Julia Boggs Dent was born January 26, 1826 at St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of plantation owner Frederick Dent and his wife, Ellen Bray Wrenshall Dent. The family had a house in town, as well as a flourishing plantation outside of St. Louis (White Haven), and Julia spent time at both. For several years she attended school in St. Louis.
Julia Dent and Ulysses S. Grant
As a cadet at West Point, Ulysses Grant had been a classmate of Julia’s brother Frederick, and on a visit to the Dent home, he met Julia. While the couple soon decided to marry, their families did not approve. Her father objected to Grant as a career soldier with limited prospects; his father did not approve because the Dents were slaveholders. In fact, Grant's parents did not attend the wedding, though later they relented and welcomed Julia to the family. Julia (age 22) and Ulysses (age 26) were married on August 22, 1848, after a four-year courtship.
Children of Julia and Ulysses S. Grant
The couple had four children: three sons and a daughter.
- Frederick Dent Grant became a soldier and later, a public official. He married Ida Marie Honore.
- Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., called "Buck" also became a lawyer. He married 1) Fannie Josephine Chaffee, and 2) America Workman Will.
- Ellen Wrenshall Grant known as "Nellie", who married 1) Algernon Sartoris, an English diplomat, and 2) Frank Hatch Jones, a Chicago banker.
- Jesse Root Grant, named for Ulysses’ father, became an engineer. He married 1) Elizabeth Chapman, and 2) Lillian Burns Wilkins.
Julia Dent Grant buried her husband in 1885; she herself died 17 years later, on December 14, 1902. She was buried beside him in the tomb on Riverside Drive, overlooking the Hudson River, in New York City. Julia Grant became the first president’s wife to write a memoir, though it was not published during her lifetime. The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant was finally published in 1975.
Julia’s Dent Ancestry: Thomas Dent, Emigrant to America
Thomas Dent (1630-1676), was born in the parish of Guisborough, Yorkshire, arriving in America about 1659, according to Harry Wright Newman, writing in Charles County Gentry. (Julia Grant’s Memoir, however, says he arrived in 1643). Whichever date is correct, it is known that Thomas Dent landed in Maryland, and then married Rebecca Wilkinson, who was born in Virginia to Reverend William Wilkinson and his wife Naomi. Reverend Wilkinson was the first Anglican clergyman in Maryland.
The Dents of White Haven, Maryland
Their son, William Dent (1660-1705), married Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Thorowgood Chandler-Fowke and Colonel Gerard Fowke. William and Elizabeth were the parents of six sons and three daughters. Their seventh child, Peter (1693-1757), married his relative Mary Brooke (1709-1781) in 1726. She was the daughter of Thomas and Lucy Smith Brooke and granddaughter of Barbara Dent Brooke. Peter was a magistrate of Prince Georges County and owned a plantation called White Haven.
Peter and Mary Brooke Fowke had eleven children, including another Peter (1728-1785), who married a Mary Eleanor, whose last name was likely Hawkins.
Peter and Mary Eleanor had two sons, including George Dent (1755-1812). Peter married for a second time, to Anne, by whom he had nine more children. Peter Dent served in the Revolutionary War as a private in the Charles County militia.
George Dent, son of Peter and Mary Eleanor Dent, married Susannah Marbury Dawson. They were the parents of five children, including Frederick Fayette Dent (1787-1873), who was born at Cumberland, Maryland.
Frederick Dent Purchases another White Haven, in Missouri
As an adult, Frederick moved first to Pittsburgh, where he was a merchant; there he met and married Ellen Bray Wrenshall in 1814. The couple moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he prospered as a merchant, eventually purchasing an estate he named White Haven, after the home of his grandfather Peter in Maryland.
Ellen Wrenshall (d 1847) was born in England and brought to America as a small child by her parents, according to the Memoir. Ellen’s father, John Wrenshall, was a staunch Methodist who came to America as a merchant with the importing firm of Wrenshall, Peacock, and Pillon. The family settled in Philadelphia, where Ellen attended school. Frederick and Ellen were the parents of eight children, including Julia Boggs Dent, their oldest daughter.
Sources
- Charles County Gentry, by Harry Wright Newman, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1971.
- The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant, by Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, Putnam, 1975.
Katharine Garstka - Katharine Garstka specializes in genealogical research and in historical and genealogical writing.
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