Nellie Grant

Daughter of Union General Ulysses S. Grant

Nellie Grant was the third child and only daughter of Union general and later president and first lady, Ulysses S. Grant and Julia Dent Grant. Grant was an affectionate father and his devotion to Nellie was touching to all who observed it. Nellie was only thirteen when she moved into the White House, and the press adored her.

Image: Nellie Grant at age 15

Childhood and Early Years
Nellie Grant was born on the Fourth of July in 1855 at White Haven, her mother's family home near St. Louis, Missouri. She was first named Julia, at the insistence of her father, but was christened Ellen Wrenshall Grant at eighteen months to honor her dying grandmother. She was thirteen when her father was elected president and the family moved into the White House.

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Grace Bedell

A Child's Letter to One of Our Greatest Leaders

Grace Bedell was eleven years old in 1860, when she wrote a letter to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln suggesting that he grow his now famous beard. When the two met a few months later, Grace became so flustered, she ran off, still holding a bouquet of flowers she had intended to give to Mr. Lincoln.

Image: In 1999 the village of Westfield, New York erected these statues commemorating the meeting between Abraham Lincoln and Grace Bedell on February 16, 1861.

Grace Bedell's father was a staunch Republican and active supporter of Abraham Lincoln, and one day in October 1860, he brought home a picture of Abraham Lincoln and his running mate in the 1860 presidential election, Hannibal Hamlin.

Years later Grace explained her feelings that day:

You are familiar with Mr. Lincoln's physiognomy, and remember the high forehead over those sadly pathetic eyes, the angular lower face with the deep cut lines about the mouth. As I regarded the picture, I said to my mother, "He would look better if he wore whiskers, and I mean to write and tell him so.

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Anna Surratt

Daughter of Accused Lincoln Assassination Conspirator

Anna was only 22 years old when her mother Mary Surratt was sentenced to death as a conspirator in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. Despite Anna's heartbreaking efforts to save her mother, Mary Surratt was hanged not quite three months after the assassination.

Anna's parents, Mary and John Surratt, were married in 1840, and lived on land John had inherited from his foster parents in what is now a section of Washington known as Congress Heights. John and Mary had three children: Isaac (born on June 2, 1841), Anna (January 1, 1843) and John Jr. (April 13, 1844).

When Anna was nine, her father purchased 287 acres of land that became known as Surrattsville (now Clinton). He opened a tavern that served as a polling place, post office and part time hotel. This became the destination for those wanting to discuss politics of the day. When the Civil War began in 1861 it was no secret that the Surratts favored the Confederacy.

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