The Biographical Dictionary of America/Arthur, Chester Alan

ARTHUR, Chester Alan, 21st president of the United States, was born at Fairfield, Franklin county, Vt., Oct. 5, 1830, the eldest son of William and Malvina (Stone) Arthur. His father was educated in Ireland, a graduate of Belfast college, who came to America and settled in Vermont, where he became a Baptist preacher. His maternal grandfather, Uriah Stone, was a pioneer settler of New Hampshire, who located in Piermont about 1763. Chester attended school first at Union Village, N. Y., and afterwards at Schenectady. He entered the sophomore class at Union college, when fifteen years old, and during his course taught school for two terms to aid in defraying his expenses. He was graduated with high honors in the class of 1848, entered the law school at Ballston Spa. and after a short term of lectures returned to his father's home at Lansing, N. Y., where he continued his law studies, fitted a class of boys for college, and taught in the academy at North Pownal, Vt., as principal, having not yet reached his majority. In 1853 he entered the law office of Erastus D. Culver in New York city, was admitted to the bar in 1854, and became one of the firm of Culver, Parker & Arthur. Arthur imbibed anti-slavery principles from his father, who was one of the early abolitionists, and became an advocate of that party and was one of those who formed the New York anti-slavery society at the house of Gerrit Smith at Peterboro, N. Y., Oct. 21, 1835. In several notable suits at law he defended the rights of negroes, both as escaped slaves and as citizens, and in these suits was opposed by the most learned legal talent in the country, winning his causes in the highest courts. See "Lemmon v. People," and the case of Lizzie Jennings (1855). He was a delegate to the New York state convention at Saratoga in 1856, and was conspicuous in his active support of General Fremont in the presidential campaign of that year. In 1857 he took an active part in the reorganization of the state militia, was made judge-advocate of the 2d brigade, and in 1860 Governor Morgan appointed him engineer-in-chief on his staff, with the rank of brigadier-general. On the breaking out of the civil war he was made acting quartermaster-general of the state. General Arthur displayed remarkable executive ability during his administration of this office, having to provide clothing and transportation for nearly 700,000 men furnished by the state of New York to suppress the rebellion. His war account with the National government, although much larger than that of any other state, was the first audited at Washington, and it was allowed without the reduction of one dollar, while the accounts of other states were cut down from one million to ten millions of dollars. In December, 1861, he was one of a board of engineers, and submitted to the government a report on the harbor defences of the state and the conditions of the Federal forts. In February, 1862. he was commissioned inspector-general, and in May he officially visited the New York troops in McClellan's army, and while on this duty also served as an aide on the staff of Col. Henry J. Hunt, commanding the artillery reserve of the army, in anticipation of an immediate attack on Richmond. He was ordered back to New York in June by Governor Morgan, and acted as secretary of the meeting of the governors of the loyal states at the Astor House, New York, June 28, 1862, which prompted the President on July 1, 1862, to call for 300,000 volunteers.

