Mary Arthur McElroy

Mary McElroy (; 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. McElroy was born in New York and attended the progressive Emma Willard School. She married insurance salesman John Edward McElroy and worked for some 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. She was a popular hostess, and contemporary Washington social life celebrated her for her lively receptions. When her tenure as hostess ended, McElroy returned to her family in Albany, New York, and she later worked in 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. Malvina's family was primarily of English and Welsh descent, and her grandfather, Uriah Stone, fought in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. 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. Her mother met her father while William Arthur was teaching at a school in Dunham, Quebec, just over the border from her native Vermont.