James K. Polk

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens its own page, with its events date by date.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 11 dated events in the chronology →

During their lifetime

1. January 1816 James K. Polk is admitted to the university's sophomore class James K. Polk of Tennessee reached Chapel Hill in the fall of 1815 and was examined by the faculty in Latin and Greek grammar, Caesar, Sallust, Virgil, the Gospel of John in Greek and Murray's English Grammar. He was credited with all the freshman and half the sophomore work and entered the sophomore class when the second term opened in January 1816. Place: Chapel Hill, University of North CarolinaSearch the index · Internet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 29 (1952), p. 191
2. by 1818 Students James K. Polk and William Horn Battle board at the Tenney farmhouse The one-story frame house at 381 Tenney Circle, a dwelling on John B. Tenney's farm northeast of the campus, was probably standing by 1818 and keeps much of its early interior. James K. Polk of the class of 1818 and William Horn Battle of the class of 1820 took room and board there and walked two miles to classes. People: William Horn Battle Place: 381 Tenney Circle, Chapel Hill · Also named: John B. TenneySearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 16
3. November 18, 1832 William H. Polk, brother of James K. Polk, arrives to attend Hillsborough Academy Sent by his brother, then a congressman from Tennessee, to prepare for the university, William H. Polk reached Hillsborough on Sunday, November 18, 1832, and began school under William J. Bingham. Bingham's rooms were full, so he boarded at Mrs. Burgwin's with his cousin and classmate George Polk; Bingham charged $10 a month for board with lodging, fuel, candles and washing. Polk later attended university classes in the August 1833 and January 1834 terms but never matriculated. People: James K. Polk, William James Bingham Place: Hillsborough Academy, Hillsborough · Also named: William H. Polk, George W. Polk, William PolkInternet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 44 (1967), p. 192
4. November 4, 1844 Orange gives Henry Clay a 97-vote majority over James K. Polk In the presidential election Orange cast 1,686 votes for Henry Clay and 1,589 for James K. Polk, by the official returns printed in the Recorder, as North Carolina went for Clay and the nation for Polk. People: James K. Polk Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 21, 1844, p. 3
5. June 5, 1845 The University gives honorary doctorates of law to President Polk and Senator Mangum At the University's commencement the trustees conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws on two alumni, President James K. Polk and Senator Willie P. Mangum. At the Alumni Association meeting the night before, Governor Swain spoke of the postponed reburial of President Caldwell and of Governor Thomas Burke's unmarked grave near Hillsborough. People: James K. Polk, Willie P. Mangum, David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, June 19, 1845, p. 3
6. 1847 Alumni start a fund for a marble monument to Caldwell Troubled by the crumbling sandstone monument, the alumni at the 1847 commencement voted on John Y. Mason's motion, supported by President Polk, to raise a marble memorial by gifts of three dollars each, and $210 was subscribed at once. By 1849 only $600 of an estimated $1,000 was in hand and the limit on gifts was dropped. People: Joseph Caldwell, James K. Polk Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: John Y. MasonSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 506
7. 1847 Nancy Hilliard adds a castellated annex to the Eagle Hotel for President Polk's visit For President James K. Polk's visit to the 1847 commencement, Nancy Hilliard, who kept the Eagle Hotel, added a stuccoed two-story wing with a battlemented porch in a medieval manner. The annex stood on the site of today's Graham Memorial; Dabney Cosby likely built it, perhaps to his own design or one by A. J. Davis. People: Dabney Cosby, James K. Polk, Nancy Hilliard Place: Eagle Hotel, present site of Graham Memorial, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Graham MemorialSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 24 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 22, 1994, p. 1
8. May 31 to June 3, 1847 President James K. Polk returns to Chapel Hill for the university commencement Polk came from Raleigh by carriage with Sarah Polk and a large party, lodged at the hotel where Nancy Hilliard had built an annex for his stay, was greeted by Elisha Mitchell, the only professor left from his own student days, visited the college room he had lived in, and stayed through commencement on June 3. People: Elisha Mitchell, Nancy Hilliard Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Sarah Childress Polk, Sarah PolkSearch the index · Internet Archive: Milo Milton Quaife, ed., The Diary of James K. Polk during His Presidency, 1845 to 1849, vol. 3 (1910), pp. 44-48 · Also: Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I; NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975; Open Orange: James K. Polk
9. June 1847 Pettigrew graduates first in his class and is offered a post at the Naval Observatory Pettigrew finished at the head of the class of 1847, sharing first distinction with Matt W. Ransom. Struck by his graduating oration, President Polk, Navy Secretary Mason and Lieutenant Maury invited him to become an assistant at the observatory in Washington, where he worked for six or eight months. People: James Johnston Pettigrew, Matt W. Ransom, James K. Polk Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · Cornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 288 · Also: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I

After their death in 1849

Later events: estates and burials, and the buildings, honors and histories that remember them.

1. May 27, 1867 Dialectic Society students ask Governor Worth to help make President Johnson a member Writing from Chapel Hill on May 27, 1867, J. R. Strayhorn, P. B. Means and W. S. Pearson asked Governor Jonathan Worth, on behalf of the Dialectic Society, to use his influence to secure President Andrew Johnson as an honorary member. They noted that the society already counted James K. Polk among its regular members. People: Jonathan Worth, William S. (William Simpson) Pearson, Andrew Johnson (Journey of Reconciliation), James K. Polk Place: Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina · Also named: J. R. Strayhorn, P. B. MeansSearch the index · Internet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 28 (1951), p. 496
2. October 12, 1997 A bronze statue of James K. Polk is dedicated on University Day A bronze statue by the Marshville sculptor Stephen H. Smith, showing Polk as a young man speaking to a crowd and standing on a carved outline of the United States, was dedicated on University Day 1997. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Stephen H. SmithSearch the index · Documenting the American South, Commemorative Landscapes: James K. Polk, UNC (Chapel Hill)