Samuel Polk

Samuel Polk was born on July 5, 1772, in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He was the son of Ezekiel Polk and Mary Jane Winslow Wilson. Polk was related to two U.S. Presidents through familial ties; he was the second cousin of Zachary Taylor and James Madison.

Polk pursued a career as a surveyor during his lifetime. He married Jane Gracey Knox on December 25, 1794, at Hopewell Church in Mecklenburg County. Jane was born in 1776 and died in 1852; she was the daughter of Captain James Knox and Lydia Gillespie Knox. The couple had their first child, James Knox Polk, on November 2, 1795. Samuel Polk agreed to name the child after his father-in-law, but he opposed having James baptized as a Presbyterian, choosing not to formally align with that faith.

Throughout their marriage, Samuel and Jane Polk engaged in discussions regarding the political and national future of the United States. These debates were often conducted in the presence of their children, including their son James K. Polk, who would later become the 11th President of the United States.

In addition to James, Samuel and Jane Polk had several other children, including Jane Maria Polk, Lydia Eliza Polk, Franklin Ezekiel Polk, Marshall Tate Polk, John Lee Polk, Naomi Tate Polk, Ophelia Clarissa Polk, William Hawkins Polk, and Samuel Washington Polk.

In 1806, the Polk family relocated from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, to Columbia in Maury County, Tennessee. Both Samuel and Jane Polk died in Tennessee and were buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Samuel Polk passed away on December 3, 1827.