Sarah Childress Polk
Died: August 14, 1891
Father:
Colonel Joel Childress (d. 1819)
Mother:
Elizabeth Whitsett Childress
Ancestry:
Scotch-Irish; English
Siblings: Sarah Polk was the younger of two daughters and third of six children
Physical Description: Fairly tall, with black hair that was parted in the middle and worn in ringlets, brown eyes and sallow coloring. She had prominent teeth that caused her to tighten her lips, giving her a disapproving look, though she was admired as a "handsome" beauty. She tended to dress in vibrant blues, reds and maroons, which suited her dark coloring. Due to her coloring, she was given the nickname "Sahara Sarah".
Religion: Very devout Presbyterian
Education: Colonel Childress was a prosperous planter, merchant, tavern keeper and militia officer who raised his children in luxury. His social circles taught Sarah early a love of politics and politicians. She was educated at the Danil Elam School in Murfreesboro. Later the principal of Bradley Academy in Nashville, where her brother and James K. Polk were students, tutored her and her sister, Susan. The Childress sisters boarded (but didn’t attend) at the Abercrombie School in Nashville where Sarah met General and Mrs. Andrew Jackson. To further their education, the Childress’s sent both girls to the best girls school in the south: the Moravian Female Academy in Salem, North Carolina in 1817. Here they studied English, grammar, geography, needlework, history, music, drawing and the Bible. It had a very strict moral setting that became a permanent part of Sarah Polk’s nature and personality. Colonel Childress’s death in 1819 ended Sarah’s education, and both she and Susan returned home to help their mother.
Husband:
James Knox Polk (1795-1849)
Courtship and Marriage: In the years after Colonel Childress’s death, Sarah and her family suffered a number of financial reverses due to her brother’s mismanagement of the estate. This diminished their income, but did not alter their living style. Sarah met, at this time, a farmer schoolmate of her brother, James Knox Polk. He was an ambitious, earnest, rather silent young man who had the approval of Andrew Jackson. Jackson, according to legend, urged Polk to marry Miss Childress, who was "wealthy, pretty, ambitious and intelligent." Sarah encouraged James Polk to run for the state legislature and soon after his election, on January 1, 1824, they were married in her home in Murfreesboro.
Age at marriage:
20 years, 119 days.
Personality:
Serious, religious, a proper lady in every way except in her love of politics and gentlemanly conversation. She was known to remain behind with the men to talk, rather than retire to the parlor with the ladies. Humor was never a strong point with her (or with her husband). She loved to read, she read the newspapers, and, because of this, she eventually took on the duties of an unpaid secretary to her husband. The Polks had no children, and his career became, in a way, a surrogate child for Sarah.
Children:
None
Years Before the White House (1824-1845):
Probably because there were no children, Sarah Polk was able to be a part of her husband’s life and career to an unusual degree. Her sharp intellect, wit and charm were definite assets to his career. Men as diverse as Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson and future President, Franklin Pierce, who said he would rather discuss politics with Sarah than with James, testify to her forceful personality. It is strange to note that, for a woman of such unusual political outlook and drive, she received no criticism from the women of her day. This was due to the unique ability she showed in blending her political interest with her well-defined domestic skills. For all her love of politics, Sarah Polk never forgot her place or the place of women in society.
After an unusual year’s separation, Sarah joined her husband in Washington, where he was serving in the House of Representatives. Until the end of his life, with the exception of this one short separation, Sarah would remain at her husband’s side – as his nurse, his secretary, his confidante, and his emotional helpmate. There was nothing they didn’t share. Her strong religious beliefs were respected, and nothing transpired on the Sabbath. She would ban card playing, dancing and hard liquor as part of her religious beliefs. In spite of this, she was admired for her looks, her wit and her social skills – all of which aided her husband’s career. This did not mean that she didn’t have certain ideas of her own: she disagreed with Polk’s stance against the use of paper money, pointing out how difficult it would be for a woman to carry gold or silver on her person. In the height of the Peggy Eaton affair, Sarah Polk created something of a difficult time for her husband, from whom General Jackson expected full support. Peggy Eaton was the wife of the Secretary of War. She had an immoral reputation, but Andrew Jackson insisted that the Cabinet wives accept and receive her. (For more details on this affair, see chapter on Emily Donelson). Sarah refused. Polk was seen as a hen-pecked husband, leading his future Vice President George M. Dallas to say of Sarah, "She is certainly mistress of herself and I suspect of someone else as well." Because of Sarah’s refusal to accept Peggy Eaton, Andrew Jackson told Sarah to go home to Columbia, Tennessee (where they had built a home near his parents) in late 1830. She did not return until early 1831.
The Polks had numerous nieces and nephews in and out of their lives and, after Polk’s death, Sarah would adopt one of them as a child of her own. After his election as Speaker of the House, Polk and his wife had even more exposure to the social life in Washington. In 1838 they returned to Tennessee where Polk campaigned for Governor. Sarah remained behind the scenes, organizing the campaign, sending him documents – as ever, the center of his world. Though a good governor, Polk was defeated in 1841 and in 1843. He then returned to his law practice. Sarah worried about his weight loss. He had never been a robust man, and surgery early in life had weakened his system. In 1844, to his great surprise, he was nominated as a dark horse candidate by the Democrats. Sarah, as usual, handled the campaign from their home in Columbia and even worked on the press releases. In a new move, her daguerreotype was taken and engravings were made from it for the campaign. The campaign was successful, and the Polks departed for Washington early in 1845. Sarah’s only public response was to ask that the bands greeting them in various cities along the way refrain from playing on Sundays.
First Lady (1845-1849):
Wearing a red and gray striped silk dress, a beige cape and a red velvet bonnet, Sarah watched as her husband took the oath of office. Later that evening, though they didn’t dance (and would soon ban dancing), Sarah appeared at the Inaugural Ball wearing a beautiful powder blue silk dress, with a brocade of poinsettias woven into the material. In her hands, she carried her husband’s gift to her: a fan bearing the portraits of the first eleven presidents. Her tenure would be very different from that of the regal, fun-loving and youthful Julia Tyler. Rather than spend lavishly, Sarah Polk would save half the money given to her to refurbish the White House, though she did install gas lighting in 1846. However, on the evening of the first reception after the gas was installed it, of course, failed. The prudent First Lady had made sure that her favorite room was well lit with candles. Her social occasions were proper, genteel and even elegant, but lacked the spark and music of Julia Tyler’s receptions. She thought that dancing was improper in the Presidents’ house, and it was banned until Caroline Scott Harrison restored it in 1889. After a short interval, Mrs. Polk restored the playing of "Hail to the Chief" because her rather short husband tended to be overlooked, and the tune helped people to identify him.
After the juvenile and youthful imprudence of Julia Tyler, the public was ready for the proper Sarah Polk, who proved to be immensely popular. She turned to Dolley Madison for advice and gladly gave over first place to "the Queen Dowager." She once rebuked a niece for defending Sarah from the charge that Mrs. Henry Clay made better butter, adding "That I expect to live on $25,000 per year and will neither keep house nor make butter!" Aside from John Van Buren, the son of Martin Van Buren and very influential behind the scenes in the democratic party, whom Sarah Polk found offensive, she willingly made friends with everyone, even enemies of her husband and, in doing so, won high favor from the politicians. She would only discuss issues under the cover of "Mr. Polk certainly says so." This was never seen as transgressing her role as a proper lady. In private, as seen from her diary and her letters, she expressed herself freely on all issues, personalities and topics. It was soon evident that the First Lady preferred the company of men and had few women friends.
Twice a week the White House was opened to all callers. Everyone approved of the changes Sarah had made to the house as being neat and sufficiently rich without extravagance. All hard liquor was banned, although wine was served at state dinners. Mrs. Polk, like Eleanor Roosevelt, paid little attention to the actual running of the White House, even to the extent of once not having napkins at the table of a formal dinner. She did attempt to familiarize herself with the substance of any books she received as gifts, especially if she knew the gift-givers were going to be at a White House reception. The Polks rarely traveled, and he only traveled without her on one occasion. On the occasion of her last White House reception in February 1849, Mrs. Polk followed second to "Queen Dolley" who walked at the side of the President. Sarah Polk was the first First Lady to be photographed on the White House grounds and the first to be photographed with her husband.
The long trip home, after the inauguration of Zachary Taylor, was exhausting for both Polks. Weakened by their four demanding years in the White House, the Polks, particularly James, had little strength to combat the fever that afflicted them. James Polk died on June 15, 1849. His last words were, "I love you, Sarah, for all eternity, I love you."
Last Years:
Sarah Polk’s last forty plus years were spent in Nashville at the home she and her husband had built called "Polk Place". During the Civil War, both sides respected Mrs. Polk’s neutrality, and she entertained officers from both armies. She would lose a second plantation she owned in Mississippi, and times would be hard for her. After James Polk’s death, Sarah turned their home into a shrine in his memory. He was even buried on the grounds of Polk Place, until it was torn down in 1893 and his body, along with that of Sarah, was moved to the grounds of the State Capitol. Her grief and her austere view of life caused the last 42 years of her life to be somewhat barren, enlivened only by the adoption of a great niece, Sarah Polk Jetton, and the visits of President and Mrs. Hayes and, later, President and Mrs. Cleveland.
Death:
Polk Place, Nashville, Tennessee – August 14, 1891
Age at Death: 87 years, 344 days
Age at Death: 87 years, 344 days
Burial:
On the grounds of Polk Place. However, in 1893, Polk Place was torn down, and the bodies of President and Mrs. Polk were moved to the State Capitol grounds.
Legacy: Sarah Polk was the first First Lady since Louisa Adams whose presence was dignified, comfortable and seen as non-threatening. (Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison and the first wife of Tyler were either sickly or died before their term of office). Intelligent, witty, highly principled and very religious, Sarah Polk had both the intellect and the ability to serve as both a social asset to her husband publicly and an advisory, helpmate and political mentor behind the scenes. Without a family to distract her, Sarah Childress Polk was able to devote all of her time to her husband’s career. When he was gone, she would be left without any goals or ambitions. While First Lady she was able, as few have done, to blend the private and the public without criticism. While appearing to be the epitome of the proper lady, she was able to exert an unusually powerful hand behind the scenes.
Legacy: Sarah Polk was the first First Lady since Louisa Adams whose presence was dignified, comfortable and seen as non-threatening. (Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison and the first wife of Tyler were either sickly or died before their term of office). Intelligent, witty, highly principled and very religious, Sarah Polk had both the intellect and the ability to serve as both a social asset to her husband publicly and an advisory, helpmate and political mentor behind the scenes. Without a family to distract her, Sarah Childress Polk was able to devote all of her time to her husband’s career. When he was gone, she would be left without any goals or ambitions. While First Lady she was able, as few have done, to blend the private and the public without criticism. While appearing to be the epitome of the proper lady, she was able to exert an unusually powerful hand behind the scenes.
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