Opening paragraphs........(plus a genealogy lesson)

 My family is American, and has been for generations, in all its branches, direct and collateral.

     Mathew Grant, the founder of the branch in America, of which I am a descendant, reached Dorchester, Massachusetts, in May, 1630.  In 1635 he moved to what is now Windsor, Connecticut, and was the surveyor for that colony for more than forty years.  He was also, for many years of the time, town clerk.  He was a married man when he arrived at Dorchester, but his children were all born in this country.  His eldest son, Samuel, took lands on the east side of the Connecticut River, opposite Windsor, which have been held and occupied by descendants of his to this day.

     I am of the eighth generation from Mathew Grant, and seventh from Samuel.

-Ulysses S. Grant, Memoirs and Selected Letters