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Hi Bill,
That is a very interesting development. One should of course be cautious about forming too strong a conclusion from this one DNA comparison – when one is dealing with a single DNA chain, there is always the possibility of unknown adoption, infidelity or some other circumstance that could break the chain of descent otherwise believed to exist.
I take it from your post that John F. Polk of Havre de Grace is supposedly a proven descendant of Col Thomas Polk of Mecklenburg County – do I understand this correctly?
I was somewhat surprised in your post to see you reiterate the opinion that “William Polk who m. Margaret Taylor could not possibly be related, as published, to the Somerset, MD, Polks, thus I gave up two more older generations before William Polk.”
Well I have published in this forum my assertion that William Polk who married Margaret Taylor likely IS a descendant of Robert Polk who married Magdalen Tasker Porter, and that he is likely descended through the branch of Robert Polk who married Grace Gullett. And in my posts I have set forth multiple points of evidence supporting this assertion, specifically citing my sources, including very old sources stating a connection through Robert Polk and Grace Gullett. I have seen no one yet offer any evidence of any probative weight whatsoever that actually refutes the connection through Robert Polk and Grace Gullett.
I was recently looking at messages on a Polk board and saw where someone said there was an article written recently by John F. Polk of Havre de Grace in a family newsletter, in which he “refutes the claimed relationship between Robert Pollock and his supposed grandsons, William Polk and Charles Polk.” I have not read the article, and I gather that in order to read it one must pay to become a member. But if the article really does purport to “refute” the claimed relationship which I have asserted likely exists, between Robert Polk/Magdalen to Robert Polk/Grace Gullett to William Polk/Margaret Taylor, I would like to know. Perhaps it would be worth paying the price for the article in order to read such a “refutation.”
But if what is “refuted” is merely the purported connection invented by William Harrison Polk through William Polk and Nancy Knox Owens (which was already discredited in your own writings years ago), then I would remind everyone that refuting the connection through William Polk and Nancy Knox Owens is NOT the same as refuting a connection to Robert Polk/Magdalen. An intelligent person understands the difference, and I am sure that both you and John F. Polk of Havre de Grace understand this difference.
As far as I can tell, when one actually examines what evidence there is to connect William Polk/MT to a family other than that of Robert Polk/Madgalen, it comes down in nearly every instance to unsupported claims that President Polk was a relative of such other Polk family (such as the statement of Nathaniel Ewing in his 1844 letter to President Polk or the statement made by Governor Pollock of Pennsylvania that he understood President Polk “was of the same stock.”).*
I gather from statements you have made that you have leaned toward the idea that William Polk/MT was a part of the three Polk brothers who came into the Octoraro Creek area in the year 1727 as described by Nathaniel Ewing, and descendants of which, according to Nathaniel Ewing, migrated down to North Carolina and were the ancestors of President Polk.
Let’s consider that for a moment. Nathaniel Ewing claimed he was certain about the year 1727, because “I have this date from record.” Well, the year 1727 began on March 25 (remember, this was before the change in calendar). On April 20, 1727, William Polk and Margaret purchased part of David Alexander’s existing tract of land in New Munster, which newly created tract of land was then christened “Moyn” (according to the transcription of a deed book).
So we are to believe that in the space of only three weeks or so (at the most), William Polk/MT (1) came into the Octoraro Creek area with his brothers, the Ewings and other families (apparently originating in the Coleraine area of Ireland), which at the time was the wilderness frontier, (2) found sufficient shelter and food for his family, (3) made his way clear across the county from the far western end at Octoraro to the far eastern end at New Munster on the Delaware border, (4) located a suitable tract of land on which to settle his family, (5) negotiated the purchase of it, (6) came up with sufficient resources to satisfy the seller for the purchase price for this land within this already settled and improved area, (5) had a scribe draw up a proper deed for it and (6) closed the transaction with the seller.
All this at a time before interstate highways, telephones, word processors and available banking institutions. Yeah, right, sure.
And someone please explain to me why on earth someone newly arrived from Ireland would leave the Octoraro Creek area, where he has the support system of his family and friends and where he has free land to settle on (or at least land that would not have to be paid for for some time), in order to go some distance away into a community of strangers from southern Maryland in an established settlement where the land was already claimed by someone else and would have to be purchased from that person?
