Originally a Jacksonian, Jesse eventually broke with the Democrats as he developed anti-slavery leanings, and for a time wrote a number of controversial editorials in support of abolition and other issues.

During the American Civil War Jesse and two business partners became involved in cotton speculation and imposed on his son, Ulysses, to use his authority to secure early access to a portion of occupied territory.

Much has been learned about the earlier years of Ulysses Grant from letters between father and son, as well as other source material relating to Jesse's background and business.

On March 4, 1792, at Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Noah married his second wife, Rachael Kelly, who became Jesse's mother with the birth of her first born child on January 23, 1794.

[10] Working for the judge the uneducated Jesse soon learned to read and write and acquired an interest in politics, and later after he married, would even study grammar.

After completion of his training and honoring his commitment to Peter, he moved back to his boyhood town of Deerfield, Ohio,[12][13] in 1815 and established his own tannery with little money, frugality and constant effort.

Later in life Jesse would describe John Brown as "a man of great purity of character, of high moral and physical courage, but a fanatic and extremist in whatever he advocated.

Later that year, as an experienced tanner, he moved to Point Pleasant on the Ohio River and gained the position of foreman in a new tannery owned by Thomas Page.

Later he would send Ulysses to boarding school across the river in Maysville, Kentucky, and to another in Ripley, Ohio, but to Jesse's disappointment these prospects never materialized into anything that justified his investment.

[31][32] At an early age Jesse prevailed on his son to work at his tannery, but it wasn't long before Ulysses expressed a strong dislike for the practice.

Not wanting to force his son into such labor Jesse instead gave the young Ulysses other responsibilities, driving and transporting wagon loads of bark, supplies and goods to and from the tannery.

Through his political associations Jesse was referred to a former friend, Thomas Hamer, who was also a prominent lawyer and was being considered by the Democrats as a possible candidate for the Presidency, asking him to nominate Ulysses.

However, because of Jesse's past indifference with Hamer over Jacksonian politics,[35] he attempted to bypass him and instead wrote to Thomas Morris, senator from Ohio, asking that he nominate Ulysses.

[41] Along with his wife Hannah, they embraced the Methodist doctrine of sanctification, and living a holy and upright life and taught their children to observe the Sabbath day.

[44][45] When Grant wasn't working at the tannery he spent time writing, was sometimes known to be unreserved and outspoken with his opinions on slavery and abolition and became politically active in Georgetown.

[16] Just before and during the Civil War he was a Lincoln supporter, politically active and outspoken against slavery and secession, and wrote a series of controversial editorials on these issues in prominent Northern newspapers.

[57] Later Jesse formed a partnership with E. A. Collins and opened another leather goods store, on Main Street, in Galena, Illinois, with the hope of establishing his three sons in the business so he could retire.

[59] After resigning from the Army and failing at farming and several business ventures, Ulysses Grant turned to his father for help and accepted a job clerking at the Galena store, arriving there in April.

[52] In the days preceding the war and after the attack on Fort Sumter, Jesse's leather store became a hotbed of Republican discussion and agitation.

Various speakers, including Jesse's lawyer, John Rawlins,[f] engaged in a number of passionate public discussions over secession and other politics.

[60] Ulysses Grant was still working at the store when on April 15, the day after the battle, news of the attack on Fort Sumter reached Galena, where he promptly re-enlisted into the Army, answering President Lincoln's call for seventy five thousand volunteers.

I want to bring my children (recruits) up to useful employment, and in the army the chance is poor", stressing the point that he was more concerned about the war than he was a career.

Jesse also wrote a heated letter to Governor Tod of Ohio, blaming "five thousand cowards" who threw down their arms and fled, for the high casualties that occurred at the battle.

Traveling from Ohio they arrived unexpectedly at General Grant's headquarters in northern Mississippi while he was busy with commanding a major campaign.

Grant had already received reports from Sherman and others of Jewish merchants who were "highly visible" among the trading which was occurring by both northern and southern interests, often without permits.

By the time Jesse and his two Jewish partners arrived with a request for permits to operate, they were immediately rebuffed by an angered General Grant for presuming on the Army and his patience.

Various modern historians believe that Jesse's arrival with two prominent Jewish cotton speculators from Cincinnati is largely what led Grant in 1862 to issue General Order 11 expelling all Jews from his district.

[71] After the war, on February 6, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Jesse for Postmaster in Covington, Kentucky, having the charge of a first class post office in a city numbering approximately thirty thousand residents.

[74] When Ulysses S. Grant was sworn in as President, Jesse was standing nearby, as Chief Justice Salmon Chase administered the Oath of Office, March 4, 1869.

Some historians suggest that Ulysses at this time was on uneasy terms with his father and made no further effort to secure lodging for Jesse and family.