ULYSSES S. GRANT

Inscription

ULYSSES S. GRANT
ON JUNE 25, 1873 PRES. GRANT
VISITED HIS WARDS, CHILDREN
OF LATE GEN. JOHN A. RAWLINS,
WHO LIVED IN THIS HOUSE WITH
THEIR GRANDMOTHER SARAH SMITH.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2019

Former president and Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant visited the Village of Goshen in June of 1873. There were several reasons for his trip. He kept horses near the historic racetrack and wanted to see how they were doing and watch them race. Even more important, he wanted to check in on the orphaned children of his friend the late John A. Rawlins. Rawlins met Grant in 1861, not long after the attack on Fort Sumter. Grant heard a speech Rawlins delivered and was immediately impressed. General Grant offered Rawlins the position of his personal aide-de-camp and from there Rawlins military career grew. By the end of the war Rawlins became Brevet Major General with the U. S. Army. After the war he served briefly in Grant’s cabinet as Secretary of War.

Rawlins connection to Goshen, NY was through his wife, Emily Smith, who died at a young age leaving Rawlins with the care of their children. The children lived for some time in Goshen with their grandparents, in the house on Main Street where President Grant called on them. Unfortunately Rawlins also died young. His will stipulated that Grant be the guardian of his children. Grant ultimately decided it best they live with their grandparents and it was there that he visited them in June of 1873.