Wood, Grant, 1891-1942, American painter, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and in Paris. In Munich in 1928 he was decisively influenced by German and Flemish primitive painting. Subsequently in the 1930s he created his "American scene" works in which stern people and stylized landscapes offer rigid, decorative images of the rural Midwest. He taught at the State Univ. of Iowa and was director of WPA art projects in Iowa. His American Gothic (Art Inst., Chicago) and Daughters of Revolution have been many times reproduced; other works include Stone City (Joslyn Art Mus., Omaha, Nebr.) and a series of murals at Iowa State Univ.

Grant, Cary, 1904-86, British movie actor, b. Bristol as Archibald Alexander Leach. He began on stage in 1923 and made his first film in 1932. An almost immediate hit, Grant was a leading star until his retirement in 1966, embodying debonair British charm and elegance in a broad range of comic and romantic roles. Among his films are She Done Him Wrong (1932), The Awful Truth (1937), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Holiday (1938), His Girl Friday (1940), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Notorious (1946), North by Northwest (1959), and Charade (1963).

Grant, Duncan (Duncan James Corrowr Grant), 1885-1978, Scottish painter, b. Rothiermurchus, Inverness. He studied at London's Westminster School of Art (1902-4) and Slade School (1907-8) and at Paris's La Palette School (1906-7). A member of the Bloomsbury group and exponent of postimpressionism, he applied his talents to paintings (fluid, vibrantly colored portraits, landscapes, and still lifes), prints, theatrical costumes and scenery, and interior decor. Some of his designs were created in collaboration with Vanessa Bell, with whom he lived. Grant was also a founding member of the Omega Workshops (1913-19), for which he created textiles, ceramics, and other decorative items, and part of the London Group (est. 1915) of avant-garde artists.

Grant, Sir Francis, 1803-78, Scottish portrait painter. He was self-taught in painting, for which he abandoned a career in law. He began as a painter of hunting scenes (The Melton Hunt and The Cottesmore Hunt) but gained success as a fashionable portrait painter. Among his sitters were Scott, Macaulay, Disraeli, Palmerston, and Landseer. Sir Francis was president (1866-78) of the Royal Academy.

Grant, George Munro, 1835-1902, Canadian educator and author, b. Nova Scotia, educated at the Univ. of Glasgow. From 1877 to 1902 he was principal of Queen's Univ., Kingston, Ont.; under him the university made great gains in size and prestige. Grant was a cogent writer on education and public affairs. His best-known book, Ocean to Ocean (1873, rev. ed. 1925), is an account of his experiences with the western surveying expedition of Sir Sandford Fleming, chief engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The book stirred much popular interest in the Canadian West and thus contributed to the settlement of the area.

Grant, Ulysses Simpson, 1822-85, commander in chief of the Union army in the Civil War and 18th President (1869-77) of the United States, b. Point Pleasant, Ohio. He was originally named Hiram Ulysses Grant.

Military Career

Grant spent his youth in Georgetown, Ohio, was graduated from West Point in 1843, and served creditably in the Mexican War. He was forced to resign from the army in 1854 because of excessive drinking. Grant failed in attempts at farming and business, and was working as a clerk in the family leather store in Galena, Ill., when the Civil War broke out. He was commissioned colonel of the 21st Illinois Volunteers, and in Aug., 1861, became a brigadier general of volunteers.

Grant assumed command of the district of Cairo, Ill., in Sept. and fought his first battle, an indecisive affair at Belmont, Mo., on Nov. 9. In Feb., 1862, aided by Union gunboats, he captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. This was the first major Union victory, and Lincoln at once made Grant a major general of volunteers. In April at Shiloh (see Shiloh, battle of), however, only the arrival of the army of Gen. Don Carlos Buell may have saved him from defeat.

The Vicksburg campaign (1862-63) was one of Grant's greatest successes. After repeated failures to get at the town, he advanced in cooperation with a fleet and finally took Vicksburg by siege. The victory of Braxton Bragg, the Confederate general, at Chickamauga (see Chattanooga campaign), led to Grant's accession to the supreme command in the West, Oct., 1863. At Chattanooga in November his forces thoroughly defeated Bragg. The President, in Mar., 1864, made Grant commander in chief with the rank of lieutenant general, a grade especially revived by Congress for him.

