Grant and Lincoln's invitation

[loetar44]

(10-11-2014 10:22 AM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  It's fascinating to learn that the Grants' daughter Emma Dent Casey was the source for Mrs. Grant's premonitory dream. Do you know the source that Ishbel Ross used in The General's Wife: The Life of Ulyssus S. Grant (Julia Grant) for Emma Dent Casey's statement?

Emma Dent Casey was not Grants' daughter. She was the almost 10 years younger sister of Julia Grant, the last of the eight Dent children (Julia was the fifth.) Her legal name was Emily Marbury Dent, but she was nicknamed “Emma”. Born June 6, 1836; died April 21, 1920; married Feb. 1861 James F. Casey, a brother of former Kentucky Congressman Samuel L. Casey.

Ross only gives in “Notes” published sources; there are no footnotes. In acknowledgements she says about Emma Dent Casey : “The Missouri Historical Society proved to be a fountainhead of intimate material on Mrs, Grant. There I studied the manuscript of her younger sister, Emma Dent Casey, who described in detail their early days at White Haven and the courtship of young Ulysses S. Grant.” So I suspect this is the prime source for Emma's statement. But I fear this manuscript is unpublished.

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“The General’s wife; the life of Mrs.' Ulysses S. Grant”, page 189 / 190

“Next day they were invited to go to Ford's Theater with the Lincolns to see Laura Keene in Our American Cousins. The Stantons were invited, too, and Mrs. Stanton consulted Julia. "Unless you accept the invitation, I shall refuse," she said. "I will not sit without you in the box with Mrs. Lincoln." But Julia had already made up her mind not to go. She had a good excuse to offer. She must get back to Burlington and the children. Grant was embarrassed when she made her decision, since he had already told the President that they would go. Once again Julia unconsciously was a significant factor in his life. Had they gone with the Lincolns that night the chances are that Grant would have died with the President, for he was on the assassins' list. On the other hand, in later years he was known to express regret that he had not attended the play. He always wondered if the outcome might have been different had he been there. His own stalwart form and a military guard might have made a difference. Another family legend, handed down by Emma Dent Casey, was that Julia had had one of her premonitory dreams of disaster for that night, and when these occurred she was hard to budge. But dreams were in the air. Lincoln had had one, too, presaging his own death.

In the early afternoon Grant shook hands with the President and said good-by, unconscious that it was forever.”

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