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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.
BibliographyAmerican 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.
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