Grant had one slave and his wife’s (Julia Grant nee, Dent) family had several more in their home state of Missouri. Grant freed his one slave in 1859 but those owned by his wife were retained till ‘65 when Missouri abolished slavery.
Lee freed his slaves in Arlington in ‘62 writing, “There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil.”
That’s gonna leave a mark.
If memory serves, didn’t Lee encourage Jefferson Davis to free the slaves and was rejected?
the four female slaves that were the house keepers in the Grant household belonged to Fredrick Dent, Julia’s father.
The Grant’s never owned them. Dent would not allow those slaves to leave Missouri when the Grants left the state, even on short trips.
Other accounts indicate that the Dent family slaves were all gone by early 1863. Not freed, but just run off. And the slaves were owned by Colonel Dent; Julia Grant did not legally own any of them.
Lee freed his slaves in Arlington in ‘62 writing, “There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil.”
He wrote that in 1856 I believe. In 1865, Lee was writing:"Considering the relation of master and slave, controlled by humane laws and influenced by Christianity and an enlightened public sentiment, as the best that can exist between the white and black races while intermingled as at present in this country, I would deprecate any sudden disturbance of that relation unless it be necessary to avert a greater calamity to both."