Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas. Page: 115 of 1,110

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

^'? I I EST E R ALLEN
ARTH-UR, the twentv-first
Chief Execu-e
11^ 1.2 U tive of this growing
Mll' ic PCiepublic, i88i-'5, was
born in Franklin
ff?-!'-'
Co u n ty, Vermont,
lji|, October 5, I830, the eldest of a
i" fialmily of two sons and five
* daughtersr. His father, Rev.
~ , Dr. William Arthur, a Baptist
S' d; clergyman, immigrated to this
country from County Antrim,
.,l: Ireland, in his eighteenth year,
; anl died in I875, in Newtonviille,
near Albany, New York,
after serving manty years as a successful
minister. Chester A. was educated at that
old, conservative institution, Union Collecge,
t Schenectady, New York, where he
excelled int all his studies. I-e graduated
tllre, with honor, and then struck out in
li/c for himself by teaching school for about
two years ill his native State.
A\t thle expiration of that time young
Arthlur, with $500 in his purse, went to the
city of New York ;and entered the law office
of ex-Juldg E. D. Culver as a student. In
due time he was admitted to the bar, when
he formed a partnership with his intimate

friend and old room-mate, Henry D. Gar.
diner, with the intention of practicing law
at some point in the West; but after spending
about three months in the WesterlStates,
in search of an eligible place, they
returned to New York City, leased a room,
exhibited a sign of their business and almost
immediately enjoyed a paying patronage.
At this stage of his career Mr. Arthur's
business prospects were so encouraging
that he concluded to take a wife, and accordingly
he married the daughter of Lieutenant
Herndon, of the United States Navy,
who had been lost at sea. To the widow
of the latter Congress voted a gold medal,
in recognition of the Lieutenant's bravery
during the occasion in which he lost his
life. Mrs. Artnur died shortly before her
husband's nomination to the Vice-Presidency,
leaving two children.
MIr. Arthur obtained considerable celebrity
as an attorney in the famous Lemmon
suit, which was brought to recover possession
of eight slaves, who had been declared
free by the Superior Court of New York
City. The noted Charles O'Conor, whc
was nominated by the "Straight Democrats"
in 1872 for the United States Presidency,
was retained by Jonathan G. Lem