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Mary Arthur McElroy
Portrait of Mary Arthur McElroy (1885)
Acting First Lady of the United States
In role
September 19, 1881 – March 4, 1885
PresidentChester A. Arthur
Preceded byLucretia Garfield
Succeeded byRose Cleveland (acting)
Personal details
Born
Mary Arthur

(1841-07-05)July 5, 1841
Greenwich, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 8, 1917(1917-01-08) (aged 75)
Albany, New York, U.S.
Spouse
John Edward McElroy
​
​
(m. 1861; died 1915)​
Children
  • May
  • William
  • Jessie
  • Charles
EducationEmma Willard School
Signature

Mary McElroy (née Arthur; July 5, 1841 – January 8, 1917) was the sister of the 21st president of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, and served as a hostess (acting as the first lady) for his administration (1881–1885). She assumed the role because Arthur's wife, Ellen, had died nearly two years earlier.

She was born in Vermont and attended the progressive Emma Willard School. She married insurance salesman John Edward McElroy and worked for a period of time as a teacher. When her brother Chester A. Arthur became president, she lived in the White House during winter months to host social events and care for her niece. As acting first lady, McElroy ended the tradition of suspending social events during Lent, and she held large weekly receptions. McElroy was a popular hostess, and she was celebrated in contemporary Washington social life for her lively receptions.

When her tenure as hostess ended, McElroy returned to her family in Albany, New York, and she later worked in Northern Ireland to preserve the Arthur family homestead. She handled her brother's affairs during his illness and after his death, taking responsibility for his funeral and his presidential legacy. McElroy died in Albany in 1917. She is one of the most obscure first ladies, and there exists relatively little scholarly research about her life.

Early life

Mary Arthur was born in Greenwich, New York, the last of nine children born to William and Malvina S. Arthur. Arthur's mother, Malvina Stone, was born in Vermont, the daughter of George Washington Stone and Judith Stevens.[1] Malvina's family was primarily of English and Welsh descent, and her grandfather, Uriah Stone, fought in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.[2][3] Her father, William Arthur, was born in Dreen, Cullybackey, County Antrim, Ireland; he graduated from college in Belfast and emigrated to Canada in 1819 or 1820.[4] Her mother met her father while William Arthur was teaching at a school in Dunham, Quebec, just over the border from her native Vermont.[5]

She attended the Emma Willard School Seminary in Troy, New York, with the intention of becoming a teacher. This school offered an education equivalent to that found in men's schools, and she was educated in history, geography, science, and French.[6] At one point, she taught at a private school in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Little else is known about her career prior to her work in the White House.[6][7] On June 13, 1861, she married John Edward McElroy (1833–1915), the son of William McElroy and Jane Mullen.[8] McElroy was a reverend[6][9] and an insurance salesman who was the president of the Albany Insurance Company. They lived in Albany, New York, and had four children: May (b. 1862), William (1864–1892), Jessie (1867–1934), and Charles (1873–1947).[10] McElroy also assisted in raising the children of her brother Chester A. Arthur when his wife Nell Arthur died in 1880. She was close to Arthur's daughter Nellie, encouraging her to pursue music in honor of her mother.[6][7]

Acting First Lady of the United States

McElroy's brother Chester was elected vice president in 1880, and he became president after the death of President James A. Garfield in 1881. In January 1883, President Arthur asked McElroy to serve as White House hostess. As Arthur was a widower, there had been no first lady in the White House for the first year of his presidency. McElroy's close relationship with Arthur's daughter reaffirmed his decision to choose her as White House hostess.[7] McElroy accepted the position, though she faced some reluctance as she was a naturally shy person and it would require her to leave her family in Albany.[11] She quickly learned the responsibilities of White House hostess, and she described herself when starting as "absolutely unfamiliar with the customs and formalities".[10]

McElroy began her role as acting first lady on January 24 when she participated in a diplomatic corps dinner. She first hosted a reception of her own on January 27, and she would host further receptions on Saturdays thereafter.[7] As the nation was in mourning for President Garfield, Washington social life was not as active as it would otherwise have been.[11] When the winter social season ended in March, a farewell dinner was held in her honor and she returned to Albany. She returned to the White House on January 1, 1884, to assist in New Year's Day celebrations.[7] McElroy then broke with the tradition of suspending social events during Lent, and she held weekly open-house receptions in the spring during which a hostess would be assigned to each room, culminating in an elaborate luncheon in the family quarters.[6] She also established the tradition of serving tea after a reception.[9]

Arthur never gave McElroy official status or recognition as first lady out of respect to his late wife.[12] Despite this, McElroy proved to be a popular and competent hostess. The procedures she and her brother developed for the social functions were used by future First Ladies for decades.[10] Her responsibilities typically involved hosting more formal events, as Arthur would host informal dinners himself if families were not attending.[13] She was noted for her hospitality while hosting, using a more personal style with guests.[7] McElroy's oldest daughter May and Arthur's daughter Nell often assisted with these duties; the presence of children "did away with any stiffness" while McElroy was working.[10] When decorating the White House, she often incorporated gaslight and heavy use of plants.[6]

