PRESIDENTIAL ROOTS

Charlotte Observer, The (NC)
1995-03-29
Section: METRO
Edition: ONE - FOUR
Page: 1C

Polk site plans for bicentennial

   DEBORAH PARKHILL MULLIS, Staff Writer

On a cedar-lined hill next to Little Sugar Creek stand three little log houses, plain as can be: a main house, a cook house and a pack house.

A far cry from the glitzy Carolina Place Mall down the road, the cabins mark the birthplace of James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States. A patch of ``Old Mecklenburg'' preserved for posterity, it's where Polk spent the first 12 years of his life on what was once a 250-acre farm. 

This year is the 200th anniversary of Polk's birth, Nov. 2, 1795. A bicentennial committee has planned special events at the James K. Polk Memorial on U.S. 521 in Pineville. The site is about 13 miles south of uptown Charlotte.

The festivities include a June ``needlework school,'' inspired by the scenic embroidery done by Polk's wife, Sarah Childress Polk, while she was a student at Salem Female Academy. Some of Sarah Polk's fluffy chenille yarn work is on display at the memorial.

A dinner in honor of the 11th president is planned for Sept. 15 at Pineville Elementary School. It will feature a speech and music, but don't expect dancing. There won't be any. That's how Sarah Polk liked it when she was first lady.

A public birthday bash follows in November. The Mecklenburg Historical Association of Docents has invited descendants of James Polk to the event.

``Some historians consider Polk to be one of the 10 most effective presidents in terms of meeting the specifics of his campaign platform,'' said Robert Anthony, curator of the N.C. Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Yet, the Polk Memorial museum's self-guided tour begins by posing a question people still ask: ``Who is Polk?''

``Polk is significant. . . . He was able to get a declaration of war against Mexico. Polk took approximately one quarter of the continental United States from Mexico. He was very successful in adding to American territory,'' said Harry Watson, professor of history at UNC.

A descendant of the Scots-Irish who settled Mecklenburg County, Polk's family moved to Columbia, Tenn., in 1806. Polk returned to UNC to study law.

A former member of Congress for Tennessee and a former governor of Tennessee, Polk was the first ``dark horse'' or long-shot candidate for president in American politics. After he won the Democratic nomination in 1844, a proliferation of Whig Party papers first posed the question: ``Who is Polk?''

The answer to the Whig taunt turned out to be the 11th president of the United States. Polk defeated the Whig candidate, Henry Clay.

Polk kept his campaign promises. He reduced tariffs, reestablished an independent treasury, occupied Oregon, annexed Texas and went to war with Mexico in order to acquire the California Territory.

He believed the small farmer was the backbone of American democracy. His philosophy was called ``Jacksonian'' after Polk's political mentor, Andrew Jackson. Jackson was nicknamed ``Old Hickory''; Polk's moniker was ``Young Hickory.''

He accomplished all his major objectives while he was president, from 1845 to 1849, but he did not seek reelection. He lost popularity when the Whig Party accused him of winning the west for slave states.

``Polk added to the country's sectionalism - a problem that would not be solved until the Civil War,'' Watson said.

Information at Polk Memorial states Polk had difficulty adjusting to the ``Spirited Age'' - a time of rapid social and economic change brought about by industrial progress.  America was moving too fast for the man who spent his youth in rural Mecklenburg County. He died June 15, 1849, three months after leaving office.

James Knox Polk Facts:

Nov. 2, 1795: Born in Mecklenburg County.

1806: Moved to

Columbia, Tenn., with parents.

1818: Graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill.

1820: Admitted to bar and began practice in Columbia, Tenn.

1823-25: Tennessee state legislator.

Jan. 1, 1824: Married Sarah Childress; no children.

1825-39: Speaker of U.S. House.

1839-41: Governor of Tennessee; defeated for reelection in 1841.

1844: Received Democratic nomination for president on

ninth ballot.

1845-49: Served as 11th president.

1848: Did not seek reelection.

June 15, 1849: Died in Nashville.

1995 Events: 

May

Display of rare Polk document at Polk memorial in Pineville.

Polk exhibit at UNC Charlotte from May to November.

Radio quiz on ``Polk and his times.''

*

June

25: Charlotte Knights baseball game dedicated to Polk.

26-29: Needlework School at Polk memorial. Classes in chenille work, like that Sarah Childress Polk did, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

*

September

4: 1,000 Polk bicentennial stamps will be canceled on postcards at Polk memorial.

15: Polk Dinner and program featuring Dr. Wayne Cutler, editor of the Polk papers at the University of Tennessee, at Pineville Elementary School.

16: Bus tour of local Polk and Knox family historic sites.

*

November

3: Polk Symposium at UNC-Chapel Hill.

4: Polk birthday bash at Polk memorial in Pineville. Radio quiz on ``Polk and his times.''

*

December

10th Christmas Celebration at Polk memorial with White House setting.

* For more information, call (704) 889-7145. Times have not yet been set for all events. 
This article received an Award of Special Recognition from The North Carolina Society of Historians, Inc. in the category of Newspaper and Magazine Article Awards in 1995.