Jesse Root Grant II was born near
St. Louis, Missouri to Ulysses S. Grant and
Julia Grant. He was named after his grandfather
Jesse Root Grant. He studied engineering at
Cornell University and also attended
Columbia Law School before settling in
California. In addition to practicing law, he was involved in several mining ventures as an engineer, stockholder, board of directors member and corporate officer. For several years he managed his brother
Ulysses Jr.'s
U.S. Grant Hotel in
San Diego. In the 1890s, he helped to develop Tia Juana, now
Tijuana, Mexico, as a gambling resort. In 1880, he married Elizabeth Chapman (1858-1945), daughter of William Chapman, one of the founders of the
California Academy of Sciences. They had two children:
Chapman Grant and Nellie Grant. In 1913, Grant sued for divorce while they were living in
Goldfield, Nevada. Mrs. Grant strenuously fought his charges of desertion. She countersued, claiming he had deserted her and refused to support the family. The divorce was followed by the newspapers. When the divorce was finally granted in 1918, Grant married a widow, Lillian Burns Wilkins. Grant died in
Los Altos, California in 1934 and was buried at the cemetery at the
Presidio of San Francisco. He was the last surviving child of Ulysses S. Grant. ==Political and literary career==