and finally purchased by August Busch Sr. in 1907. In intervening years, the cabin was displayed during the 1904 worlds fair. August Busch had the cabin moved and reassembled one mile from its original location. In 1977, Anheuser-Busch restored the cabin to its present condition.
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