The Rise and Fall of James Dean Fish

James Dean Fish, a wealthy and respected banker, and his scrupulous young partner Ferdinand Ward, were responsible for the financial ruin of Ulysses S. Grant in the spring of 1884.  To generate income shortly thereafter, Grant began work on his memoirs spanning the period from his childhood through the Civil War. One year later, days before his death, he finished Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant in the shelter of what we now know as Grant Cottage.  James Fish was a self-made millionaire who married three times.  Join Amy Halsted, the great-great granddaughter of Fish on the porch of Grant Cottage to learn her ancestor’s story, involving a gifted young actress, a mysterious trunk, U.S. Grant, and whole lot of scandal.