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Sarah Childress Polk

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Sarah Childress Polk
Copy of Polk's Official Portrait, by George Dury[1]
First Lady of the United States
In role
March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849
PresidentJames Polk
Preceded byJulia Tyler
Succeeded byMargaret Taylor
First Lady of Tennessee
In role
October 14, 1839 – October 15, 1841
GovernorJames K. Polk
Preceded byRachel Cannon
Succeeded bySarah Jones
Personal details
Born
Sarah Childress

(1803-09-04)September 4, 1803
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedAugust 14, 1891(1891-08-14) (aged 87)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Resting placeTennessee State Capitol
Nashville, Tennessee
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1824; died 1849)​
ChildrenSarah Polk Fall, unofficial adoption
Parent(s)Joel Childress
Elizabeth Whitsitt
EducationSalem Academy
Signature

Sarah Childress Polk (September 4, 1803 – August 14, 1891) was the wife of the 11th President of the United States, James Polk, serving as the First Lady of the United States from 1845 to 1849.

Early life and education

Sarah Childress was born in 1803 to Elizabeth Whitsitt and Joel Childress, a prominent planter, merchant, and land speculator — the third of their six children. She was well educated for a woman of her time and place, attending the exclusive Moravians' Salem Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1817, one of the few institutions of higher learning available to women in the early 19th century.

Sarah met James K. Polk while both were receiving instruction from Samuel P. Black at his house in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; he was 19, she was 12. Several years later James began courting her. Legend says Andrew Jackson called her “wealthy, pretty, ambitious, and intelligent,” and urged Polk to marry her.[2] In 1823 the two became engaged, and on January 1, 1824, Sarah Childress, aged 20, married James Polk, aged 28, at the plantation home of the bride's parents near Murfreesboro. The Polks are the only presidential couple to never have children while together, biologically, adopted or from previous marriage. [3] They raised a nephew, Marshall Tate Polk (1831–1884) as their ward for a few years before James would send him to a school in Washington, D.C. and later Georgetown University.[4] After her husband's death, Mrs. Polk assumed guardianship of an orphaned niece, Sarah Polk Jetton (1847–1924), and raised the girl as her own daughter. [5]

Years of political life (1825–1849)

Sarah and James

During Polk's political career, Sarah assisted her husband with his speeches, gave him advice on policy matters and played an active role in his campaigns. In Washington as a congressman's wife during the administrations of John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren, Mrs. Polk very much enjoyed her social duties. In 1830 she risked a breach with Jackson, her husband's mentor, by taking part in the social ostracism of Peggy Eaton, during the Petticoat affair, although she continued to greet Eaton, unlike Vice President John C. Calhoun's wife, Floride Calhoun, and most of the cabinet members' wives.[6]

In 1845, Sarah Polk became the 11th First Lady of the United States. She was lively, charming, intelligent, and a good conversationalist. President Polk at times discussed policy matters with her. While she enjoyed politics, she also cautioned her husband, whose health was never robust, against overwork.[7] A devout Presbyterian, as First Lady she banned dancing, card games, and hard liquor at official receptions.[8]

James and Sarah on the portico of the White House alongside Secretary of State James Buchanan, and former First lady Dolley Madison.

Unlike Julia Tyler's waltzes, the Polk entertainments were sedate and sober affairs which earned the First Lady the nickname "Sahara Sarah".[9] Although some accounts stated that the Polks never served wine, a Congressman's wife "recorded in her diary details of a four-hour dinner for forty at the White House—glasses for six different wines, from pink champagne to ruby port and sauterne, 'formed a rainbow around each plate.'"[10]

Later life

Sarah with her niece, Sallie
Polk in her later years by George Dury

After attending the inauguration of James Polk's successor, Zachary Taylor, on March 5, 1849, he and Sarah left by horse and carriage to their new home "Polk Place" in Nashville, Tennessee. Upon arriving in Tennessee to Sarah's disappointment Polk Place was not yet fully furnished or completed, they would leave from Nashville to Columbia to spend two weeks with the presidents mother before going to spend a few days in Murfreesboros with her family before returning to Nashville. Less than three months later, James Polk died, having had the shortest retirement of any U.S. President.[11] Sarah would remain in Polk Place throughout these later years of her widowhood rarely leaving, becoming a bit of a recluse. She wouldn't start hosting gust and inviting people into her home a few years after his death. She would host distinguished and popular guest throughout her widowhood, such as Abram Hewitt, Edward Cooper, John C. Calhoun II, John Catron, George Bancroft, among numerous others, Including Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and Grover Cleveland. [12][13][14]

Shortly after the President's death Sarah would unofficially adopt a great niece, Sarah Polk Jetton, Nicknamed "Sallie" (1847-1924). After Sarah's niece died, she would be brought to live with Sarah. Sallie lived with Sarah in Nashville until her death in 1891, as Sarah herself considered Sallie her daughter. [15]

Sarah faced small financial difficulties throughout her life after the death of president Polk. Her primary form of income was coming in through a plantation Polk owned, and she inherited after his death. She was forced to sell the plantation before the civil war in 1861. Later she received money through her younger brother John Childless. Starting in 1884 the United States government granted Sarah a pension of $5,000 a year until her death.[16]

During the American Civil War, she was officially neutral, but indicated sentiments in favor of preserving the Union during periodic visits to her home by several Union Army commanders, including Don Carlos Buell, George Henry Thomas, Ulysses S. Grant, and William Tecumseh Sherman. However, as a traditional southern woman she also gave mention to Confederate sympathies during visits from Confederate generals.[17]

Polk Place in Nashville where Sarah would spend the 42 years of her widowhood.

