Chester Alan Arthur's beloved "Nell" died of pneumonia on January 12, 1880. That
November, when he was elected Vice President, he was still mourning her
bitterly. In his own words: "Honors to me now are not what they once were." His
grief was the more poignant because she was only 42 and her death sudden. Just
two days earlier she had attended a benefit concert in New York City--while he
was busy with politics in Albany--and she caught cold that night while waiting
for her carriage. She was already unconscious when he reached her side.

Her family connections among distinguished Virginians had shaped her life. She
was born at Culpeper Court House, only child of Elizabeth Hansbrough and
William Lewis Herndon, U.S.N. They moved to Washington, D.C., when he was
assigned to help his brother-in-law Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury establish the
Naval Observatory. While Ellen was still just a girl her beautiful contralto
voice attracted attention; she joined the choir at St. John's Episcopal Church
on Lafayette Square.

Then her father assumed command of a mail steamer operating from New York; and
in 1856 a cousin introduced her to "Chet" Arthur, who was establishing a law
practice in the city. By 1857 they were engaged. In a birthday letter that year
he reminded her of "the soft, moonlight nights of June, a year ago...happy,
happy days at Saratoga--the golden, fleeting hours at Lake George." He wished
he could hear her singing.

That same year her father died a hero's death at sea, going down with his ship
in a gale off Cape Hatteras. The marriage did not take place until October
1859; and a son named for Commander Herndon died when only two. But another boy
was born in 1864 and a girl, named for her mother, in 1871. Arthur's career
brought the family an increasing prosperity; they decorated their home in the
latest fashion and entertained prominent friends with elegance. At Christmas
there were jewels from Tiffany for Nell, the finest toys for the children.

At the White House, Arthur would not give anyone the place that would have been
his wife's. He asked his sister Mary (Mrs. John E. McElroy) to assume certain
social duties and help care for his daughter. He presented a stained-glass
window to St. John's Church in his wife's memory; it depicted angels of the
Resurrection, and at his special request it was placed in the south transept so
that he could see it at night from the White House with the lights of the church
shining through.