From Hiram Ulysses Grant to Our Direct Ancestors

According to my findings, we are indirectly related to Mr. Hiram Ulysses Grant via Josiah Grant. The previous one is a direct descendant of Samuel Grant Jr.'s. Samuel's brother Josiah Grant was the husband of Miss Rebecca Minor, our 1st cousin 7 times removed.

Here is that family tree branch.

Hiram Ulysses Grant Sr. 

(b. 27 April 1822, Point Pleasant, Clermont, Ohio/d. 23 July 1885, Mount McGregor, Columbia, New York) - soldier and politician. President of the US from 1822 to1855. During The Civil War - commanding general of the Union Army.

Birthplace of Ulysses Grant, Point Pleasant, Ohio

⇒ his father Jesse Root Grant (b. 23 Jan. 1794, Greensburg, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania/d. 29 June 1873, Covington, Kenton, Kentucky) - farmer, tanner and merchant. On 25 June 1821, Jesse married Miss Hannah Simpson (b. 23 Nov. 1798, Montgomery, Lycoming, Pennsylvania), daughter of Mr. John Simpson, farmer as well. The ceremony took place in Point Pleasant, Clermont, Ohio.

Jesse was involved in a tannery business in Georgetown, later he co-owned a leather store in Galena.

⇒ his father Noah Grant III (b. 2 June 1748, Tolland, Tolland County, Connecticut/14 Feb. 1819, Maysville, Mason, Kentucky)

Noah Grant
Connecticut Births and Christenings

Name: Noah Grant
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 23 Jun 1748
Birthplace: TOLLAND TWP, TOLLAND, CONNETICUT
Father's Name: Noah Grant

Record Source:
"Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F74L-KBV : 11 February 2018), Noah Grant, 23 Jun 1748; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.

Captain Noah Grant served in the Revolutionary War.

⇒ his father Noah Grant, Jr. (12 July 1718, present Tolland County, Connecticut/d. 20 Sept. 1756, Fort William Henry, Lake George, Albany County, New York)

Lake George

At the age of 28, Noah Jr. married Miss Susannah Delano (b. 23 June 1724). Her father was Jonathan Delano, a descendant of Philip De La Noye who emigrated to America in 1621.

Capt. Noah Grant Jr. served in the French and Indian war.

⇒ his father Noah Grant (16 Dec. 1693, Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut/d. 10 Oct. 1727, Tolland, Hartford County, Connecticut)

Noah moved to the area of Tolland (where he was granted land)  around 1717. He and his cousins, wrote a petition regarding creating a new town from the land bought from the Indians. The town was later called Tolland. Noah was an active member of the local community. On the 12th day of June 1717, he married Martha Huntington (b. 6 Dec. 1696, Norwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut), daughter of Christopher Huntigton and Ruth Rockwell.

⇒ his father  Samuel Grant, Jr. (b. 20 April 1659, present Hartford County, Connecticut/d. 8 May 1710, Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut)

Matthew Grant, Samuel's grandfather came to America from England in 1630. Samuel's father settled at East Windsor Hill. Samuel Jr. had two wives - the first was Miss Hannah Hilley and the second Miss Grace Minor, the daughter of  Cpt. John Minor and Elizabeth Booth. Grace was born on 20 Sept. 1670 in Woodbury, Hartford County, Connecticut. The second marriage took place on 11 April 1688, sometime after the passing of Samuel Jr.'s first wife.

⇒ his brother Josiah Grant (b. 19 March 1668, Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut/d. 28 March 1732, Stonington, New London County, Connecticut)

Stonington, Connecticut

Connecticut Births and Christenings
Name: Josia Grant
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 19 Mar 1668
Birthplace: WINDSOR TWP,HARTFORD,CONNETICUT
Father's Name: Samuel Grant
Mother's Name: Mary

Record Source:
"Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F74J-XZL : 11 February 2018), Josia Grant, 19 Mar 1668; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.

Josiah was a member of First Congregational Church of Stonington since 1699.

⇒ his wife Rebecca (Minor) Grant (b. 17 Sept. 1672, Taugwonk, Stonington, New London, Connecticut/d. 15 Jan. 1746, Stonington, New London, Connecticut) - our 1st cousin 7 times removed

Rebeckah Minor
Connecticut Births and Christenings
Name: Rebeckah Minor
Gender: Female
Birth Date: Sep 1672
Birthplace: STONINGTON TWP,NEW LONDON,CONNETICUT
Father's Name: Ephraim Minor

Record Source: "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V29B-238 : 11 February 2018), Rebeckah Minor, Sep 1672; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.

Rebecca married Josiah on 6 July 1696 in Stonington, Connecticut. She was a descendant of Capt. Thomas L Minor born in 1608 in Chew Magna, Somerset, England. He emigrated to the New World and was the first of the Minor family in Stonington.