At Governor Morgans request, General Arthur resigned his commission as inspector-general, and was re-commissioned as quartermaster-general July 10, 1862. The multiplicity of cares laid upon him at this time is shown in his report made at the close of the official year, under date of Jan. 27, 1863. It says: "From August to December 1st, the space of four months, there were completely clothed, uniformed and equipped, supplied with camp and garrison equipage, and transported from this state to the seat of war, sixty-eight regiments of infantry, two battalions of cavalry, and four battalions of artillery." Horatio Seymour having succeeded Governor Morgan as chief executive of the state, General Arthur resigned as quartermaster-general, his resignation taking effect Jan. 1, 1863. In 1862 he formed a law partnership with Henry G. Gardner, which in 1867 was dissolved, and General Arthur practised alone until Jan. 1, 1872, when the firm of Arthur, Phelps, and Knevals was formed. Despite an extensive law practice he retained his interest in city, state and national politics, and so strengthened his position through his membership with political organizations that he was regarded as one of the most prominent and influential leaders of the Republican party. He was for a time counsel to the city department of assessment and taxes, a position which he resigned. General Arthur was appointed by President Grant collector of the port of New York, Nov. 20, 1871. His term expired in 1875, and he was promptly re-appointed by the same administration, and his second confirmation by the U. S. senate was made without referring it to a committee. The Republican state convention of 1876, held March 22 at Syracuse, elected delegates most of whom were pledged to support Senator Conkling for the presidential nomination. Alonzo B. Cornell and Chester A. Arthur were his most active advocates before the National convention, and not until the seventh ballot was Mr. Conkling's name withdrawn, and sixty-one of the votes of New York given to Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, which secured his nomination. The election was not decided until the following March, 1877, when the electoral commission declared that Mr. Hayes was to be president. He selected for secretary of the treasury John Sherman, who deemed it important that the custom-house appointments should be in the hands of one more friendly to the Hayes administration than Mr. Arthur. Under the operation of civil-service reform, special agents and commissions were appointed by the new administration to make rigid and searching investigation into General Arthur's official conduct. The commission, known as the Jay commission, reported adversely, and Collector Arthur replied in a letter to Secretary Sherman, Nov. 23, 1877. On Dec. 6 Theodore Roosevelt was appointed collector, and L. Bradford Prince, naval officer; but the U. S. senate refused to confirm the appointments, and Arthur and Cornell held their respective offices until the adjournment of Congress, July 11, 1878, when they were suspended. Arthur had previously declined to resign as requested by Secretary Sherman, notwithstanding he was promised a foreign mission. A petition for his retention was signed by the judge of every court in the city, by all the prominent members of the bar, and by eighty-five per cent of the importing merchants in the collection district; but at General Arthur's urgent request it was not presented.

During his six years of office the percentage of removals was only two and three-quarters per cent per annum. All appointments, except two, to the one hundred positions commanding salaries of two thousand dollars a year, were made on the plan of advancing men from the lower to the higher grades on recommendation of heads of bureaus. The New York delegation to the Chicago convention, June, 1880, of which General Arthur was delegate-at-large, expected to see General Grant nominated for the presidency for a third term. It had no second choice, although several candidates, hopeful of Grant's defeat, were pushing their own names forward with energy and persistency. The state of Ohio, with the exception of General Garfield's district, had instructed delegates in behalf of John Sherman. After a determined contest, which lasted several days, and during which the Stalwart New York delegation stood firm and "302" in the convention voted repeatedly and persistently for General Grant, the convention was stampeded by the Sherman supporters flocking to the standard of James A. Garfield, and New York's favorite went down to defeat. In order to placate the "Stalwarts," rather than as an expression of the will of their successful opposition, Chester A. Arthur was unanimously named as the vice-presidential candidate, and Garfield and Arthur were elected President and Vice-President of the United States, in November, 1880. Mr. Arthur appeared as presiding officer of the senate at its extra session March 4, 1881. He ingratiated himself with the senators through his easy manner and kindly disposition. The senate was equally divided politically and he used his influence against his enemies when their names came before the senate for confirmation.