You might say, well maybe Ewing got the year wrong. But if Nathaniel Ewing got the year wrong, which he insisted he knew for sure (“I have this date from record”), why should we place so much stock in his assertion that President Polk was a descendant of this family? Which at best is merely hearsay, and indeed may be nothing more than sheer speculation on his part?
Let’s consider another point. When William & Margaret Polk purchased part of David Alexander’s existing tract of land “New Munster” in 1727 they had an opportunity, and in fact they had an obligation under Maryland law, to designate a name for the new tract by which it would be identified. The name of this tract supposedly was “Moyn.” But let’s trace for a moment how the name was recorded. The original name of the tract was set forth in a handwritten deed. The original deed, I understand, has been lost. That deed was then read by a legal clerk and copied into a book of deeds (Cecil County book SK5, ff. 81-82). That book of recorded deeds, I understand, has been lost. The handwritten copy of the deed in that book (now lost) was later read by a legal clerk and copied into another book of deeds (Cecil County book WK11, f. 283) at the time of a subsequent transaction. The handwriting in that latter book of deeds was then read by someone and transcribed as the word “Moyn.” So that’s the evidence we have to rely on as to what exactly the name of the tract was in that original deed.
I have consulted atlases covering Ireland, Britain and America and registers of proper names and can find absolutely no significance to “Moyn” as a the name of a meaningful place or person.
Now let’s remember that “Monyn” was the name of the small (by American standards) estate of land owned by Magdalen Tasker Porter Polk’s family in Ireland. And in fact, another descendant of Robert Polk/Magdalen named his own tract of land in southern Maryland the same name, obviously in honor of the estate in Ireland.
I appeal to anyone reading this who is open-minded and has an ounce of common sense: Isn’t it much, much more likely that the actual word in the handwritten deed, which was then read by someone and copied in handwriting into a deed book and then read by someone and copied in handwriting into another deed book and then read by someone and transcribed as “Moyn,” was in fact originally “Monyn,” a word of great personal significance to any Polks who were members of the family of Robert Polk/Magdalen, than that the original word was “Moyn,” an apparent nonsense word of no apparent significance?
And if one accepts that the word in the original deed WAS more likely to have been “Monyn,” then that compels the conclusion that the William Polk/Margaret who named the land “Monyn” was likely a member of the family of Robert Polk/Magdalen.
Well, I am not going to go over all the points I previously set forth in my posts supporting the likely connection between William Polk/MT and Robert Polk/Magdalen. Interested persons can go back and read my posts. And I should be clear what my assertion is: that a reasonable person examining all the evidence taken together would arrive at the opinion that William Polk/MT is likely a descendant of Robert Polk/Magdalen. I am not saying this is proved beyond a reasonable doubt; there is not a “smoking gun” piece of evidence conclusively proving the connection beyond all possible doubt.
But, eventually, the DNA project should go far in determining which of us is right, and could provide us with that “smoking gun,” at least to a reasonable degree of satisfaction, taken together with the other evidence.
If I am right, then the DNA of John F. Polk of Havre de Grace (assuming he really is a descendant of Col Thomas Polk of Mecklenburg) should compare well both to (1) the DNA of known, indisputable male-line descendants of the lower Delmarva Polks descended from Robert Polk/Magdalen and (2) the DNA of known, indisputable male line descendants of Capt. William Polk of Accomac (who I believe is the son of James Polk/Pollock of Hopewell Twp, Cumberland Co., PA, and who in turn I believe is likely an older son of William Polk/MT, and who in turn I believe is likely a son of Robert Polk/Grace Gullett, who in turn is a son of Robert Polk/Magdalen). Such DNA comparisons should show a common ancestor about the year 1700 or so, roughly speaking.
And if I am right I expect both you and John F. Polk of Havre de Grace to come around to my way of thinking on these families.
And if I am wrong I would very much like to know, so that I can change the focus of my research. Discredited theories should be discarded immediately, and focus should shift to more viable theories. I would much rather discover new evidence establishing what the facts really are, even if contrary to my theory, than be proven right in my theory.
So what do you have so far? Do you have a male-line descendant of the lower Delmarva Polks from Robert/Magdalen in your DNA project? Or from Capt William Polk of Accomac? I hope you will post the results somewhere on a free, open website so that interested persons can easily read them.