Grant himself directed George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac against Gen. Robert E. Lee in the Wilderness campaign. His policy of attrition against Lee's forces was effective, though it resulted in slaughter at Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor. Failing to carry Petersburg by assault in June, 1864, Grant had that city under partial siege until Apr., 1865. Philip H. Sheridan's victory at Five Forks made Petersburg and Richmond no longer tenable. Lee retreated, but was cut off at Appomattox Courthouse (see under Appomattox, where he surrendered, receiving generous terms from Grant, on Apr. 9, 1865.

Grant went about the distasteful business of war realistically and grimly. He was a skilled tactician and at times a brilliant strategist (as at Vicksburg, regarded by many as one of the great battles of history). His courage as a commander of forces and his powers of organization and administration made him the outstanding Northern general. Grant also was notably wise in supporting good commanders, especially Sheridan, William T. Sherman, and George H. Thomas. Made a full general in 1866, he was the first U.S. citizen to hold that rank.

Presidency

Grant at first seemed to favor the Reconstruction policy of President Andrew Johnson. In Apr., 1867, Johnson appointed him interim Secretary of War, replacing Edwin Stanton. Johnson expected him to hold the office against Stanton and thus bring about a test of the constitutionality of the Tenure of Office Act, but Grant turned the office back to Stanton when the Senate refused to sanction Stanton's removal. It was apparent then that the general had thrown his lot in with the radical Republicans. The inevitable choice of the Republicans for President, Grant was victorious over the Democratic candidate, Horatio Seymour, in 1868.

Characterized chiefly by bitter partisan politics and shameless corruption, his administrations remain notorious. The punitive Reconstruction program was pushed with new vigor, and legislation favorable to commercial and industrial interests was passed (see greenback). The President associated with disreputable politicians and financiers; James Fisk and Jay Gould deceived him when they tried to corner the gold market in 1869 (see Black Friday). In foreign affairs, however, much was accomplished by the able Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish.

The party unanimously renominated Grant in 1872, and he was reelected easily over Horace Greeley, the candidate of the Liberal Republican party and the Democrats. Toward the end of his second term his Secretary of War, William W. Belknap, and his private secretary, Orville E. Babcock, were implicated in graft scandals. Through the loyalty of the deceived Grant, both escaped punishment.

Later Years

The two years following his retirement from the White House were spent in making a triumphal tour of the world. In 1880 the Republican "Old Guard," led by Roscoe Conkling, tried to secure another nomination for Grant but failed. He took up residence in New York City, where he invested money in a fraudulent private banking business. It collapsed in 1884, leaving him bankrupt.

Dying of cancer of the throat, he set about writing his Personal Memoirs (2 vol., 1885-86) in order to provide for his family. He died a few days after the manuscript was completed. These memoirs are ranked among the great narratives of military history. The remains of the general and his wife lie in New York City in Grant's Tomb.

(born Feb. 13, 1891, near Anamosa, Iowa, U.S.—died Feb. 12, 1942, Iowa City, Iowa) U.S. painter. He was trained as a craftsman and designer as well as a painter. On a visit to Germany in 1928, he was strongly influenced by the sharp detail of 15th-century German and Flemish paintings, and he soon abandoned his Impressionist manner for the detailed, realistic manner for which he is known. His American Gothic caused a sensation when exhibited in 1930. A telling portrait of the sober, hardworking Midwestern farmer, it has become one of the best-known icons of U.S. art, though it is often misinterpreted: the woman is not the man's wife but rather the unmarried daughter designated to stay on the farm to assist her widowed father.

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(born May 11, 1895, Woodville, Miss., U.S.—died Dec. 3, 1978, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. composer. He initially intended to be a doctor but instead studied music at Oberlin College, learning clarinet, oboe, and violin. He studied composition with George Chadwick (1854–1931) and Edgard Varèse. In the 1920s he worked as an arranger for the dance-band leader Paul Whiteman and for the blues composer W.C. Handy. Still's early style was avant-garde (From the Black Belt, 1926), but from circa 1930 he sought to develop a distinctive African American art music in five symphonies (including his Afro-American Symphony, 1931), ballets, operas, and choral and solo vocal works.

