William Polk

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 12 dated events in the chronology →

1. 1801-1802 The university raises money for the Main Building by lottery The legislature of 1801 let the trustees raise up to $4,000 by lotteries. Two drawings, the first of 1,500 five-dollar tickets and the second in 1802, cleared $5,080.81, though agents were slow to account for tickets. People: John Haywood, William Polk Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 126
2. spring 1803 A student duel brings expulsions and a trustee order against dueling Quarrels in the spring of 1803 led to challenges and at least one meeting. Samuel G. Hopkins was expelled for fighting and John H. Hawkins for acting as second, and the trustees ordered that anyone in a duel be expelled and handed to the civil authorities. People: Joseph Caldwell, William Polk, Samuel Hopkins Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: John H. HawkinsSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 198
3. February 1803 Board president William Polk appeals for money to finish the Main Building and stock the library With the lottery money not enough to finish the Main Building, Polk, as president of the trustees, issued an appeal over its roofless walls and nearly empty library shelves. The drive raised $1,664 in cash; Polk gathered gifts from about fifty donors and gave $100 himself. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 128
4. July 1804 A quarrel at the 1804 commencement ball ends in a stabbing and a trial before the trustees At the commencement ball in Steward's Hall, Hyder Ally Davie twice trod on the toes of Henry Chambers of Salisbury while dancing. Outside, Chambers struck him and Davie stabbed Chambers in the neck with a penknife. The trustees, among them William R. Davie and William Polk, tried the case in the chapel the next day. People: William Richardson Davie, William Polk Place: Steward's Hall, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: Hyder Ally Davie, Henry ChambersSearch the index · William Hooper, Fifty Years Since: An Address Delivered before the Alumni of the University of North-Carolina (1859), scan p. 17 · Also: Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I
5. December 1805 Trustees repeal the monitor ordinance that set off the student secession The 1805 law made student monitors swear to report every breach of the rules, and forty-five students signed a remonstrance and left when it was only softened. The board repealed it unanimously in December, but few of the seceders came back. People: Archibald D. Murphey, Duncan Cameron, William Polk Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 204
6. December 1816 Joseph Caldwell is elected president a second time After William Neill and Lewis von Schweinitz declined the office, the trustees returned the presidency to Caldwell by a commission taking effect January 1, 1817. People: Joseph Caldwell, John Haywood, William Polk Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Lewis von SchweinitzSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 245
7. 1822 to May 1823 Trustee William Polk hires out five enslaved men to build Old West Jourdan, Jim, Stephen, Charles and Joe, men enslaved by William Polk, worked on the construction of Old West, then called New College. By a settlement of May 22, 1823, the university had paid Polk $600 for their labor. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Charles, Jim, Joe, Jourdan, StephenSearch the index · UNC Libraries, Slavery and the Making of the University: 22 May 1823, "Settlement with Col. William Polk."
8. about 1828 At William Polk's instance the trustees order professors to keep office hours and visit student rooms at night Each professor was given a room in the college buildings and required to be in it during set morning and afternoon hours, and to visit every student's room at night at least three times a week. Battle says the code was Polk's, that it was obeyed unevenly until near the Civil War, and that it caused endless friction. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 304
9. 1831 Trustees offer the university's Chapel Hill lands for sale Pressed by debt, the trustees named William Polk, James Mebane and James Webb to offer the unimproved university lands around Chapel Hill for sale. Only a small sum came in, from the sale of the Preparatory School acre; that school had been closed for more than ten years. People: James Webb, William Polk, James Mebane Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 334
10. 1833 Trustees name the new chapel Gerrard Hall The trustees sold Major Charles Gerrard's 2,560-acre service tract in Tennessee for $6,400, voted $2,000 of it toward finishing the new chapel that had stood unfinished since about 1824, and resolved that the building be known forever as Gerrard Hall in his memory. People: William Gaston, George E. Badger, William Polk Place: Gerrard Hall · Also named: Charles GerrardSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 350
11. April 1, 1833 University trustees sell their Bank of Newbern stock at auction to pay bank debts On the board's order, the trustees' 211 shares in the Bank of Newbern were sold at public auction for $15,208.56, the buyers including John Snead of Newbern, Col. William Polk and Alfred Jones. The money went at once to the State Bank and the Bank of Newbern toward the university's debts to them. People: William Polk, Charles Manly Place: University of North Carolina (trustees' business) · Also named: John Snead, Alfred JonesSearch the index · The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), January 9, 1834, p. 1
12. September 3, 1833 Col. William Polk sells part of the university's Gerrard lands in Tennessee Col. William Polk sold part of the Gerrard lands the trustees held in Tennessee to Benjamin Kelly of Stewart County, Tennessee, taking four bonds of $500 each payable in yearly installments. He endorsed the bonds to the trustees and also turned over $125 he had collected in rent on the lands. Place: University of North Carolina lands, Stewart County, Tennessee · Also named: Benjamin KellySearch the index · The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), January 9, 1834, p. 1