But let us turn now to your own genealogy. You claim in your post, flatly and without qualification, that “John Polk/Eleanor Shelby are my 4th greatgrandparents.” In point of fact, that assertion is highly questionable. The flaw in your genealogy is not the connection between John Polk/Eleanor Shelby and his brothers Col. Thomas Polk and Charles Polk and his father William Polk/MT. The weak point in your genealogy is your claim that the John Polk who married Jency Walker is the son of John Polk/Eleanor Shelby.
Let us first consider the connection between John Polk/Eleanor Shelby and his supposed brothers, Col. Thomas Polk and Charles Polk.
The starting point in terms of evidence must be the Revolutionary War pension application of Charles Polk, who was the son of Capt. John Polk and the nephew of Col Thomas Polk and Maj Charles Polk. The key document is as follows:
[BEGIN QUOTE]
The State of Texas, San Augustine County, District Court, October 23rd AD 1846. On this 23rd day of October, 1846 personally appeared in open court now sitting Charles Polk, a resident of San Augustine County, aged eighty six years who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the following declarations in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress, passed June 7th 1832
The Applicant now eighty six years of age & named Charles Polk, a native of Mecklenburg County in North Carolina, who was born on the 18th day of January AD 1760, was too young to be subject to the militia service in the year 1776 but in said year last named volunteered, and as a volunteer was received in the company commanded by Captain James Jack and served in said Company during the Cross Creek expedition against the Tories.
This Company was part of the Mecklenburg Regiment commanded by Colonel Thomas Polk, Lieutenant Colonel Adam Alexander, and Major William Davidson. William Alexander was a Lieut in this Co. He served a tour in the Rifle Company of Volunteers commanded by his father, at the mouth of Cape Fear River where the British Fleet then lay – he served under his Father in said Company at Charleston South Carolina. The Officers in said Compay were Captain John Polk, Lieutenant John Lemons – before going to Charleston General Rutherford had command at Charleston he was under command of General Lee.
He was in the engagement at Sullivan’s Island and under the command of General Moultrie. He served a tour also under Captain James Jack at Snow Camp on Raybon’s Creek in South Carolina where the Tories were defeated – Col Thompson then commanding – from this point he was sent home to attend his cousin William Polk who was wounded in this engagement.
He served also a tour of duty under Captain ___Wiley and was present when this Company had a skirmish with the Tories at Delany’s Lane where four of the Tories were killed and four were taken prisoners.
He was present at Colson’s defeat at the mouth of Rock river when that Station was taken from the British and Tories by General Davidson who there received a wound.
He was under the command of Major Davy when the British took the Town of Charlotte in Mecklenburg County North Carolina, and then serving in the Company commanded by ____ Wiley, Captain, and James White, Lieutenant, also when Captain Bogan and about twenty four privates from Anson County (who were the only Whigs from that County) joined in putting down the Tories.
He was in the engagement at Baties-ford under General Davidson, who was there killed.
He was a private in Captain Fletcher’s Company who were encamped for some time on Robert Lee’s plantation on Rocky River where they took in twelve or fifteen hundred Stand of arms from the Tories – he was also in the same Company on the Pedee river securing arms of the Tories when the battle was fought at Guilford Court house.
He served in the Company of Mounted Rangers under Captain Wiley and Lieutenant McCaleb from Rocky Mount on the Catawba river to the Great Pedee, on Lynche’s Creek in South Carolina – Lieutenant McCaleb was chiefly in command of the privates who were actively engaged as above stated.
While he served he was part of the time under the command his Uncle Major Charles Polk at other times his uncle Colonel Thomas Polk who commanded the 4th Regiment had command of Militia among whom this Applicant was serving at the time.
He was a private in the Company commanded by Charles Polk (who afterwards was Major) and in which ____ Ray ( I think Thomas Ray) was Lieutenant at the taking of Colson’s Station at the mouth of Rocky River, and when the Anson and Montgomery Tories delivered up their arms.
He believes that ____ Bracken was Lieutenant in Captain Fletcher’s Company on Rocky River when the Tories delivered up their arms at that place.
He served in the Revolution as a private for not less than three years, and continuously he thinks, from the taking of Charleston until the close of the revolution & never received any commission.
He served in divers companies, principally under Lieutenants McCaleb, Ray, Wm Ramsey, Jno Lemons under Captains John Polk, Charles Polk, Oliver Wiley, Fletcher, under Majors James White, Charles Polk, Wiley, Colonels Adam Alexander, Thomas Polk Under Generals Rutherford (chiefly until Gates’s defeat at which time he was captured) Sumpter, Lee and Thos Polk.
