...Nearly 123 years after his death, doubts about his US citizenship linger, thanks to lack of documentation and a political foe’s assertion that Arthur was really born in Canada - and was therefore ineligible for the White House, where he served from 1881 to 1885.

Long before “birthers’’ began questioning the citizenship of President Obama, similar questions were raised about the early years of Arthur, an accidental president who ascended to the job after President James Garfield was assassinated.

“It’s an old rumor that won’t die, political slander,’’ said John Dumville, who runs Vermont’s historic sites and knows well the legend.

The Constitution says only a “natural-born citizen’’ may serve as president. The issue has received renewed interest because of legions of Obama doubters who claim his Hawaiian birth certificate is fake and that he was born in Kenya.

But the Arthur birthplace question came up before the Internet was around to spread such theories...