the agreements made in the Compromise of 1850. Arthur spent much of his time as clerk in Culver's firm handling details of the appeal. He made numerous trips to the state capital to assist in arguments before the New York Supreme Court. The final court decision in 1860 upheld the initial ruling, and Arthur's work put him in touch with the leading legal minds in the state, as well as most of the prominent New York politicians of the day.In a second case, also instrumental in advancing Arthur's public profile, the firm defended a black woman, Lizzie Jennings, who had been forced out of the white section of a Brooklyn street car when she refused to give her seat to a white passenger. Jennings' case predated Rosa Parks' case in the 1950s by over one hundred years. The case forced the streetcar company to accept and seat black passengers without prejudice on their streetcars.As was common in those days, young unmarried men frequently lived in boarding houses, where they took meals in family-style settings, socialized with fellow boarders, and tried to establish the appearance of a home life. Arthur lived in such a family hotel on Broadway. While there he befriended a young medical student from Virginia, Dabney Herndon, who frequently visited with relatives living nearby in Manhattan. Arthur occasionally accompanied his friend on these family visits, and Herndon's cousin, the young Ellen Lewis Herndon, soon caught Arthur's eye. The two, aged twenty-two and thirty, fell in love and were married on October 25, 1859.When the Civil War broke out, Arthur, who had joined the state militia in 1858 principally out of a desire for companionship and political connections, stood primed for duty. In a rush to staff key positions, the Republican governor appointed Arthur to be quartermaster general for the New York Volunteers. He served in that post with great efficiency, obtaining the rank of brigadier general before his retirement in 1863. Responsible f...