Upon the announcement of President Garfield's death, Sept. 19, 1881, Mr. Arthur, at the suggestion of the cabinet, took the oath of office as President of the United States, Sept. 20, 1881, before Judge James R. Brady of the New York supreme court, and immediately repaired to Elberon, where he met the cabinet and arranged for the funeral ceremonies. On September 22 he went to Washington, and in the Vice-President's room the oath of office was formally administered by Chief Justice Waite. President Arthur, as his first official act, appointed Monday, Sept. 26, as a day of mourning for the late President, and the next day proclaimed an extraordinary session of the senate, October 10, to elect a President pro tempore. He requested the members of the cabinet of Mr. Garfield to retain their respective portfolios until the regular session of Congress in December. This request was complied with, except in the case of the secretary of the treasury, who desired that his resignation be accepted, in order that he might become a candidate for the office of senator from his state. President Arthur offered the portfolio to Edwin D. Morgan, the war governor of New York, whose appointment was confirmed by the senate. He declined to serve, and the choice then fell to Charles J. Folger of New York, who was confirmed Oct. 27, 1881. After the meeting of Congress, President Arthur announced further members in his cabinet in the following order: Frederick T. Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, secretary of state, from Dec. 12, 1881; Robert T. Lincoln of Illinois, secretary of war, from March 5, 1881 (re-appointed from President Garfield's cabinet); Benjamin H. Brewster of Pennsylvania, attorney-general, Dec. 19, 1881; Timothy O. Howe of Wisconsin, postmaster-general, Dec. 20, 1881, who died in office, March 25, 1883, and was succeeded by Walter Q. Gresham; Frank Hatton of Iowa, postmaster-general, Oct. 14, 1884, to succeed Walter Q. Gresham, who resigned to become secretary of the treasury; William E. Chandler of New Hampshire, secretary of the navy, April 12, 1882; Henry M. Teller of Colorado, secretary of the interior, April 17, 1882; Walter Q. Gresham of Indiana, secretary of the treasury, to succeed Secretary Folger, who died in office, Sept. 4, 1884; Hugh McCulloch of Maryland, Oct. 28, 1884, to succeed Secretary Gresham, who resigned to become United States circuit judge. His administration was marked by no startling conditions calling for extraordinary action. He officially presided at the dedication of the Yorktown, Va., monument, erected to commemorate the surrender of Cornwallis, in which dedication America's French allies and German participants were represented. The President, at the close of the celebration, ordered a salute to be fired in honor of the British flag, "in recognition of the friendly relations so long and so happily subsisting between Great Britain and the United States, in the trust and confidence of peace and good-will between the two countries for all the centuries to come, and especially as a mark of the profound respect entertained by the American people for the illustrious sovereign and gracious lady who sits upon the British throne."

He made efforts to secure peace between the warring nationalities in South America, and to that end proposed a peace congress, which suggestion, however, was not acted upon by Congress. The administration also offered its friendly offices to determine peaceably the boundary lines between Mexico and Guatamala, and relocated the boundary line between Mexico and the United States. Through a commission, in which General Grant and W. H. Trescott acted for the United States, reciprocal treaties affecting commercial relations with various South American countries were made; and treaties of a like nature were made with Santo Domingo, Dec. 4, 1884, and with Spain in reference to Cuba and Porto Rico, Nov. 18, 1884. These treaties were, however, withdrawn by President Cleveland as inexpedient, without affording the senate an opportunity to act upon them.

President Arthur proposed a monetary union of the American countries to secure a uniform currency basis, looking to the remonetization of silver. He strongly urged the construction of the interoceanic canal across the isthmus of Panama, and through correspondence with Great Britain asserted that the provisions of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of April 19, 1850, could not be allowed to interfere with the rights of the United States in controlling such a route in view of the spirit of the "Monroe doctrine." On Dec. 1, 1884, a treaty was made with the republic of Nicaragua, which authorized the U. S. government to build a canal, railroad, and telegraph line across Nicaraguan territory by way of the lake and San Jose river. This treaty was rejected by the senate, and before that body could reconsider its vote the treaty was withdrawn by President Cleveland, March 12, 1885. President Arthur obtained from the British government a full recognition of the rights of naturalized American citizens of Irish birth, and all such under arrest as suspects were liberated. A bill passed by Congress, prohibiting the immigration of Chinese laborers for twenty years, was vetoed by him April 4, 1882, as in violation of a treaty with China. Congress sustained the veto and passed a modified bill, suspending immigration for ten years, which was amended July 5, 1884, and approved by the President. A law was passed Aug. 3, 1882, by which convicts seeking a home in the United States were returned to Europe, and the importation of contract laborers was prohibited by a law passed Feb. 26, 1885. President Arthur repeatedly advised the suspension of the coinage of standard silver dollars and recommended the redemption of all outstanding trade dollars. The removal of stamp taxes on many articles of merchandise, and on bank checks and drafts, as well as the taxes on surplus bank capital and deposits was recommended, and on March 3, 1883, the acts enforcing them were repealed. This resulted in the reduction of the collection districts by one third. Legislation was recommended looking to the construction and maintenance of ocean steamships under the American flag; and the subject of coast defences was repeatedly brought to the attention of Congress, an annual appropriation of $1,500,000 being recommended for the armament of fortifications.