⇒ her mother Hannah (Avery) Minor (b. 11 Oct. 1644, Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony)

Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester

Hannah married Ephraim Minor, a farmer, on 20 June 1666. Ephraim served in the King Philip war - for his service he was granted land and cedar swamp in Voluntown. Besides that, Ephraim was also a freeman, deputy to the general court and a co-founder of the church in Stonington (1674).

⇒ her brother Capt. Christopher Avery (b. 23 Jan. 1679, Groton, New London, Connecticut/d. 20 Jan. 1753, Groton, New London, Connecticut) - our 6 times great-grandfather

Groton, Connecticut

Christopher was a selectman, surveyor and a Justice of New London County. He served as a clerk at the North Society (Groton) church and deputy to the general court. Christopher Avery became lieutenant in 1714 and captain in 1730. He was married four times. On 1 April 1774, Christopher married his second wife Prudence Wheeler (nee Payson) born in 1681 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Prudence was the mother of Priscilla.

⇒ his daughter Priscilla (Avery) Breed (b. 29 April 1715, Groton, New London, Connecticut/d. 28 August 1786, Columbia, Richland, South Carolina)

Priscilla Avery
Connecticut Births and Christenings
Name: Priscilla Avery
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 29 Apr 1715
Birthplace: GROTON TWP, NEW LONDON, CONNETICUT
Father's Name: Christopher Avery
Mother's Name: Prudence

Record Source:
"Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F77D-PXS : 11 February 2018), Priscilla Avery, 29 Apr 1715; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.

When Priscilla was 22, she married  Rev. Joseph Breed (b. 4 Oct. 1708, Stonington, New London, Connecticut/d. 9 June 1777), the son of John Breed, Sr. and Mercy Palmer. Priscilla and Joseph exchanged marriage vows on 2 June 1737.

Priscilla and her husband were part of the religious movement called Great Awakening. They lived among the Mohawk Indians (New York) and worked as missionaries there. Later, the family moved to Frederick County, Virginia where they created a new church which followed the Separate Baptist beliefs.

After the religious and missionary work in Virginia, the Breeds and some other Baptist families relocated to Orange County, North Carolina. Together, they founded the Sandy Creek Church there (1755-1758).

⇒ her daughter Priscilla (Breed) Howard (b. 14 Oct. 1742, Stonington, New London, Connecticut/d. 29 Oct. 1808, Tompkinsville, Monroe County, Kentucky)

Presillah Breed
Connecticut Births and Christenings
Name: Presillah Breed
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 14 Oct 1742
Birthplace: COVENTRY TWP, TOLLAND,CONNECTICUT
Father's Name: Joseph Breed
Mother's Name: Prisillah

Record Source:
"Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7WC-J8Z : 11 February 2018), Presillah Breed, 14 Oct 1742; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.

In about 1758, Priscilla Breed married Rev. Obediah Howard (b. 3 March 1741, Onslow Co., North Carolina/d. 4 Oct. 1804, Tompkinsville, Barren County, Kentucky), our great-great-great-great-grandfather. Obediah's parents were Mr. Stephen Howard and his wife Sarah Sanders.

A year later, the young couple, together with minister P. Mulkey and a group of Baptists (including Priscilla's parents) moved to Broad River in South Carolina where they established a church.

On 17 Feb. 1773, Obediah Howard was granted 430 acres of land in the Fairforest and Sugar Creek area. Priscilla and Obediah had become members of Fairforest Church where they relocated with a group of 11 other Baptists led by minister Mulkey. Obediah served as messenger of the church in 1794 and 1799.

Obediah Howard served in the Revolutionary War.

⇒ their son Christopher Howard (b. about 1744, Fairforest Creek, Union County, South Carolina/d. 8 Oct. 1848, Barren Co, Monroe, Kentucky) married Miss Rebecca Hayes (b. 1775, North Carolina), the daughter of  Thomas Jesse and Mary Hayes.

⇒ his son Jarrot Howard - our great-great-grandfather

⇒ his son William James Howard

⇒ his daughter Rachel Clementine Howard - our grandmother

Sources:

• My MyHeritage research
• "The Ancestry of General Grant, and Their contemporaries", Edward Chauncey Marshall A.M., New York, Sheldon & Company, 498 & 500, Broadway, 1869. 
• "The Groton Avery Clan. Vol. 1", Elry McKendree Avery, Catharine Hitchcock (Tilden) Avery, Cleveland, 1912 
• Free online version of "South Carolina Baptists 1670-1805", Leah Townsend, Ph. D.

Photos:

• Birthplace of Ulysses Grant: By Photo by Greg Hume at en.wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18683793
• Lake George: By Sixlocal - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21269787
• Gloucester: By ThePlatypusofDoom - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54136759
• Groton: Paulo JC Nogueira [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
• Stoninton, CT: Paulo JC Nogueira [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
• Gravestone of O. Howard: Eunice Chapmond-Kilgore