Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1886 — CHESTER A. ARTHUR. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

The Ez-President Passes Away at His Residence in New York City. A Stroke of Cerebral Apoplexy the Immediate Cause of Death. [New York special.] Cnester Alan Arthur, ex-President ot the United States, died suddenly at his residence, 123 Lexington avenue, at 5 a. m. Thursday, Nov. 18. Tho immediate cause of his death was a* stroke of cerebral apoplexy which came in his sleep between Tuesday night an l Wednesday morning, tho result of the bursting of a blood vessel. His death was painleSH. It was like the slow going-out oi a burned-down candle, anil for hours before the end came tho dying man was unconscious. His son and daughter, his „... sisters, and Sherman W, Knevals, his former law partner and intimate friend, were at hla side when tne summons of death came. For many months Gen. Arthur had been a very sick man, and although immediately prior to the fatal shock he was apparently brighter

and more cheerful than usual, his death was not unexpected by bis more intimate friends. For two years he had been suffering from a complication of Bright’s disease of the kidneys and an enfeebled and enlarged heart. It was this latter disorder that weakened his robust constitution and prepared the way for the rupture of the blood-vossel in bis brain which caused his death. The beginning of Gen. Arthur’s illness dates back to the latter part of his administration at Washington. On leaving the national. capital he at onco placed himself in the care of Dr. George A. Peters, his old family physician, and every effort within the reach of medical skill was employed to rebuild his disordered system. The treatment did him no apparent good, and it was thought last spring that be had only a few days to live. With the warm summe weather, however, the patient seemed to rally. Early in June he was removed to a cottage at New London, Gonn., and there his health and spirits gained perceptibly. On Oct. 1, Gen. Arthur returned to this city much benefited by his stay at New London, but it was not long before Dr. Peters saw that his patient was failing, and soon the President found himself too weak to leave his house. He had his bed moved into the front room on the second story, and so arranged, with the footboard toward tne windows, that he could look out and watch the clouds when he did not feel strong onoughrte-move about the house. Tuesday Gen. Arthur had an encouraging day. His mind was clear and his spirits hopeful. He sat up chatting with friends, and in the evening wrote a number of letters and signed some legal papers. At midnight the nurse lookfd into his room and found him sleeping quietly. Wednesday morning when thesottendant entered the sick man’s room he was breathing heavily and was unconscious. Dr. Peters and Dr. Valentine were at once called, and a hasty examination satisfied them that Generttl Arthur was near his end. He had suffered a stroke of apoplexy which ruptured a bloodvessel in the brain, causing paralysis, and this in turn produced unconsciousness. Restoratives wero applied, and after some hours the dying man regained his mind. He was unable to speak, but when the doctor called his name he pressed his hand faintly, and later he put out his tongue when asked to do so by his physician. The family was then told that the Bick man could not live more than it few • days at the most, and the same message was sent to General Arthur's friends. Mrs. McElray and Mrs. Caw, the ex-president’s sisters, and his son, Chester Alan Arthur, Jr., with the daughter Nellie, were constant in then - attendance. At 4 o'clock Wednesday afternoon it became evident that death was very near. As Dr. Dr. Peters and Mr. Knevals at this hour entered the apartment of the dying man he seemed to recognize his old friends. He followed them with his eyes and took the doctor's hand, but—his speech failed him. Moat of the family .gathered iu. .the., dying.JUiiflla. rPQm .iiJid sftdly. watched through tne long hours of the night. At midnight Dr. Peters observed that the patient waR no longer conscious, and listening for a moment at the sick man’s.breast he detected tbo unmistakable signs of the approaching end. This lie-made known to the watchers, and feeling that Jiis friend was boyond the reach of his skill lie leftthfe house and went to his home. irom midnight ou tho dying man lay quiet upon his bed, breathing slowly, but apparently in little pain. Toward early dawn the curtains in the room were lifted, but tho patient gave few signs of Ufa save the severe and now somewhat painful breathing. Surrogate Rollins called the daughter Nellie, and the sen, who bears Gen. Arthur's own name, and his two sisters, Mrs. McElroy and Mrs. Caw, with , his i:ephow r , Mr. Masten, to t. e bedside of the dying man, and then left the apartment overcome with grief. The ex-President continued t 6 sink rapidly, and at 5 o’clock Thursday morning he •died. The young daughter of the dead man was overwhelmed with grief. When she was led to the death couch of her father she wept bitterly, and was led away inconsolable. The son, who had been a companion to the father, broke into Chester Alan Arthur, the son of an Irishman named William Artbpr, was born in Fairfield, •Vt., on tne oth of October, 18HU. After the customary New England schooling ho entered Union College in Schenectady in ISJ6, and was graduated high up on the list four years later. Mr. Arthur supported himself while in college, and served his apprenticeship in tbo humble inclosure of a schoolhouse. After two years in a law school, and a brief service as principal of the North Pownal Academy, in Vermont, Mr. Arthur came to New York and entered tho law firm of Culver, Paisteu & Arthur, after which, and until .1865, he was associated with Mr. Henry 1). Gardner. The law career of Mr. Arthur .includes some notable cases: One of his first eases was the celebrated Lemmon suit. In 1832 Jonathan and Juliet Lemmon, Virginia slaveholders, intending to emigrate to Texas, came to Now xork to await tiio sailing of a steamer, bringing eight waves with them. A writ of habeas corpus was obtained from Judge Paine to test the question, whether the provisions of the fugitive-slave law were in fdreo in this State. Judge Paine rendered a decision bolding that they were not, and ordered that tie Lemmon slaves bo liberated. Henrv L. Clinton was one of the counsel for the slaveholders. A howl of rage went up from the South, and the'Virginia Legislature authorised the Attorney General of that State to assist in taking an appeal. William M. Evarts and Chester A. Arthur were employed to represent the people, and they won iheir case, which then went to the Supreme Court of the United States. Charles O’Conor here espoused the cause of the slaveholders, but he, too, was beaten by Messrs. Evarts and Arthur, and along step was taken toward the emancipation of the black race. At the outbreak of the war Gov. Morgan appointed Mr. Arthur Engineer-in-Chief, then Inspector General, and in 18C2 Quartermaster General. No higher encomium can be passed upon him than the mention of the fiict that, although the war account of the State of New York was at least te» times larger than that of any other State, yet it was the first audited and allowed in Washington, and without tbe deduction of a single dollar, while the Quartermasters’ accounts from other States were reduced from $1,000,000 to 410,000,000. During bis incumbency every present sent to him was immediately returned. When he became Quartermaster he was poor; when his term expired he was poorer still. The noijiiuntfon for the Vico Presidency on the Garfield ticket was made in the evening session of June 10, WHO, Following the success of his ticket in the fall of ISBO, Gen Arthur was swbfn in and took his seat as presiding officer in the Senate on the 4th of March, 1881. On the death of President Garfield Mr. Arthur became the twenty-first President of the United States, being sworn in at twoo’clock in the morning of September 20,1881.