Three generations of Chester A. Arthurs on the Same Bank Check, Including the President as President

A check of Chester A. Arthur on The Nassau Bank of New York, March 18, 1884, made out in his hand to Chester A. Arthur, Jr. Esq. for $100 and boldly signed as President. There are thus two signatures of his on the front. On the verso Chester A. Arthur, Jr. has signed “C.A. Arthur, Jr.” as an endorsement with a bank stamp below the signature. Below this his son has written “For Gisela Merz from her friend Chester A. Arthur III (three generations!) New York, 1966.” Fine condition, a truly remarkable assemblage of generations of the Arthur family.

Chester Alan Arthur, Jr. was a student at Princeton at this time, and was known for his lavish spending, which earned him the title among his Washington friends as “Prince of Washington.” He spent most of the rest of his life as a dilettante travelling and raising horses. Chester Alan Arthur III (1901-1972) was perhaps the most interesting member of the family. He was once jailed for being a member of the Irish Republican Movement, and later moved to California where he founded an art and literature commune and taught at San Quentin before writing “The Circle of Sex”, a book that analyzed human sexuality through the lens of astrology. He was finally reduced to selling newspapers on the streets of San Francisco.