Chester Alan ARTHUR, Congress, (1829-1886)

ARTHUR, Chester Alan, a Vice President and 21st President of the United States; born in Fairfield, Franklin County, Vt., October 5, 1829; attended the public schools and graduated from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., in 1848; became principal of an academy in North Pownal, Vt., in 1851; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1854 and commenced practice in New York City; took an active part in the reorganization of the State militia; during the Civil War, served as acting quartermaster general of the State in 1861; commissioned inspector general, appointed quartermaster general with the rank of brigadier general, and served until 1862; resumed the practice of law in New York City; appointed by President Ulysses Grant as collector of the port of New York 1871-1878; resumed the practice of law in New York City; elected Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with President James A. Garfield for the term beginning March 4, 1881; upon the death of President Garfield, became President of the United States on September 20, 1881, and served until March 3, 1885; returned to New York City where he died November 18, 1886; interment in the Rural Cemetery Albany, N.Y.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Reeves, Thomas C. Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur. New York: Knopf, 1975; Dehler, Gregory J. Chester Alan Arthur: The Life of a Gilded Age Politician and President. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2007.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present