Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur

Ellen Lewis "Nell" Arthur (née Herndon) was born on August 30, 1837, in Culpeper Court House, Virginia. She was the daughter of William Lewis Herndon, a naval officer, and Frances Elizabeth Hansbrough. Her father gained prominence in 1857 when he perished alongside the mail steamer SS Central America during a hurricane off Cape Hatteras, with over 400 passengers and crew lost—a disaster recognized as the largest commercial shipping loss at that time. Herndon was 20 years old at the time of her father's death.

Her upbringing was in Washington, D.C., where she received her education until 1856, after which her family moved to New York City. At age 16, she undertook an extended European tour with Matthew Fontaine Maury, her father’s cousin and a notable naval officer and explorer, along with Maury’s daughters and a cousin. She was also known for her contralto singing ability and was invited to join the choir at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.

In 1856, Nell Herndon was introduced to Chester A. Arthur through her cousin Dabney Herndon Maury, a friend of Arthur’s, in New York City. Arthur, then 30 years old, proposed to her on the porch of the U.S. Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. She was 22 at the time. They were married on October 25, 1859, at Calvary Episcopal Church in New York City, a date coinciding with her father’s birthday.

Chester A. Arthur was from rural Vermont and had cultivated a sense of refined dressing and social manners in upstate New York, especially during his time at Union College. The couple resided in a townhouse on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, where they hosted social gatherings. Nell Arthur continued her interest in singing, participating in the Mendelssohn Glee Club and performing at fundraising events around New York.

The couple had three children: William Lewis Arthur (1860–1863), who died at age two and a half from convulsions; Chester Alan Arthur II (1864–1937), who graduated from Princeton University in 1885 and Columbia Law School; and Ellen Hansbrough Herndon Arthur (1871–1915), who married Charles Pinkerton and resided in New York City. William Lewis Arthur’s death was a significant personal tragedy for the family.

Political and social networks played a notable role in the Arthurs’ lives, with Nell’s associations among wealthy families such as the Vanderbilts, Astors, and Roosevelts broadening Chester’s political contacts. Their financial stability was supported by Nell’s mother's wealth, which furnished them with a luxurious lifestyle, including their Manhattan residence furnished with goods from Tiffany's. This financial independence allowed Chester A. Arthur to focus on his political career, eventually advancing to roles such as Quartermaster General of the New York Militia during the Civil War and Collector of the Port of New York after the war.

Nell Arthur’s health declined in early 1880 when she contracted pneumonia following a cold. She died from the illness on January 12, 1880, in New York City at age 42. She was interred in the Arthur family plot in Albany, New York. After her death, Chester A. Arthur’s sister, Mary Arthur McElroy, served as the acting hostess and cared for the children during Chester’s presidency. He mourned her deeply and, while president, commissioned a stained glass window at St. John’s Episcopal Church in her memory, which he kept illuminated at night. Additionally, he had flowers placed before her portrait in the White House daily.