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  • From: DSanner106 AT aol.com
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Obama and religion
  • Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:52:26 EDT

In those days, slaves could be taken and sold to satisfy debt, so not really
different from the rest of his property. Grant paid all his debt once he
re-entered the military. One of the stories told by Sherman years later was
that
he ran into Grant in Kansas City before the war. Grant was dressed in his old
army coat, and very ragged clothes. When he saw sherman he stopped him and
emptied his pockets of money. Sherman tried to refuse, though he could use
the
money himself, but Grant said until he had repaid the 10.00 he had borrowed,
any money in his pocket belonged to Sherman.

As for the debts after office, they were new debts acquired by his unwise
lending of his name to various harebrained schemes and investments with so
called friends in Washington. He spent the last months of his life, knowing
he
was dying, working 12 hours a day writing the memoirs to settle the creditors

before his death. He was a life long fool with money, but he absolutely
showed
a great deal of character in how he handled his debts.



In a message dated 4/28/2008 7:04:17 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
Clansgian AT wmconnect.com writes:

> All very true, but Grant did repay his creditors and had sold other
> possessions to do so, if he
> saw Jones as simply another possession, why draw the line there.

Because as slave property, Jones was unique among his possessions. If he
manumitted him, Jones was immeditely beyond the grasp of Grant's creditors
but it
cost Grant nothing to do so. The rest of his possessions he was going to
lose anyway.

Most of his debts were eventually paid, true enough. But recall that even
after having been president, he was so broke that Samuel Clements had to
publish Grant's memoirs at Clements' own expense and basically did so as a
tribute
to Grant without profiting much from it himself.




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