Ulysses Simpson Grant (1920-2011)

Ulysses S. Grant V, 1920-2011, last surviving great-grandson of president By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press Last Modified: Mar 7, 2011 09:55PM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The last surviving great-grandson of Ulysses S. Grant has died in a southwest Missouri home brimming with artifacts from the nation's 18th president and commander of the Union forces in the Civil War.

Ulysses S. Grant V spent part of his youth in the home of his grandfather, Jesse Grant, who was the late president's youngest son. Jesse Grant's wife, Elizabeth, is credited with helping to save the artifacts.

As an adult, Mr. Grant V became a custodian to the items - including his famous relative's letters, his will, his china and even the flag said to have flown over the Appomattox Court House when Robert E. Lee surrendered. Some of the items have been sold in recent years.

"It was everywhere growing up," said Mr. Grant V's grandson, Ulysses S. Grant VI. "It was an everyday part of our life."

Grant VI said his grandfather died Wednesday at age 90 at his home near the Springfield-area town of Battlefield. He had suffered a stroke previously.

Grant VI said Mr. Grant V was "proud of his heritage" and "the smartest man I ever met." He said they had a special relationship because he was born on his grandfather's 50th birthday.

Mr. Grant V called him Sam - a nickname the late president's West Point classmates gave him because his initials, "U.S.," reminded them of "Uncle Sam." In reality, the general was actually born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but the congressman who submitted his name to West Point mixed it up. Grant adopted the new name. AP