[6] Jesse Grant moved to Point Pleasant in 1820 and found work as a foreman in a tannery.[7] He soon met his future wife, Hannah, and the two were married on June 24, 1821.[8] Hannah descended from Presbyterian immigrants from Ballygawley in County Tyrone, Ireland.[9][10] Ten months after she was married, Hannah gave birth to Ulysses, her and Jesse's first child.[11] The boy's name, Ulysses, was drawn from ballots placed in a hat. To honor his father-in-law, Jesse named the boy Hiram Ulysses, though he would always refer to him as Ulysses.[12][b]
In 1823, the family moved to Georgetown, Ohio, where five more siblings were born: Simpson, Clara, Orvil, Jennie, and Mary.[14] At the age of five, Ulysses began his formal education, starting at a subscription school and later in two private schools.[15] In the winter of 1836–1837, Grant was a student at Maysville Seminary, and in the autumn of 1838, he attended John Rankin's academy. In his youth, Grant developed an unusual ability to ride and manage horses.