“No one deplores the calamity more than Senator Conkling and myself. These reports are so base and unfounded I cannot believe that they will be credited. They do not affect Senator Conkling and myself as much as they do the entire country. They are a slur upon our institutions, an attack upon the integrity of Republican government! Good God! If such a thing were possible, then liberty is impossible! Such a calamity as this should be treated as national, not only by every citizen, but by the entire press of the country. Party and faction should be forgotten in the general grief. All personal considerations and political views must be merged in the national sorrow. I am an American among millions of Americans grieving for their wounded chief!”
When it became evident that none of the medical experts in charge of the White House patient were making any progress toward his recovery and the trip to Elberon, N. J., was planned to comply with the President’s desire to be near the ocean, and also as a forlorn hope that a change of air might again bring about an improvement, Mr. Arthur returned to his home in New York City, 123 Lexington Avenue, where, two weeks later, on the night of September 19, 1881, he received the official notice of the death of his chief.
Although he had been daily informed of the President’s condition and had known for some days that the Chief Executive could not recover, yet the communication of the five members of the Cabinet was a shock. It read:
Announcement to The Vice President
Long Branch, N. J., September 19, 1881.
Hon. Chester A. Arthur,
No. 123 Lexington Avenue, New York.
It becomes our painful duty to inform you of the death of President Garfield and to advise you to take the oath of office as President of the United States without delay. If it concurs with your judgment, we will be very glad if you will come here on the earliest train to-morrow morning.
William Windom,
Secretary of the Treasury.
William H. Hunt,
Secretary of the Navy.
Thomas L. James,
Postmaster General.
Wayne Mac Veagh,
Attorney General.
S. J. Kirkwood,
Secretary of the Interior.
(The Secretaries of State and War were absent from Long Branch.)
Preparations were made at once to follow the instructions, and Justices J. R. Brady and Charles Donoghue, of the Supreme Court of New York, were summoned, as were Elihu Root, ex-Commissioner French, Samuel G. Rollins, and they, with Alan D. Arthur, the son of the Vice President, comprised the group that witnessed the taking of the oath of office, administered by Justice J. R. Brady, at 2 A. M. on September 20, 1881. The news was flashed to Washington and word sent to Long Branch.