McElroy presided over a number of events and honored former First Ladies Julia Tyler and Harriet Lane by asking them to help her receive guests at the White House. McElroy also held a private luncheon for former first lady Julia Grant. As she was not the president's wife, McElroy had more flexibility regarding social customs, and she would attend social events in homes other than the White House. She also declined to take up any causes or charity work as many first ladies had done. She did, however, retain several benefits of her status as White House hostess, including use of the president's box at the theater, transport on U.S. Navy ships, and access to the president's retreat.[6] While serving as White House hostess, supporters of the temperance movement would contact her to enforce a ban on alcohol in the White House, but McElroy declined to take such action.[7]

McElroy's final reception took place on February 28, 1885, one week before the end of the Arthur administration: 3,000 people attended (including Adolphus Greely) and 48 daughters of officials and of the social elite assisted her.[7][14] During the presidential transition period, she befriended her successor Rose Cleveland, who would also be the sister of an unmarried president.[7] They also had in common their hometown of Albany. On her final day as White House hostess, McElroy held a luncheon for Cleveland.[6]

Later life and death

Sketch of McElroy (1914)

When Arthur left the White House, McElroy stayed with him in Washington for several weeks. Before she left to return for Albany, Senator George H. Pendleton and his wife held a farewell reception in her honor. In 1886, McElroy traveled to Northern Ireland to meet family and helped preserve the family homestead as a historic site.[6] In February 1886, Arthur became critically ill, and McElroy left Albany to be with him.[10] After his death later that year, McElroy arranged his funeral and became the legal guardian of his daughter.[7] She also took responsibility over his legacy, organizing his presidential papers and unveiling his statue in Madison Square.[6] In 1889, First Lady Frances Cleveland invited McElroy to a White House luncheon as a guest of honor. McElroy and her husband were supportive of civil rights for African Americans and hosted Booker T. Washington at their home in Albany in June 1900. She opposed the women's suffrage movement,[7] and she was a member of the Albany Association Opposed to Women's Suffrage.[6] McElroy died on January 8, 1917, at the age of 75 in Albany and was buried in Albany Rural Cemetery.[7]

Legacy

McElroy has been not been the focus of significant historical research. This is in part because of her limited time as White House hostess, and in part because of the relatively little scholarly focus on her brother's presidency.[7] She is lauded by historians for her quick adaptation to White House life and her talent as a hostess.[7][10]

In the 1982 Siena College Research Institute asking historians to assess American first ladies, McElroy and several other "acting" first ladies were included. The first ladies survey, which has been conducted periodically since, ranks first ladies according to a cumulative score on the independent criteria of their background, value to the country, intelligence, courage, accomplishments, integrity, leadership, being their own women, public image, and value to the president. In the 1982 survey, out of 42 first ladies and "acting" first ladies, McElroy was assessed as the 25th most highly regarded among historians. Acting first ladies such as McElroy have been excluded from subsequent iterations of this survey.[15]

References

  1. ^ Hambley, Del (2008). Presidential Footprints. Indianapolis, IN: Dog ear Publishing. p. 103. ISBN 978-159858-800-2.
  2. ^ Reeves 1975, p. 4.
  3. ^ Howe, George F. (1966) [1935]. Chester A. Arthur, A Quarter-Century of Machine Politics. New York: F. Ungar Pub. Co. p. 4. ASIN B00089DVIG.
  4. ^ Reeves, Thomas C. (July 1, 1970). "The Diaries of Malvina Arthur: Windows Into The Past of Our 21st President" (PDF). Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society. Montpelier, VT: Vermont Historical Society. p. 179.
  5. ^ Reeves, Thomas C. (Autumn 1970). "The Mystery of Chester Alan Arthur's Birthplace" (PDF). Vermont History. 38 (4): 294.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "First Lady Biography: Ellen Arthur". National First Ladies Library. Mary "Molly" Arthur McElroy. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Arrington, Benjamin T. (2016). Sibley, Katherine A. S. (ed.). A Companion to First Ladies. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 262–263. ISBN 9781118732243.
  8. ^ "John E. McElroy". The New York Times. 17 September 1915. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  9. ^ a b Logan, Mary Simmerson Cunningham (1912). The Part Taken by Women in American History. Perry-Nalle Publishing Company. p. 275.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Reeves 1975, p. 269.
  11. ^ a b Watson, Robert P. (2001). "Mary Arthur McElroy". First Ladies of the United States. Lynne Rienner Publishers. pp. 142–143. doi:10.1515/9781626373532. ISBN 978-1-62637-353-2.
  12. ^ "Mary McElroy". Miller Center. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  13. ^ Caroli, Betty (2010). First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-19-539285-2.
  14. ^ Reeves 1975, p. 414.
  15. ^ "Ranking America's First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt Still #1 Abigail Adams Regains 2nd Place Hillary moves from 5 th to 4 th; Jackie Kennedy from 4th to 3rd Mary Todd Lincoln Remains in 36th" (PDF). Siena Research Institute. December 18, 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2022.

Sources

Honorary titles
Preceded by First Lady of the United States
Acting
1881–1885 		Succeeded by
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