Illinois, Part 2

From Rockford, it's a fairly short drive to Galena, Illinois. We took a break from sites about Abraham Lincoln, and spent an afternoon visiting the former home of Ulysses S. Grant and family.

The Grants moved to Galena in 1860 and rented a brick house for the time before the Civil War started. After the war ended, Grant returned to Galena, but ended up with his own home, purchased for him by 13 local men in gratitude for his work during the war. The house is open to the public, and many of the furnishings are original to the home or the time period.

The downstairs portion was the family area; upstairs were bedrooms. At right is a portion of the parlor, which was used for entertaining guests and not much else. At this time of year, it's decorated for Christmas, as is the rest of the house. President Grant declared December 25th as the official date for Christmas. Decorated trees became a Christmas tradition in American homes in the years that followed.




At left is the kitchen. Mrs. Grant appears to have done most of her own cooking.






At right is the library, also decorated. There are bookshelves against the wall opposite the windows; the shelves belonged to the Grants when they lived in Galena. The table is set for a typical family holiday dinner for the time period.






At right is Ellen "Nellie" Grant's room. The Grants had four children, three sons and one daughter.



Outside the home is a garden, and this statue of Mrs. Grant was erected there a couple of years back. The staff at the Grant house suggested the idea, and sought donations from companies and individuals. The staff's reasoning was that there were plenty of statues of the General, but Mrs. Grant deserved to be honored for some of the things done while she was First Lady, and afterward when she and her husband returned to the area.

Galena also has a display on the Grants at the Old Market House in the historic area.