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General Ulysses S. Grant prevented Robert E. Lee from being charged with treason after the War. The 1865 surrender offered generous terms to paroled Confederate soldiers and officers allowing return to their homes and keeping their horses and mules as farm animals. Grant believed leniency was critical to a lasting peace for this great nation. President Andrew Johnson (17th President) negated Grant’s agreement and charged Lee and Confederate generals with treason. Grant threatened resignation of command of the army rather than execute any order to arrest Lee or any commanders as long as they obeyed the law”. President Johnson dropped the case.
Grant was Inaugurated as 18th president in 1869. He was responsible for the dismantling of the KKK during Reconstruction. In1871 troops were sent into South Carolina and ran thousands of Klansmen out of the state. They wouldn’t resurface in force until the 1910s. Three Rivers has had Klan activity a few times over the years. They tried unsuccessfully to establish a base. In 1924 the Ku Klux Klan had their headquarters in the State Bank building at the corner of present Portage and N. Main Street. 1926 lists as top floor at 110 Penn St. (presently the Monroe Museum part of the Carnegie Center). The building was once three stories tall.
Mark Twain published Grant’s memoirs. It was finished just days before his death to cancer July 1885. “The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant” published in 1886 is a literary masterpiece. Grant’s widow Julia received $450,000 in royalties. ($14,627,365 in 2024 money)
In 1968 Grant Avenue North runs from 715 W. Michigan Ave. #109 vacant, #110 Albert Smith, #112 Howard Hughes, #115 Alfred Rineholt. French St. #201 Sara Everhart, #202 Luther Warner, #205 Dwight Donmyer, #208 Howard Brundige, #211 Gerald Anderson, #212 Cecil Riggs, #215 Philip Breece, #216 Jerome Bonine, #220 Gertrude Shirley, Pealer St. #300 Edwin & Joan Knapp (owners Knapp’s Photo Supply & Studio at 7 N. Main), #312 Herbert Gibson, #313 Dorothy Reynolds, #314 Gale Thompson, #317 Gerald Heckelman family , #318 Lydia Hicks, #319 Michael Concannon, Yauney St. #400 Alva Harding, #401 Church of God Mission (A. Roberts, Pastor), #415 Marion Higgins, #422 Marshall Henschel, #429 John Payne. Next Time: South Grant Ave.nue, residents and Information.
Submitted by Anna Smith, a Three Rivers history and mystery lover.
