21) Chester A. Arthur*

Chester A. Arthur

21st President

Became President when Garfield was assassinated

Republican

1829-1886

Worked to bring honesty to te Presidency.

Helped to improve the U.S. postal system.

Worked to modernize the United States Navy.

Birthplace: Fairfield, VT

Chester Arthur was born here on October 5th, 1829, not 1830, as he often said. The original home was demolished, and a replica is on the site. A granite monument was erected in 1903 on the site where it was thought he had been born.

Home: New York, NY

This house, the only surviving home of President Arthur, was where he spent most of his adult life.

Grave: Albany, NY

Chester Arthur was buried here in 1886. A statue of him is also located in New York City.

The Story

Upon finding out that many of the President's graves were quite close to our home in New York, me and my father decided to take up the hobby of being tombstone tourists to visit Presidential graves. Our first trip on May 3rd, 2008 led us to Albany, NY, and to Chester Arthur's grave. It was a bit damp on our trip, and we found many signs about his grave on the way or ouside of the cemetery.

Sign

The cemetery sign.

President Grave Sign

This is the sign pointing out the grave.

Sign #2

This is the (faded) sign by his grave.

Grave from afar

The grave as visible from the road.

Me and Arthur

Me by Chester Arthur's grave.

Plaque

The plaque on his grave.

Presidential Seal

The water-filled Presidential seal on the grave.

Dad by the Tomb

My dad by Arthur's grave.

Gallery

The Story

On Election Day, November 3rd, 2009, and exactly one month since the last visit to Kinderhook, me and my grandparents went to revisit the Chester Arthur Gravesite. As usual, I had a list of the graves and plot numbers (for most), so we knew where all of the graves were. We arrived and almost immediately located the Arthur plot. After arriving, we took a few pictures, and then... the camera batteries died! Just my luck, but we went to a store and bought new batteries, tested them (see Theodore Roosevelt), and then went back to the cemetery and found the Arthur plot again. After visiting all 8 graves in the plot, we drove around and attempted to find the grave of Mary McElroy, but failed. But I wasn't going to give up yet, and we then drove to the cemetery office and got a map. Then, we asked someone there to help us find the grave of Mary. He got out a huge, old-looking book and then looked up the name. After finding the plot number for her, he wrote down the plot number and used a hi-lighter to show us the path to her grave, which was not anywhere near where I thought it was. We then drove to the correct plot and looked for a while before finding the grave. After this, we found the grave of Philip Schuyler, owner of Schuyler Mansion, Gen. John Cochrane, and John Van Buren, son of President Martin Van Buren.

President Arthur's Grave

The grave of Chester Arthur exactly 1 year and six months later.

Chester Alan Arthur II

He was Chester Arthur's son. He is buried behind him.

Ellen Herndon Arthur Pinkerton

She was Chester Arthur's daughter.

William Lewis Herndon Arthur

He was Chester Arthur's son, he died when he was only 2 years old in 1863.

Me by the grave

Me standing by the grave of President Arthur.

Malvina Stone Arthur

She was Chester Arthur's mother.

Ann Eliza Arthur

She was his sister.

Jane Arthur

She was his sister.

Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur

Her grave, she has only a brief mention on the grave of Chester Arthur II.

Mary Arthur McElroy

Her grave. She served as First Lady during his term, and was also his sister.

Me by her grave

It was almost impossible to find her grave, and we had to ask about it at the cemetery office. We couldn't find it, and had to have someone map it out for us. They had to take out a huge book with the names of all burials in the cemetery and look up her name, then use a hi-lighter to map out where the plot was. When we found it, I decided to have my picture taken by it because we had searched for so long.

Memorial: Manhattan, NY

This statue is located in Madison Square Park.