In his last annual message President Arthur urged the appropriation of $60,000,000 to be expended during the next ten years, one-tenth annually, for coast defences, and his plans, considerably enlarged, were taken up and carried out by the succeeding administration. He vetoed a river and harbor bill appropriating $18,743,875, on the ground that the sum greatly exceeded the needs of the country; that the distribution was unequal and for the benefit of particular locations. The bill was passed over his veto. He also vetoed the bill passed July 2, 1884, restoring to the army and place on the retired list, Major-General Fitz John Porter, then under sentence of court-martial. This veto was also overruled. Important reforms were instituted in the navy, the number of officers was reduced, habitual drunkards were discharged, the repair of old wooden vessels was discontinued, and the construction of a new fleet of steel ships with modern armaments was begun, under an advisory board appointed for that purpose. During his administration the postal rates were considerably reduced and many improvements were initiated in the general mail service. President Arthur appointed Horace Gray of Massachusetts to the vacancy on the bench of the United States supreme court, caused by the death of Justice Clifford of Maine, and he was commissioned Dec. 20, 1881. On the retirement of Justice Hunt of New York, Roscoe Conkling was appointed to the U. S. supreme bench, Feb. 24, 1882, and the appointment confirmed, but he declined the office on March 3, 1882, and Samuel Blatchford of New York was appointed and confirmed March 23, 1882. In his annual message of 1884, President Arthur recommended a suitable pension to General Grant, and upon the refusal of the general to accept any pension whatever, he by special message, Feb. 3, 1885, urged upon Congress the creation of the office of general of the army on the retired list. The bill was passed March 3, 1885, and on its passage the President named to the office Ulysses S. Grant, and the nomination was confirmed the same day in open senate, amid the demonstrations of approval of a crowded chamber. When the Republican national convention met at Chicago, June 3, 1884, President Arthur's name was presented by the delegations from New York, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, North Carolina and Louisiana. On the first ballot he received the votes of 278 delegates, on the second 276, on the third 274, and on the fourth 207, a plurality of votes nominating James G. Blaine. He at once telegraphed to the successful candidate his congratulations and assurance of his earnest and candid support. The national convention endorsed the administration of President Arthur as "wise, conservative and patriotic — under which the country has been blessed with remarkable prosperity."

The President, as the guest of the citizens of Boston, attended the celebration of the Webster historical society, and made an address in Faneuil Hall, Oct. 11, 1882, and at Marshfield, October 13. At Louisville, Ky., Aug. 2, 1883, he opened the Southern exposition with an address, and at the opening of the New Orleans World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial exposition, he performed the function by telegraph from the national capitol, transmitting his address and starting the machinery by the electric current. On Sept. 25, 1883, he was present at the ceremonies of unveiling and dedicating the Burnside monument at Bristol, R. I., and on November 26 of the same year attended a similar ceremony in New York city, when Washington's statue was first disclosed to public view on the steps of the U. S. sub-treasury building in Wall street. His last official public address was made at the dedication of the Washington monument in Washington city, which was completed during his administration. Mr. Arthur was married Oct. 29, 1859, to Ellen Lewis, daughter of William Lewis Herndon, commodore in the U. S. navy. She died Jan. 12, 1880, leaving two children, Chester Alan and Ellen Herndon. While President, Mr. Arthur's sister, Mrs. Mary Arthur McElroy, presided over the White House, and the elegance of her hospitality was a marked characteristic of his administration. At the close of his official term, March 4, 1885, Mr. Arthur returned to his home in New York city, where he died suddenly of apoplexy. His funeral was attended by those who had been members of his cabinet, by President Cleveland, Chief Justice Waite, Ex-President Hayes, Generals Sherman, Sheridan, and Schofield, and James G. Blaine. He was buried in the Rural cemetery, Albany, N. Y. The date of President Arthur's death is Nov. 18, 1886.