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(born May 11, 1895, Woodville, Miss., U.S.—died Dec. 3, 1978, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. composer. He initially intended to be a doctor but instead studied music at Oberlin College, learning clarinet, oboe, and violin. He studied composition with George Chadwick (1854–1931) and Edgard Varèse. In the 1920s he worked as an arranger for the dance-band leader Paul Whiteman and for the blues composer W.C. Handy. Still's early style was avant-garde (From the Black Belt, 1926), but from circa 1930 he sought to develop a distinctive African American art music in five symphonies (including his Afro-American Symphony, 1931), ballets, operas, and choral and solo vocal works.

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(born Nov. 14, 1891, Alliston, Ont., Can.—died Feb. 21, 1941, Nfd.) Canadian physician. He taught at the University of Toronto from 1923. With Charles Best, he was the first to obtain a pancreatic extract of insulin (1921), which, in the laboratory of J.J.R. Macleod, they isolated in a form effective against diabetes. Banting and Macleod received a 1923 Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin; Banting voluntarily shared his portion of the prize with Best.

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orig. Archibald Alexander Leach

(born Jan. 18, 1904, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Eng.—died Nov. 29, 1986, Davenport, Iowa, U.S.) British-born U.S. film actor. He performed with an acrobatic comedy troupe in England before he found parts in stage musicals. He made his film debut in This Is the Night (1932) and earned stardom with Mae West in She Done Him Wrong (1933). His debonair charm and good looks, combined with a distinctive voice, made him a longtime popular star in sophisticated comedies such as Topper (1937), Bringing Up Baby (1938), His Girl Friday (1940), and The Philadelphia Story (1941). He also starred in Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959). He received an honorary Academy Award in 1970.

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(born Feb. 13, 1891, near Anamosa, Iowa, U.S.—died Feb. 12, 1942, Iowa City, Iowa) U.S. painter. He was trained as a craftsman and designer as well as a painter. On a visit to Germany in 1928, he was strongly influenced by the sharp detail of 15th-century German and Flemish paintings, and he soon abandoned his Impressionist manner for the detailed, realistic manner for which he is known. His American Gothic caused a sensation when exhibited in 1930. A telling portrait of the sober, hardworking Midwestern farmer, it has become one of the best-known icons of U.S. art, though it is often misinterpreted: the woman is not the man's wife but rather the unmarried daughter designated to stay on the farm to assist her widowed father.

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Former U.S. manufacturer of packaged grocery and meat products. It was incorporated in 1922, having developed from the earlier Postum Cereal Co. founded by C.W. Post. It soon began acquiring other companies and products: Jell-O Co. (1925), Swans Down flour and Minute Tapioca Co. (1926), Log Cabin (1927), Maxwell House and Calumet (1928), Birdseye (1929), Sanka coffee (1932), Gaines dog food (1943), Kool-Aid (1953), Burpee seeds (1970), Oscar Mayer & Co. (1981), and Entenmann's bakery products (1982). In 1985 it was bought by Philip Morris Companies Inc.

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orig. Archibald Alexander Leach

(born Jan. 18, 1904, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Eng.—died Nov. 29, 1986, Davenport, Iowa, U.S.) British-born U.S. film actor. He performed with an acrobatic comedy troupe in England before he found parts in stage musicals. He made his film debut in This Is the Night (1932) and earned stardom with Mae West in She Done Him Wrong (1933). His debonair charm and good looks, combined with a distinctive voice, made him a longtime popular star in sophisticated comedies such as Topper (1937), Bringing Up Baby (1938), His Girl Friday (1940), and The Philadelphia Story (1941). He also starred in Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959). He received an honorary Academy Award in 1970.

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(born Nov. 14, 1891, Alliston, Ont., Can.—died Feb. 21, 1941, Nfd.) Canadian physician. He taught at the University of Toronto from 1923. With Charles Best, he was the first to obtain a pancreatic extract of insulin (1921), which, in the laboratory of J.J.R. Macleod, they isolated in a form effective against diabetes. Banting and Macleod received a 1923 Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin; Banting voluntarily shared his portion of the prize with Best.

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Grant is a town in Marshall County, in the northeast of Alabama. As of the 2000 census, the population of Grant is 665.

Grant is located at (34.502899, -86.255378), on the plateau top of Gunters Mountain.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.6 km²), all land.

The town contains a historical cave known as Cathedral Caverns.