Basic Facts:
Birth: October 5, 1829 at North Fairfield, Vermont
Death: November 18, 1886 at New York City, New York
Married: Ellen “Nell” Lewis Herndon (1837-1880) on Oct 25, 1859
Children: 3: William, Chester, Ellen
President: One term beginning September 20, 1881
Family
Ellen “Nell” Herndon was 22 when she married Chester Alan Arthur, age 30. Her father was William Lewis Herndon, U.S.N. who, along with his brother-in-law Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury, established the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.
According to Wikipedia: Nell’s social network included Vanderbilts, Astors, and Roosevelts. Her mother’s wealth allowed them luxuries such as the three-story Lexington Avenue brownstone townhouse with expensive furnishings from Tiffany’s, which Arthur could not have afforded by himself. Freed from the need to earn enough income to support the lifestyle the couple enjoyed, Arthur was able to devote himself to the New York Republican party, eventually rising through political patronage to the position of Adjutant General of New York, with the U.S. Army rank of brigadier general. Nell’s singing as a soloist at the Mendelssohn Glee Club earned her renown of her own.
She died of pneumonia in January 1880; her husband was elected vice-president that November. He succeeded to the presidency in September 1881 when President James A. Garfield was assassinated
The Arthurs had three children:
- William Lewis Arthur (1860–1863), died of convulsions at age two and a half, devastating his parents
- Chester Alan Arthur II (1864–1937) – He graduated from Princeton University in 1885 and went on to Columbia Law School. He became a gentleman of leisure. President Arthur on his deathbed warned his son not to go into politics. Alan Arthur traveled extensively, maintained a fine stable of horses, and relied on polo for exercise. A celebrated playboy, at age 36 he married Myra Townsend Fithian, a California heiress. The couple separated after 16 years of marriage and divorced in 1927. Eventually, he settled in Colorado Springs. In 1934 he married Rowena Graves, a real estate and insurance businesswoman. From his first marriage, he was the father of two children: a daughter, Myra, who did not survive, and Chester Alan “Gavin” Arthur III (1901-1972), who married but had no children.
- Ellen Hansbrough Herndon Arthur (1871–1915) – Still a child while her father was president, she was shielded from the press. She married Charles Pinkerton and lived in New York City.
Arthur deeply mourned the death of his wife. After taking office as president, Arthur, who could see St. John’s Episcopal Church from his office, commissioned a stained glass window dedicated to his wife at the church. He had it installed where he could view it at night, as the lights were kept on within the church. Additionally, he ordered fresh flowers placed daily before her portrait in the White House.
The president’s sister Mary Arthur McElroy served as hostess and unofficial First Lady for Arthur’s social activities as president. She also cared for the Arthur children, who were then 16 and 9 years of age.
Other:
In 1870, Arthur was appointed by President Grant to run the Custom’s House in New York City. The agency ran under a system, called moiety, that allowed officials a percentage of the fines or goods that resulted from smuggled goods they caught, which allowed Arthur to earn roughly an extra $40,000 a year (substantially more than his standard $12,000 a year salary). The reform-minded Rutherford B. Hayes, elected to the White House in 1876, went after the New York Customs Office and the political machine operated by Republican Senator Roscoe Conkling. He set up a commission to investigate the practice of giving jobs to political allies, and Arthur was ultimately ousted in 1878.
Arthur took the oath of office twice. Arthur was the first president to take the Oath of Office in his own home. The second oath was performed to clear up any dispute over whether the first oath was official since it was administered by a state, not a federal, official.
Arthur would not move into the White House until it had been renovated. He had twenty-four wagonloads of furniture hauled off and sold at public auction. The pieces included some dating back to John Adams’ term and would be considered priceless today.
Arthur make no inaugural speech.
Arthur had no vice president.
He was a bit of a dandy. It was said he had over eighty pairs of pants and often changed them several times a day.
He was critiqued for failing to lessen the federal budget excess that had been collecting since the end of the American Civil War.
At the request of President Arthur, the International Meridian Conference was held in Washington, D.C. in October 1884 to determine the Prime Meridian of the world. The conference established the Greenwich Meridian and international standardized time, which are both still recognized today.
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Sources:
Internet Public Library
Wikipedia/Nell Arthur
Wikipedia/Chester Arthur II
Whitehouse.gov
Republican Presidents.net
Mental Floss.com
Greenman, Barbara. The Timeline History of U. S. Presidents and First Ladies . Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, California, 2009.