Chester Arthur
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Chester Alan Arthur (1829 - 1886)

President Chester Alan Arthur
Born in Fairfield, Franklin, Vermont, United Statesmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 25 Oct 1859 in New York, New Yorkmap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 57 in New York City, New York, United Statesmap
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The Presidential Seal.
Chester Arthur was the President of the United States.
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Preceded by
20th President
James Garfield





Preceded by
19th Vice President

William A. Wheeler

Chester Alan Arthur
21st President
of the United States
Presidential Seal
1881 – 1885

20th Vice President
of the United States
Seal of the Vice President
1881


Succeeded by
22nd President
Grover Cleveland





Succeeded by
Vacant until 1885

Biography

Notables Project
Chester Arthur is Notable.

Chester Arthur was the 20th Vice President of the United States. He was also the 21st President of the United States. His presidency began after the murder of President James Garfield in July of 1881.

Some older sources list his birth date as 05 October 1830,[1] but biographer Thomas C. Reeves confirms that this is incorrect: Arthur claimed to be a year younger "out of simple vanity."[2]

He married Ellen Lewis Herndon and he was the father of three children [3]. One son died at three years old. He had two other children Chester Alan Arthur, Jr. and Ellen "Nell" Arthur.

There was a debate whether Chester Arthur was born in Canada[4] but because his mother was American , his candidacy for Presidency was never challenged under birthright citizenship [3].

A New York attorney, Arthur P. Hinman, startled the voters of the country shortly after the election of 1880 by interviews in which he accused General Arthur of being a British subject. To support the claim, he presented an elaborate story of Arthur’s birth, purporting to show that he had been born in Canada, of a British father and an American mother. The enterprising New York Sun investigated Hinman’s tale and published a complete refutation the day after Arthur took the oath as President. His origins were widely understood when he became the twenty-first President of the United States. [2] [5]

A well sourced summary of his Presidency is available at Wikipedia: Chester Arthur

He died on the 18th of November 1886 in New York City and he is buried in Albany, New York [3].

Legacy

Arthur County, Nebraska is named in his honor.

Sources

  1. Howe, George F. (1966) [1935]. Chester A. Arthur, A Quarter-Century of Machine Politics. New York: F. Ungar Pub. Co. ASIN B00089DVIG
  2. 2.0 2.1 Reeves, Thomas C. (1975). Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester A. Arthur. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-394-46095-6.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of America. First ed. Arco Company, 1975
  4. Chester Arthur: A Birthplace Controversy, 1880
  5. National Portrait Gallery Chester Arthur: A Birthplace Controversy, 1880
  • Find A Grave Memorial# 39
  • Burial: Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands, Albany County, New York, USA
  • Plot: Section 24, Lot 8
  • GPS (lat/lon): 42.70748, -73.73362
  • Photo: Has a photo on gravesite of gravestone




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DNA Connections
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Comments: 10

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Arthur-3489 and Arthur-49 appear to represent the same person because: identical dates
posted by Robin Lee
President Arthur suffered from Bright's Disease a kidney ailment and died from a stroke. https://www.inthechickencoop.us/notables/arthur/
posted by Scott Lee
The interesting thing is that Chester burned almost all of his letters and papers in the days before his death, leading some to speculate about what he had to hide.

With regards to the controversy about his eligibility for the Presidency, during his lifetime the focus was on whether or not he was born in the US or Canada. However, modern researchers discovered in late 2008, that his father was a British citizen until 1843, a fact that would have dramatically changed the nature of the question of his eligibility in his lifetime, if it had been widely known.

William Arthur's naturalization certificate is available here: https://naturalborncitizen.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/william-arthur-naturalization.pdf

posted by R Prior
Why would his father's citizenship status matter to his eligibility, if he was definitely born in America?
posted by Bernard Ellis
Is there no birth certificate because he was not born in America?
posted by Renee Malloy Esq
Notables
Chester Arthur is notable.
Join: Notables Project
Discuss: notables


posted by Doug Lockwood

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