Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Sarah CHILDRESS
POLK, Sarah Childress, wife of President Polk, was born near Murfreesborough, Tenn., Sept. 4, 1803; daughter of Joel and Elizabeth Childress. She attended the Moravian institute, Salem, N.C., and was married in 1824 to James Knox Polk, who was then clerk of the state senate of Tennessee. In 1824 he was elected a representative in congress, and Mrs. Polk accompanied him to Washington. She became a member of the Presbyterian church in 1834. Upon her husband's inauguration as President of the United States in 1845, she devoted herself entirely to the social duties incident to her position as mistress of the White House. At her weekly receptions, which were largely attended, she introduced several radical changes, notably, the absence of refreshments and the discontinuance of dancing. Notwithstanding these innovations in social [p.352] customs, she was extremely popular. She had no children. Upon the death of her husband in 1849, she removed to "Polk Place," Nashville, Tenn. The United States government granted her a pension of $5,000 per annum. She died at Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 14, 1891.
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