Polk family papers in the Library of Congress, 1767-1859 [microfilm manuscript].

ArchivalResource

Polk family papers in the Library of Congress, 1767-1859 [microfilm manuscript].

Correspondence, indentures and legal agreements, circulars, pamphlets, and other papers of a North Carolina family, whose members included Leonidas Polk and President James Knox Polk. The bulk of the collection consists of letters to William Polk (1758-1834) concerning the University of North Carolina, elections of 1824 and 1828, the Bank of the United States, and the politics of Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, John Q. Adams, and Henry Clay. Included are copies of documents relating to the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and a biography, 1859, of William Polk. Correspondents include John Q. Adams, Alfred Balch, John Branch, Joseph Caldwell, Andrew Jackson Donelson, John H. Eaton, Daniel Graham, Andrew Jackson, William B. Lewis, Willie P. Mangum, and Thomas Ruffin.

About 200 items.

Related Entities

There are 18 Entities related to this resource.

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f29rp1 (person)

Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States. Born on March 15, 1767 in the Waxhaw Settlement in South Carolina; though just a boy, participated in the battle of Hanging Rock during the Revolution, captured by the British and imprisoned. He worked for a time in a saddler's shop and afterward taught school before studying law in Salisbury, N.C. In 1788 he was appointed solicitor of the western district of North Carolina, comprising what is now the State of Tennessee. Upon the admission of T...

Crawford, William Harris, 1772-1834

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c06wf3 (person)

William Harris Crawford (February 24, 1772 – September 15, 1834) was an American politician and judge during the early 19th century. He served as United States Secretary of War and United States Secretary of the Treasury before running for president in the 1824 election. Born in Virginia, Crawford moved to Georgia at a young age. After studying law, Crawford won election to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1803. He aligned with the Democratic-Republican Party and U.S. Senator James Jac...

Mangum, Willie Person, 1792-1861

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jr1qdt (person)

Willie Person Mangum (May 10, 1792 – September 7, 1861) was a U.S. Senator from the state of North Carolina between 1831 and 1836 and between 1840 and 1853. He was one of the founders and leading members of the Whig party, and was a candidate for president in 1836 as part of the unsuccessful Whig strategy to defeat Martin Van Buren by running four candidates with local appeal in different regions of the country. He is, as of 2020, the only major-party presidential nominee to have been a North Ca...

Clay, Henry, 1777-1852

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gc2thc (person)

Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777 – June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the Senate and House. He was the seventh House speaker and the ninth secretary of state. He received electoral votes for president in the 1824, 1832, and 1844 presidential elections. He also helped found both the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. For his role in defusing sectional crises, he earned the appellation of the "Great Compromiser" and was part of the "Grea...

University of North Carolina (1793-1962)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64499xp (corporateBody)

The University of North Carolina was chartered by the state's General Assembly in 1789. Its first student was admitted in 1795. The governing body of the University, from its founding until 1932, was a forty-member Board of Trustees elected by the General Assembly. The Board met twice a year; at other times the business of the University was carried on by the Board's secretary-treasurer and by the presiding professor (called president beginning in 1804). Other faculty members later assumed the r...

Graham, Danielle

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v12zkw (person)

Epithet: Apothecary in Ordinary to George I British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000839.0x00014f ...

Balch, Alfred.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69p666z (person)

Lewis, William Berkeley, 1784-1866

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w09h66 (person)

Planter and public official. From the description of Letters of William Berkeley Lewis, 1827-1830. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71014938 A friend of Andrew Jackson, William B. Lewis became a member of Jackson's "Kitchen Cabinet" during his presidency. Lewis was also second auditor of the treasury. From the description of ALS, 1834 October 11 : Washington [D.C.], to Mr. Brady. (Haverford College Library). WorldCat record id: 53018331 ...

Eaton, John Henry, 1790-1856

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sn0bvv (person)

Biographical note: American lawyer and politician; served as U.S. Senator (1818-1829), U.S. Secretary of War (1829-1831), governor of Florida (1834-1836), and U.S. minister to Spain (1836-1840). Alexander Macomb (1782-1841) was commanding general of the U.S. Army from 1828 to 1841. From the description of Letter to General Macomb, 1829-1829. (Arizona Historical Society, Southern Arizona Division). WorldCat record id: 48433475 Tennessee state representative, 1815-1816; Tennes...

Polk family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rs17fp (family)

Polk, William, 1758-1834

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sx6ddw (person)

Donelson, Andrew Jackson, 1799-1871

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sf2wfs (person)

Andrew Jackson Donelson was nephew, ward, and personal secretary to President Andrew Jackson throughout his administration. President John Tyler (1841-1845) appointed him chargé d'affaires of the United States to the Republic of Texas and he was U.S. Minister to Prussia from 1846 to 1849. Donelson was nominated as the vice-presidential candidate of former President Millard Fillmore on the American Party ticket in 1856, but they garnered only 8 electoral votes. From the description o...

Bank of the United States (1816-1836)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gn209h (corporateBody)

In 1816, the Bank of the United States was rechartered, the first charter having expired in 1811, in an attempt to stabilize the national currency. Within the first three years, the bank was nearly ruined due to mismanagement. Langdon Cheves was elected president of its board of directors in 1819 and restored the bank's credit. In 1822, he resigned the post and was succeeded by Nicholas Biddle. The national charter for the bank expired in 1836, but Biddle kept the bank in operation until 1841, u...

Polk, Leonidas, 1806-1864

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6805cjx (person)

Bishop in the Protestant Episcopal Church and Confederate general. From the description of Letter to Mrs. Banger, n.y. October 11. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 68116515 Polk, an Episcopal bishop, served as a major general in the Confederate army until he was killed by a cannon shot at Pine Mountain, Georgia, June 14, 1864. From the description of Letter, November 28, 1861. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 650825874 ...

Ruffin, Thomas, 1787-1870

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qv3kvb (person)

Thomas Ruffin, chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, planter, and politician, served in the North Carolina House of Commons, 1813-1816; as judge of the Superior Court, 1816-1818; as reporter of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1820-1822; and as judge of the Superior Court in 1825-1828. Ruffin became president of the State Bank of North Carolina in 1828. He was elected judge of the Supreme Court of North Carolina in 1829 and became chief justice in 1833. He served as chief justic...

Polk, James K. (James Knox), 1795-1849

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6096vcg (person)

James Knox Polk followed a career path which was blazed by Andrew Jackson. Both men hailed from southwestern North Carolina. Both migrated to Tennessee, where they practiced law and entered politics, and both were elected president of the United States. As similar as their paths were, James Polk was a different personality from his fiery predecessor. His life and career were marked by a relentless pursuit of his goals instead of the dramatic aura that perpetually surrounded Jackson. The effect...

Caldwell, Joseph, 1773-1835

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dn560g (person)

Joseph Caldwell was the first president of the University of North Carolina where he was also a professor of mathematics. From the description of Joseph Caldwell papers, 1791-1835. WorldCat record id: 23045556 Joseph Caldwell, (21 April 1773-27 January 1835), mathematician, Presbyterian minister, and first president of the University of North Carolina, was born at Lamington, N.J., in northeastern Hunterdon County, the youngest of three children of Joseph and Rac...

Branch, John, 1782-1863

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j9754d (person)

Secretary of the Navy. From the description of Letter signed : "Navy Department," to Samuel Hambleton, U.S.N. purser in Baltimore, 1829 June 26. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270134739 U.S. senator and governor of North Carolina. From the description of John Branch papers, 1830-1850. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79451282 ...