Julia I. Sand (1850–1933) was an American woman who corresponded with the American President Chester A. Arthur, beginning in late August 1881. Arthur saved twenty-three letters, all of which were discovered in 1958 after his grandson, Chester Alan Arthur III (also known as Gavin Arthur), sold his grandfather's papers to the Library of Congress. The last surviving letter is dated September 15, 1883. It is not known whether Arthur ever wrote back as no letter from him has ever been found. Sand often referred to herself as the President's "little dwarf", an allusion to the idea that in a royal court, only the dwarf would have the courage to tell the truth.
Background
Julia Sand was the eighth daughter of a German emigrant named Christian Henry Sand who became President of the Metropolitan Gas Light Company of New York. She lived in Brooklyn until her father died in 1867, at which point her family moved to New Jersey. By 1880, they had settled at 46 East 74th Street in New York City. One of her brothers died in the American Civil War, which may have inspired her interest in politics.
Sand was educated, read French, enjoyed poetry, and travelled to fashionable Saratoga Springs and Newport. At the time she began writing to Arthur, she was bedridden due to spinal trouble, lameness, and deafness.
Most of what is known about Sand comes from her surviving letters to President Arthur. "I am a poor little woman who has always been the youngest of her family, who, consequently, if she lives to be fifty, will always be treated like a child – who would have no comfort in life if she could not occasionally scold some very big man." (Letter of September 28, 1881).
She may have also been an artist, since she once asked Arthur for permission to paint him in watercolors.
First letter
Julia Sand wrote her first letter when she was thirty-one. Dated August 27, 1881, it reached Arthur when he was still U.S. vice president. Arthur's predecessor, President James A. Garfield, had been shot by Charles Guiteau; it took nearly two months for Garfield to die, during which time Vice President Arthur was in seclusion. Upon being caught, Guiteau had announced his hope that Arthur would be president and there was a brief investigation into whether Guiteau had been hired by Garfield's enemies. Though this was disproven, there were threats to Arthur's life and he feared making public appearances. Arthur's past was tied to various scandals involving the New York Custom House and it was feared by many that an Arthur presidency would be a disaster. The Republican Party was divided between "Stalwarts" (supporters of former U.S. President Ulysses Grant and New York party boss Roscoe Conkling) and "Half-Breeds" (supporters of U.S. President Garfield and U.S. Secretary of State James G. Blaine).
Sand's letter added that, for five years, she had felt "dead and buried" but the attempt on Garfield's life and America's lack of faith in Arthur had inspired her to attempt to inspire him.
Other letters
Sand's letters generally contained political advice, although it was interspersed with personal details and concern regarding Arthur's health and personal life. As she had no political ties, all of her information apparently came from newspapers.
Historian and Chester Arthur biographer Thomas C. Reeves suggested her letters revealed a sympathy for the reformist wing of the Republican Party. In a letter of January 7, 1882, she remarked that it was rumored that Arthur's visits to New York were because he was engaged. "Do you remember any other President as restless as yourself, who was rushing home every few weeks? If, as Washington gossip hints, you are engaged and wish to see the lady without having her name dragged before the public – of course the end justifies the means." In the same letter, she remarked on an incident when Arthur had kissed a baby with such discomfort that she "had thought of Pickwick and almost died laughingly".
President Garfield died on September 19, 1881, and Arthur thus became U.S. president. After giving his inaugural address, he received another letter dated September 25, 1881. She counselled him to let the country mourn and that he should show compassion to help the nation heal. Sand wrote to Arthur: "You are a better & nobler man, [due to] the manner in which you have borne yourself through this long, hard ordeal." (Letter of September 25, 1881).
Sand began to urge Arthur to visit her in a letter dated November 8, 1881 and subsequent letters indicated annoyance that he had not acknowledged the invitation.