On October 4, 1916, the Ulysses Simpson Grant Memorial Tablet was officially unveiled in the north lobby of the Connecticut State Capitol building in Hartford. The unveiling ceremony took place on a Wednesday at 2:30. The bronze tablet was commissioned by the Connecticut Division of the Sons of Veterans in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, the general who accepted Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox that ended the Civil War and the 18th president of the United States. The Division chose to honor Grant because his grandfather, Noah Grant, was a Connecticut native who served in the Revolutionary War and because he was descended from Matthew Grant, one of the earliest settlers of Windsor, Connecticut. Approximately 350 people were present at the unveiling ceremony including state officials and members and representatives of the Sons of Veterans, Sons of Veterans Auxiliary, Daughters of Veterans, Woman’s Relief Corps, and Grand Army of the Republic.

Robert T. Alcorn, Commander of the Connecticut Division of the Sons of Veterans, presided over the unveiling ceremony. The prayer at the unveiling ceremony was given Rev. James J. Dunlop, D.D., pastor of Hartford’s First Congregational Church. Charles H. Bissell, who first raised the idea of commissioning a monument to Grant, presented the tablet to Lieutenant Governor Clifford Wilson, who accepted the gift on behalf of the state of Connecticut. After this the tablet was unveiled by Faith Grant, the 10-year-old daughter of Ralph Grant, a former commander-in-chief of the Sons of Veterans and a descendant of Matthew Grant. The ceremony ended with a speech by the Rev. Dr. Harmon Rockwell, pastor of the Center Congregational Church.

The Ulysses Grant Memorial Tablet, located inside the Connecticut State Capitol building in Hartford.

Michael Tanasi is a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in history at Central Connecticut State University.

This Today in History was published as part of a semester-long graduate student project at Central Connecticut State University that examined Civil War monuments and their histories in and around the State Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut.