The Enslaved Polks
The Enslaved Polks
There were eleven known enslaved Polks.
Violet, Dolly, Mary,
Elias,
Lucy, Charles, Silvia, Barabara, Leander,
An Unnamed Enslaved Person,
An Unnamed Enslaved Person
“I will and bequeath to my beloved daughter Jane, two negro girls named Violet and Lou…”
Captain James Knox, Last Will and Testament, 1794.
Violet, Lucy, Elias and two other unnamed people were enslaved by the Polk family on this property. Violet would go on to birth two daughters named Dolly and Mary, and Lucy would become wife to an enslaved man Charles and would birth three daughters Silvia, Barbara, and Leander.*
*Multiple spellings exist for these names. Lou or Luce, Charley, Silvy, and Barbary are spelling variations found in the documents referring to these enslaved people.
The earliest known record of Lucy and Violet, originates from the Hopewell area of northern Mecklenburg County. At the ages of approximately 7 and 8 years old, both children appear as enslaved property, along with household items and livestock, in the last will and testament of Captain James Knox, the maternal grandfather of President James K. Polk. This means that Violet and Lucy were born in the late 1780s. Their legal owner, Captain Knox, died several months prior to his daughter Jane’s wedding to Samuel Polk, in 1794. The new couple, who would become the parents of the future President Polk, also became the legal owners of Lucy and Violet. Jane and Samuel relocated Lucy and Violet to southern Mecklenburg County, approximately thirty miles from the children’s place of birth. [1]
In 1806, either Lucy or Violet gave birth to Elias, who was later also enslaved by President Polk. Shortly after the birth, Samuel and Jane Polk moved their five children and Lucy, Violet, newborn baby Elias, and two additional enslaved people, whose names are not known, to Columbia, Tennessee.
UNNAMED ENSLAVED PEOPLE
As Samuel Polk’s wealth increased, he purchased two additional enslaved people. According to the Mecklenburg County tax records of 1806, Violet and Lucy appear along with two other unnamed enslaved people described only by race, gender and age. The only description provided is the designation “BP,” an abbreviation denoting, “black persons, male and female, age 12-50." Since these two individuals do not appear in previous tax records leading up to 1806, they were likely purchased by Samuel, rather than born on the farm. [2]
VIOLET AND LUCY
Lucy’s and Violet’s names next appear in 1826, in the last will and testament of Samuel Polk. Upon his death, Samuel bequeathed Lucy to his son Franklin Polk and Violet to his wife, Jane. [3]
Lucy
“I have given to my son Franklin E. Polk also the following negro slaves, a man named Charley his wife Lucy and their two children Leander and Barbary…”
Samuel Polk, Last Will and Testament, 1826
On Lucy’s journey between, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi, she and her husband Charles give birth to at least three children Barbara, Silvia and Leander.* Just five years after Samuel Polk willed Lucy and her family to his son Franklin Polk, Franklin passed away suddenly in January 1831. Franklin’s hastily written will directs future president James K. Polk, and brother-in-law James Walker to disperse his property equally amongst the Polk siblings. [4] Lucy and her family briefly become Marshall T. Polk’s property in Charlotte, NC, however Marshall also died shortly after his brother Franklin. During the few months between both brothers dying, Lucy and her family lived temporarily on Jane Polk’s property in Columbia, TN. Marshall’s will directed that Lucy and her family remain with his mother, Jane, in Columbia for the rest of her natural life. and then become the property of Marshall’s widow after Jane’s death. However, his wishes were not honored and Lucy and her family were removed to James K. Polk’s plantation in Somerville, Tennessee. [5]
*Lucy and Charles may have had more children, but records do not clearly mention other children.
“I further will that my negro man named Charles and my negro woman Lucy and their children, now in Tennessee remain with my mother to her use during her natural life and after her death shall remain the property of my wife and children.”
Marshall T. Polk, Last Will and Testament, 1831
From James K. Polk’s personal correspondences, we know that in 1832, Lucy and her family were sent to James K. Polk’s Somerville, Tennessee plantation, where they grew cotton and corn. [6] The harsh conditions on the Somerville Plantation led to a significant number of deaths amongst the enslaved, especially children. Within a year of Lucy and Charles’ relocation to the Somerville Plantation, two of their children died. Lucy and Charles’ youngest child passed away in November of 1832, and then in January 1833, their daughter Silvia also died. [7]
“I do not know whether land can be sold by execution while any personal property remains, and what effect Charles, Lucy &c2 [sic] might have on a sheriffs sale by execution you will know.”
Silas M. Caldwell, "Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, November 25, 1834.
James K. Polk acquired ownership of Lucy and the remaining members of her family, and in 1835, they moved to James K. Polk’s new plantation in Yalobusha, Mississippi. [8] Poor living conditions caused sickness amongst the enslaved and in 1837, Barbara contracted tuberculosis. After suffering the loss of two of her children, Lucy was greatly distressed when Barbara fell ill. Her distress prompted William H. Polk to mention her emotional state in a letter to his brother James K. Polk, concerning the Mississippi estate. William describes Lucy’s worry for her daughter as “the fears of a mother occasioned by solicitude for her welfare.” [9] Barbara recovered, but during the next year, 1838, Lucy passed away from tuberculosis. [10]
Violet’s Daughters
There are no known records showing that Violet ever left Jane Polk’s home in Columbia, Tennessee. Violet’s daughters, Dolly and Mary, and their children experienced a different fate.
Between 1826-1846 Dolly and Mary experienced multiple moves and several owners over a twenty year period, with each move severing a familial bond to their family and eventually to each other. [11] In order to pay off a debt, William H. Polk sold Dolly and her children to his in-laws Dr. and Mrs. Dickinson in 1845. [12] In 1846, following the death of her husband, Mrs. Dickinson planned to sell Dolly and her children. [13] President Polk knew that his mother, Jane, desired to have Dolly back in her household and he believed Dolly would serve his mother well in her later years. President Polk supplied the needed funds to purchase Dolly and her children for his mother. [14]
“…I learn from Mr. James Walker, that Dolly and her children, will probably be sold by Dr. Dickinson’s estate, at the close of this year… I desired that he would purchase them for you. They were born in your family, you raised them, and I know you desire to get them back. I desire that you shall do so…” – James K. Polk, Personal Correspondence to Jane Knox Polk, December 25, 1846.
Elias
Elias Polk, the son of either Lucy or Violet, was born enslaved, here, on the Polk farm, in 1806. That same year, the Polks relocated their family and their enslaved, including newborn baby Elias, to Columbia, Tennessee. During Elias’s childhood, on the Polk Farm in Columbia, he worked in the local flour mill. [15]
In 1824, Elias’ legal owners, Jane and Samuel Polk, separated him from his mother and presented him to newlyweds James and Sarah Polk therefore transferring the ownership of Elias to the new couple. [16] The couple considered Elias to be a highly trusted and capable servant, often sending him as a messenger and courier on their behalf. [17]
“I send you five shirts, socks, drawers and a white vest, which you can send back after wearing it at Nashville. There was no necessity for Elias to go, but I was affraid [sic] Samuel might loose your clothes-and the servant was so anxious to go-that I consented.” - Sarah Polk, Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, July 23, 1843.
Twenty-one years later, when James K. Polk became President in 1845, Elias spent several months in the White House, setting up the home. President Polk then sent Elias back to Columbia, Tennessee where he leased or rented out Elias’ labor to other enslavers in the area. [18]
Following Emancipation, Elias experienced life as a freed Black man for the first time, when he was sixty-years-old. [19] During Reconstruction, Elias joined the Democrats, the party of President Polk, and went on to have a career as a porter and a laborer in the Tennessee State Legislature and later at the U.S. Capitol. [20] A Census record from 1870 lists Elias as a Porter in the Tennessee State Senate, with an estate worth $5000. This same record shows the box for "cannot write" checked, indicating that Elias likely never achieved full literacy in his lifetime. [21]
During the 1868 Presidential race, Elias played an instrumental role in forming the “Colored Seymour and Blair Club,” a group that campaigned against Republican candidate Ulysses S. Grant, in favor of Democratic candidate Horatio Seymour. [22] In Elias’s own words, “They [Republicans] disenfranchised 150,000 white men of the state before they gave the colored people, the ballot. What was that for? It was to keep power.” [23] In 1880, Elias addressed the Tennessee Democratic Convention in Nashville, “I am Democrat, one of those Jackson, Polk and Jefferson Democrats.” [24] On October 9th, 1882, Elias married Mary Mansfield who was 41 years younger. Elias Polk died in Washington DC on December 30th, 1886, at 81 years of age, experiencing a total of 21 years of freedom in his lifetime. [25]
Notes
1. Hattie S. Goodman, The Knox Family; a Genealogical and Biographical Sketch of the Descendants of John Knox of Rowan County, North Carolina, and Other Knoxes, Richmond, Va., Whittet & Shepperson, 1905, 113-121.
2. Captain Samuel Polk, Mecklenburg County Tax Lists, 1806, in Mecklenburg County, Carolina Will Abstracts, 1791–1868, Books A–J, Tax Lists, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1806, 1807, transcribed by Ralph B. Ferguson (Rocky Mount: Herman W. Ferguson, 1993), viii, 276, 284, 290. According to these records, in 1797 Samuel had 1 slave. In 1798 he had 2. In 1799 he had 2. In 1806 he had 4.
3. Samuel Polk, Last Will and Testament (1826), Maury County Archives, Columbia, TN, 8.
4. Franklin E. Polk, Last Will and Testament (January 1, 1831), Maury County Archives, Columbia, Tennessee. 1.
5. Marshall T. Polk, Last Will and Testament (April 12, 1831), Mecklenburg County Record of Wills, 1763-
1844. North Carolina State Archives, 1.
6. Ephraim Beanland, "Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, December 1, 1833," in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume II, 1833-1834, ed. Herbert Weaver and Paul H. Bergeron (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1972), 144-145; Ephraim Beanland, "Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, October 30, 1833," in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume II, 1833-1834, ed. Herbert Weaver and Paul H. Bergeron (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1972), 122-123;
7. Herbert Biles, "Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, November 23, 1832," in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume I, 1817-1832, ed. Herbert Weaver and Paul H. Bergeron (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1969), 529-530; Herbert Biles, "Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, January 17, 1833," in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume II, 1833-1834, ed. Herbert Weaver and Paul H. Bergeron (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1972), 30-31; Silas M. Caldwell, "Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, November 25, 1834," in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume II, 1833-1834, ed. Herbert Weaver and Paul H. Bergeron (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1972), 559-560. This letter talks about sending Charley and Lucy to Overseer Ephraim Beanland, who was the first overseer of the Yalobusha plantation.
8. William Dusinberre, Slavemaster President: The Double Career of James Polk, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 183; James Walker, "Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, April 5, 1836," in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume III, 1835–1836, ed. Herbert Weaver and Kermit L. Hall, (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1975), 572. This letter talks about selling Lucy, Charles and there children by a “sheriff’s sale of execution.” Likely this is how the family ended up under James K. Polk’s ownership.
9. William H. Polk, "Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, December 2, 1837," in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume IV, 1837–1838, ed. Herbert Weaver and Wayne Cutler (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1977). 280.
10. George W. Bratton, "Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, November 24, 1838," in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume IV, 1837–1838, ed. Herbert Weaver and Wayne Cutler (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1977), 616; William Dusinberre, Slavemaster President: The Double Career of James Polk, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 180-181; Hiram Percy Hathorn, Organization and Early History of Yalobusha County, (Master’s Thesis, University of Mississippi, 1933) 66, 78-79; Valgeno Findings, “Yalobusha Records from Slavery,” Valgeno Findings, https://valgenofindings.weebly.com/yalobusha-records-from-slavery.html#….
11. Samuel Polk, Last Will and Testament (January 1826), Maury County Archives, Columbia, Tennessee, 2, 8; Samuel W. Polk, Last Will and Testament (January 18, 1839), Maury County Archives, Columbia, Tennessee, 9.
12. James K. Polk, “Personal Correspondence to William H. Polk, September 27, 1845” in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume X, July – December 1845, ed. Wayne Cutler (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2004), 268-270; James K. Polk, “Personal Correspondence to William H. Polk, October 13, 1845” in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume X, July – December 1845, ed. Wayne Cutler (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2004, 301-302.
13. William G. Dickinson M.D., Nashville City Cemetery, (Nashville, TN), Date of Death, January 11, 1844.
14. James K. Polk, "Personal Correspondence to Jane Knox Polk, December 25, 1846," in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume XI, 1846, ed. Wayne Cutler (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2009), 433;
James K. Polk, “Personal Correspondence to James Walker, December 23, 1846,” in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume XI, 1846, ed. Wayne Cutler (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2009), 431;
James Walker , “Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, December 14, 1846,” in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume XI, 1846, ed. Wayne Cutler (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2009), 423.
15. “Elias Polk Dead,” Daily American, (Nashville, Tennessee), 31 December 1886.
16. Caroline Nicholson, Memoirs of Caroline Nicholson, 231; Elias Polk and Mary E. Mansfield, Marriage License, October 9, 1882, performed by Minister Marshall Hagood, Nashville, TN; James Walker, "Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, November 23, 1832," in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume I, 1817-1832, ed. Herbert Weaver and Paul H. Bergeron (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1969), 351-352; William Dusinberre, Slavemaster President: The Double Career of James Polk, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 72-73.
17. Sarah Polk, Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, July 23, 1843, in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Vol VI 1842-1843, ed. Wayne Cutler and Carese M. Parker (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1983), 330.
18. James K. Polk, "Personal Correspondence to Robert Campbell Jr., November 17, 1845," in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume X , July - December 1845, ed. Wayne Cutler (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2004), 374-375; John Catron, “Personal Correspondence to James K. Polk, July 23, 1844, in Correspondence of James K. Polk, Volume VII, January-August 1844, ed. Wayne Cutler and James P Cooper Jr., (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1989), 383-384; Zacharie Kinslow, Plantations and Politics: The Life and Career of Elias Polk (Abridged Version), NC State Historic Sites Library; Zacharie Kinslow, Live With Your Head in the Lion’s Mouth: The Complex Life of Elias Polk, President James K. Polk State Historic Site, March 22, 2025, 1:17:13.
19. Elias may not have been emancipated until 1865. Tennessee was not considered to be in rebellion in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This act by President Lincoln only freed slaves in Confederate states. Tennessee was part of the Union at this time and slavery, ironically, was allowed to continue. The adoption of the 13th Amendment by the Nation in 1865 outlawed slavery throughout the nation except for punishment for a crime of which the individual in question was convicted.
20. “Appointed Porters of the Senate,” Republican Banner, Nashville, TN), October 12, 1871; “Elias Polk,” Daily American (Nashville, TN), January 4, 1879, 3; “Tennessee,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, (Brooklyn, NY), July 11, 1867; Richmond Dispatch, (Richmond, VA), February 19, 1876.
21. 1870 U.S. Census, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, p. 29, dwelling 7, family 8, Elias Polk; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Image Group Number 004276592.
22. “Organization of a Seymour and Blair Colored Club,” Republican Banner, (Nashville, TN), September 9, 1868; “Meeting of the Colored Conservative Club,” The Tennessean, (Nashville, TN), June 8th, 1867. Elias seems to initially lean conservative and then made a hard punch to the Democrat side where he remained until his death. In 1867, he was the President of the Colored Conservatives Club.
23. “Grand Rally of the Colored Conservatives Last Night: Plain Truths in Plain Language – Telling Speeches by Colored Orators – Why the Black Race was Freed and Enfranchised,” Nashville Union and American, (Nashville, TN), June 21, 1868.
24. The Daily Memphis Appeal, (Memphis, TN), August 18, 1880, 1; Smyrna Times, (Smyrna, DL) August 18, 1880, 3.
25. "News of the Day," Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria, VA), January 3, 1887; ”Mrs. Polk's Old Servitor," St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO), January 6, 1887; Zacharie Kinslow, Live With Your Head in the Lion’s Mouth: The Complex Life of Elias Polk, President James K. Polk State Historic Site, March 22, 2025, 1:17:13, https://youtu.be/J0_HrC2odCU; “Elias Polk Dead,” Daily American, (Nashville, Tennessee), 31 December 1886. The day after Elias’ death, the Daily American newspaper commemorated Elias as a, “pioneered colored Democrat…He [Elias] was fearless and unfaltering in his advocacy of the principles for which his old master [President Polk] fought.”
Authored and Researched by Historic Sites Staff