Sarah Polk lived at Polk Place for 42 years, the longest retirement and widowhood of any former US First Lady, and always wore black as a true Victorian Widow. She visited her brother at his Childress-Ray House in Murfreesboro, whose daughter (her niece) was married to Tennessee Governor John C. Brown.[18] Along with vising Adelicia Acklen at Belmont often as her and Sarah were close friends. [19]

Death

Sarah's 2009 Commemorative First Spouse Coin.

Polk died on August 14, 1891, at age 87, less than a month before her 88th birthday. She was buried next to the president originally at their home in Nashville and was later reinterred with him at the Tennessee State Capitol when Polk Place was demolished in 1901.[20][21]

Sarah would leave the contents of Polk Place to her niece Sarah Polk Fall whom she fostered as her daughter. [22][23]

References

  1. ^ "White House Portraits". www.whitehousehistory.org. (White House Historical Association).
  2. ^ Sarah Childress Polk. James attended the University of North Carolina with Sarah's brother Anderson, so he could have reintroduced the couple. The White House. Retrieved on October 14, 2007.
  3. ^ "5 U.S. Presidents Who Were Never Fathers". Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  4. ^ Byrnes, Mark Eaton (2001). James K. Polk: A Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576070567.
  5. ^ "Sarah Childress Polk | James K. Polk Home". www.jameskpolk.com. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  6. ^ Schneider, D., & Schneider, C. J. (2010). First ladies: A biographical dictionary. New York: Facts On File. p. 72. ISBN 1438127502
  7. ^ Schneider, D., & Schneider, C. J. (2010). First ladies: A biographical dictionary. New York: Facts On File. p. 73. ISBN 1438127502
  8. ^ Schneider, D., & Schneider, C. J. (2010). First ladies: A biographical dictionary. New York: Facts On File. pp. 75–76. ISBN 1438127502
  9. ^ Schneider, D., & Schneider, C. J. (2010). First ladies: A biographical dictionary. New York: Facts On File. p. 76. ISBN 1438127502
  10. ^ "Sarah Childress Polk – The White House". The White House. Contrasted with Julia Tyler's waltzes, her entertainments have become famous for sedateness and sobriety. Some later accounts say that the Polks never served wine, but in December 1845 a Congressman's wife recorded in her diary details of a four-hour dinner for forty at the White House--glasses for six different wines, from pink champagne to ruby port and sauterne, "formed a rainbow around each plate."
  11. ^ Portrait and biographical record of Stark county, Ohio: containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portrait of all the presidents of the United States. 1892. p.60.
  12. ^ Nelson, Anson; Nelson, Fanny (1892). Memorials of Sarah Childress Polk: Wife of the Eleventh President of the United States. A.D.F. Randolph.
  13. ^ Nelson, Anson; Nelson, Fanny (1892). Memorials of Sarah Childress Polk: Wife of the Eleventh President of the United States. A.D.F. Randolph.
  14. ^ Nelson, Anson; Nelson, Fanny (1892). Memorials of Sarah Childress Polk: Wife of the Eleventh President of the United States. A.D.F. Randolph.
  15. ^ "Sarah Childress Polk | James K. Polk Home". www.jameskpolk.com. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  16. ^ The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. 1904. p.
  17. ^ Anson Nelson, Memorials of Sarah Childress Polk: Wife of the Eleventh President of the United States, 1892, pages 171-173
  18. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form: Childress-Ray House". National Park Service. United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  19. ^ "http://www.civilwarshades.org/taking-care-of-business/adelicia-acklen/". www.civilwarshades.org. Retrieved 2018-04-30. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  20. ^ Burke, Sheila (March 24, 2017). "Plan to dig up President Polk's body – again – stirs trouble". Yahoo. Associated Press. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  21. ^ Resolution to move former President James K. Polk's body approved - CBS News
  22. ^ "Sarah Childress Polk | James K. Polk Home". www.jameskpolk.com. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  23. ^ "James K. Polk Ancestral Home | Tennessee Encyclopedia". Tennessee Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2018-04-30.

Further reading

  • Bumgarner, John R. (1997). Sarah Childress Polk : a biography of the remarkable first lady. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. ISBN 9780786403660.[1]
  • Claxton, Jimmie Lou Sparkman (1972). 88 years with Sarah Polk. New York, N.Y.: Vantage Press. ISBN 9780533002221.[2]
  • Peterson, Barbara Bennett (2002). Sarah Childress Polk, first lady of Tennessee and Washington. Huntington, N.Y.: Nova History Publications. ISBN 9781590331453.[3]
Honorary titles
Preceded by First Lady of the United States
1845–1849 		Succeeded by
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