Ellen Wrenshall Grant

Ellen Wrenshall "Nellie" Grant

Library of Congress

Quick Facts

Significance:

Third child and only daughter of Ulysses and Julia Grant

Place of Birth:

Saint Louis, Missouri

Date of Birth:

July 4, 1855

Place of Death:

Chicago, Illinois

Date of Death:

August 30, 1922

Place of Burial:

Springfield, Illinois

Cemetery Name:

Oak Ridge Cemetery

Ellen Wrenshall "Nellie" Grant was the third child and only daughter of Ulysses and Julia Grant. She was married twice and raise four children, three of whom lived to adulthood. 

Nellie was born on July 4, 1855 at her Grandfather's White Haven estate in St. Louis, Missouri. Julia Dent Grant recalled in her memoirs that Nellie was the light of her father's life. "She was a great pet at school, as she was at home, and so gentle and pretty. She was her father's favorite, who always called her 'my little daughter'." Of her father, Nellie recalled later in life that "my father took great interest in our schools and was anxious his children should apply themselves diligently to their studies . . . my father loved peace and hated war, but he loved this country and was devoted to its high purposes." As a young girl, Nellie was often told that the fireworks she saw on the 4th of July were for her birthday. In addition to attending grade school during the Civil War, Nellie volunteered to portray "The Old Woman in the Shoe" for the Western Sanitary Fair, which took place in St. Louis from May 17 to June 18, 1864. The fair aimed to raise funds to provide food, clothing, and health care for Union soldiers. By the end of the Western Sanitary Fair, upwards of $550,000 had been raised. Nellie's portrait was sold throughout the fair's duration, and word of this portraint eventually made its way to her father, who was fighting Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Virginia during the Overland campaign. General Grant praised his daughter for her hard work, writing in a letter to Julia that he enjoyed seeing the photo and that Nellie "looks cunning dressed as an old woman."

Nellie was still a teenager when her father was elected President of the United States in 1868. She traveled to Europe in the summer of 1872, and on the way home from this trip she met Algernon Edward Sartoris, son of a British Member of Parliament and nephew of the famous actor Fanny Kemble. The two fell in love and began a courtship. Julia Grant stated that "When Nellie came back to me, she was no longer a nestling, but a young woman equipped and ready, ah, too ready, for the battle of life." Both Ulysses and Julia Grant were skeptical of the courtship, believing that Nellie was too young to make such a commitment and that Sartoris was a questionable partner. Julia once asked, "Nellie, is it possible you are willing to leave your father and me, who have loved and cherished you all of your life, and go with this stranger for always?" According to Julia, Nellie's clever response was "Why, yes, mamma. I am sure that is just want you did when you married papa and left grandpa." The Grants relented and allowed the marriage to take place at the White House on May 21, 1874. Nellie was 18 years old at the time of her marriage. 

Nellie and Algernon Sartoris moved to Southampton, England after the wedding. Their firstborn child, Grant Grenville Edward Sartoris, was born on July 11, 1875, and was Ulysses and Julia Grant's first grandchild. Tragically, he died in infancy a year later. Three more children--Algernon, Jr., Vivian, and Rosemary--were born between 1877 and 1880. Despite the joys of family, the Sartoris marriage was a troubled one. Algernon was allegedly an emotionally abusive husband who often drank excessively and abandoned Nellie and the children for extended periods of time. The two separated in 1890, and upon Algernon's death in 1893 Nellie moved her family back to the United States. A provision in U.S. law at the time stipulated that a woman who married a non-citizen lost her own U.S. citizenship. To this end, a special act of Congress reinstating Nellie's citizenship was passed in 1898.

Upon her return to the United States, Nellie Grant lived in Washington, D.C. to be close to her mother until her death in 1902. The following year she resided in St. Louis and was appointed to serve as Chairman of the Board of Lady Managers in preparation for the 1904 World's Fair. In 1912 Nellie married Frank Jones, a lawyer and former Assistant Postmaster under President Grover Cleveland. The two resided in Chicago, but shortly after the marriage Nellie suffered a debilitating stroke that kept her paralyzed the rest of her life. She died on August 30, 1922 at the age of 67 and is buried with her second husband at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois.