Hiram Ulysses Grant was born near Pleasant Point, Ohio, on April 27, 1822. His parents were Hannah Simpson and Jesse Grant. Jesse Grant was the owner of a tannery. He was shy boy while growing up. At the age of one year he was taken to Georgetown where he was educated at local and boarding schools. He graduated 21st in a class of 39, from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1843 where he had enrolled under the name of Ulysses Simpson Grant. He was assigned to Jefferson Barracks, MO, where he met Julia Dent. They married after the Mexican War in 1848. Grant served in the Mexican War under the name of Gen. Zachary Tayl