Ulysses S. Grant was the first born son of Jesse Root Grant and Hannah Simpson Grant. This article lends itself to the story of this future general's ancestry, birth, and early career in and out of the United States army from 1822 to 1861. Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio and he was educated in both private and public schools or academies and was later known to be an avid reader. Grant was raised as a Methodist, but uncommon for his time, he was not baptized or forced to attend church by his parents. Growing up in a middle-class family and supported by his father's tanneries, he sought a different career in the military. He was appointed to West Point by Ohio Congressman Thomas L. Hamer. It was Hamer who gave Grant the name Ulysses S. Grant when Grant entered West Point as a plebe in