Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located southwest of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, within the municipality of Grantwood Village, Missouri. The site, also known as White Haven, commemorates the life, military career and presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. Five historic structures are preserved at the site, including the childhood home of Ulysses' wife, Julia Dent Grant. White Haven was an 850-acre plantation worked by enslaved people; Grant supervised their forced labor from 1854 to 1859. History After his marriage to Julia, Grant was stationed in Michigan and New York. Julia traveled with him to these posts, returning to White Haven in 1850 for the birth of their first child, Fred, in 1850. When Ulysses was sent west in 1852, Julia was not able to go with him, being pregnant with their second child. She returned to her parents' home after stopping at Ulysses' parents' home in Ohio, where Ulysses Jr., was born. Grant's army pay was insufficient to bring his family out to the West Coast, and he tried several business ventures to supplement his income. Suffering from depression and loneliness after being separated for two years, Grant finally resigned from the army in 1854 and returned to White Haven. Grant farmed the White Haven property for his father-in-law, working with the slaves owned by Julia's father. Two more children were born, Ellen, born on July 4, 1855, and Jesse, in February 1858. Due to a financial panic in 1857, along with bad weather that destroyed many farmers' crops, Ulysses worked for a short time in the city of St. Louis in real estate and as an engineer. In 1860, Ulysses, Julia, and their four children moved to Galena, Illinois. Ulysses worked with his brothers selling leather goods made in their father's tannery. Slavery at White Haven A large number of enslaved people lived and worked at White Haven. According to the National Park Service, during the 1850s the forced labor of enslaved people "was used extensively in the farming and maintenance of the 850-acre plantation." From 1854 to 1859, Grant lived here with his wife, Julia, and their children, managing the farm for his father-in-law, Colonel Dent. His experience running this forced labor camp may have influenced him in his later roles as the Union general in the Civil War and as President of the United States. The setting Most slaveholders in