William Arthur (December 5, 1796 – ) was an Irish-born

Baptist minister Baptists are a denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers ( believer's baptism) and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches generally subscribe to the doctrines of ...

and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

. He was the father of the twenty-first president of the United States,

Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was the 21st president of the United States, serving from 1881 to 1885. He was a Republican from New York who previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A. ...

Life

William Arthur was born on 5 December 1796 in Ballymena Borough, County Antrim. His parents names were Alan Arthur and Eliza MacHerg. Alan Arthur was the namesake for his grandson's middle name. He is widely reported to have been raised at Arthur Cottage in

Cullybackey Cullybackey or Cullybacky () is a large village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies 3 miles north-west of Ballymena, on the banks of the River Main, and is part of Mid and East Antrim district. It had a population of 2,569 people in th ...

. In 1963 the building was bought by the

Government of Northern Ireland A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, whose Finance Minister

Terence O'Neill Terence Marne O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, Privy Council of Northern Ireland, PC (NI) (10 September 1914 – 12 June 1990), was the fourth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and leader (1963–1969) of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). ...

intended to donate the cottage to the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. However the Trust declined the offer, because the link with William Arthur had not been proven. The building later became a museum in the care of

Ballymena Borough Council Ballymena Borough Council was the local authority of Ballymena (borough), Ballymena in Northern Ireland. It merged with Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Irelan ...

. In 2023, the website of the successor

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is a local authority that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ballymena Borough Council, Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council. History On 2 December 2021, the councils chief exec ...

was asserting without reservation that Arthur Cottage "is the ancestral home of Chester Alan Arthur, the 21st President of the United States of America". William Arthur graduated from Belfast College, came to the United States, studied law for a short time, and was then called to the Baptist ministry. After preaching in Vermont and western New York, he was settled as pastor of the Calvary Baptist church of Albany, N. Y., where he remained from 1855 to 1863. He later moved to

Schenectady Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

, where he published a magazine called ''The'' ''Antiquarian and General Review'', to whose pages he contributed much curious learning on a variety of topics. He published an ''Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names'' (New York, 1857), which was favorably received. During the last ten years of his life he lived in retirement, preaching occasionally, and giving much time to literary pursuits. Arthur was noted for his attainments in the classics and in history. William Arthur died on 27 October 1875 in Newtonville. His son,

would serve as President of the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, William Created via preloaddraft 1796 births 1875 deaths 19th-century Irish writers 19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States 19th-century lexicographers People from Ballymena Baptist ministers from Northern Ireland Arthur family Irish emigrants to the United States Irish lexicographers Writers from County Antrim Christian clergy from County Antrim People from Cullybackey