- NAME – Chester Alan Arthur
Library of Congress - NICKNAME(S) – Chet (friends) / the Gentleman Boss / Elegant Arthur / the Dude / General
- BIRTH / DEATH – Oct. 5, 1830 Fairfield, Vermont / New York City (kidney disease)
- FATHER – Baptist preacher
- MOTHER – housewife
- COLLEGE – Union College
- WIFE – Ellen Lewis Herndon (she died shortly before his nomination; his sister Mrs. Mary McElroy was White House hostess)
- KIDS – 2 boys, one girl
- PETS – rabbit
- RELIGION – Episcopalian
- ANCESTRY – Scotch – Irish
- AGE – 51
FIRSTS:
– first elevator installed in the White House
MA AND PA: His father was an Irish immigrant. He started as a teacher, but then he became religious and became a Baptist preacher. (And yet, Chester became an Episcopalian.) Most of the time he travelled around preaching and the family was poor. His mother and father eloped. He was named after the doctor who delivered him. His father was an abolitionist who helped found the New York Antislavery Society. When Chester became successful, his financial aid allowed his father to retire from preaching and go back to teaching. He wrote a book on etymology. His mother and father both died before he became President. Parents
BACKGROUND:
– moved a lot as a child because his father was a minister
– he studied law and worked as a teacher
– became a lawyer
– quartermaster general for New York troops during the Civil War
– customs collector for the Port of New York
– Vice President
FIRST LADY: After his election, but before he took office, Ellen (he called her “Nell”) caught pneumonia waiting for carriage in the snow and died. Chester felt so guilty for neglecting his wife for politics, he commissioned a stain glass window in her honor at the St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House. He could see the window from his residence. His sister took on the role of White House hostess. Kelly 325
RETIREMENT:
– he retired to New York City
– he was suffering from Bright’s Disease during the last months of his presidency and his health deteriorated
– he died of a cerebral hemorrhage one year after leaving office
TRIVIA:
– he was a strong abolitionist – he won a case for Lizzie Jennings who wanted to ride on a street car
– he owned over 80 pairs of pants
– as President, he stayed up late and went for walks at 2 or 3 A.M.
– he was an excellent fisherman (he loved salmon fishing as a boy)
– he was the eldest of seven kids
– after his election, his wife
– he liked to be called “General”
– he was quite the dandy and liked Prince Albert coats with flowers in the buttonhole and a colored silk handkerchief in the vest pocket; he sometimes ordered 25 pairs of pants from his tailor Sadler 197
ANECDOTES:
White House Auction – The White House was in bad shape when Arthur became President. He refused to move in until it was renovated. It was cleaned, repaired, and refurnished. Louis Comfort Tiffany of jewelry fame was hired for the redecorating. In the process, 24 wagon loads of old stuff was carted off to auction. Some of the items included a pair of Lincoln’s pants and an old hat belonging to John Quincy Adams. A sideboard given to “Lemonade Lucy” Hayes by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in honor of her prohibition sympathy was bought by a local saloonkeeper and used in his bar to hold liquor. Boller p. 176
Bright’s Disease – The public was kept in the dark about Arthur’s Bright’s disease. He knew he was dying and might not finish his term, but he felt the death of another President so soon after the death of Garfield would be terrible for public morale. He insisted on jollity in the White House and pretended to be well. He even made a half-hearted attempt at being nominated in the next election. He did manage to complete his term and died a little over a year later. Shenkman p. 156