He received a discharge from Capt Oliver Wiley, one from Captain Charles Polk & what become of them he knows not.
He was 18 years of age when the oath of allegiance, of which the certificate is hereunto appended, was administered to him; and this certificate, inconclusive as it may be, is perhaps the only evidence now available to him, that he was even a citizen of the United States at that time, seventy years ago, since which persons have been born and have died of old age. Some of the most brilliant scenes of that era have faded upon his memory until scarcely a vestage remains behind, to admonish him that such things once were; hence the impossibility of detailing events of that period in the order in which they transpired he resided in North Carolina when he entered the service, afterward in South Carolina, Tennessee, now in Texas.
He also served as Sergeant in a Mounted Spy Company from Stewart County in Tennessee for four months and twenty eight days in the year 1814 being ordered into service then by General Johnson, Father of the Hon. Cave Johnson: to the latter this applicant refers for information acquired in the State of Tennessee – For service during the late War with England this applicant received his pay.
He has never received any pension from a State or from the United States for services rendered during the Revolutionary War by him nor has he at any time heretofore applied for any and he hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any State – he served at short intervals from the commencement to the close of the War of the Revolution.
Sworn to and subscribed in open Court the day and year aforesaid
/s/ Charles Polk [seal]
O.M. Roberts Dist Judge
of 5th Judl. District of the State of Texas
[END QUOTE] [from Revolutionary War Pension File no. R8301]
This sworn statement provides evidence of the highest quality that there was in Mecklenburg County during the Revolutionary War a Captain John Polk, who was the father of this Charles Polk, and that the father Captain John Polk was a brother of Colonel Thomas Polk and of Major Charles Polk.
You might say well, this statement was given late in life, perhaps his memory was faulty. In the first place, I point out that it would not be faulty on so many points all of which points are consistent with each other and with all other evidence from the historical record. And in the second place, I point out that we should keep in mind that this was not a case of an older man trying to recall events that he had not recalled in 60 years; his participation in the Revolutionary War was one of the most important activities in which he participated in his life, and undoubtedly he would have discussed the events of that time and what he and his father and uncles and cousins did thousands of times during his life.
To the contrary, we can place great reliance that this man did indeed know:
-- that he was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina on January 18, 1760 (and naturally this would place his parents in Mecklenburg County on that same date)
-- that his father was John Polk, who was a captain of militia in the Revolutionary War
-- that one of his uncles was Col. Thomas Polk and another uncle was Maj. Charles Polk
-- that his cousin was William Polk who was wounded in the war. (This can only be the William Polk who was the son of Col Thomas Polk who in his autobiography described being wounded in the war.)
Furthermore, because the militia was formed in general on a geographic basis, we can be confident that this Charles Polk who gave this sworn statement and his father John Polk almost certainly lived in the same general area as his uncles Col Thomas Polk and Maj Charles Polk.
Let’s be realistic. No “John Polk” who was prominent enough to be captain of a militia company from Mecklenburg County and who was a member of such a prominent family during this time would be completely invisible in all of the land records, court records, and other family and historical records relating to this place and time. And in fact there are numerous records of a John Polk in this area, all of such records pointing to, and consistent with, the John Polk whose wife was Eleanor and whose brothers included Charles, Thomas and Ezekiel Polk and who lived in the area of that fertile, slightly undulating plain that ran from Charlotte town to Rocky River and where that tightly-knit and multiply-intermarried clan of Polks, Shelbys, Alexanders, Reeses and others settled. You yourself are familiar enough with all of these records.
This undoubtedly being the same John Polk/Eleanor who was appointed Indian Agent to the Catawbas and perhaps for that reason relocated further southwest from the Mecklenburg/Anson counties border area to York District, South Carolina, where he is found in the 1790 and 1800 censuses. And whose children are reasonably believed to include Charles (from the above pension application), John Polk, Shelby Polk, Taylor Polk and Eleanor Polk. Indeed, in the 1800 census for York District, South Carolina we find living together or next to each other (we know this because thankfully the list is NOT alphabetized) the following (with my reasonable inferences as to who they were): John Polk and his wife Eleanor (both over 45) with daughter Eleanor Polk (a female 26-45) and another female 10-16, with one slave; Next door, son Charles Polk (26-44) and his wife (26-44), and probably 5 sons and two daughters, with five slaves; next door, son Taylor Polk (26-44) and his wife (16-25) and son (under 10) and one slave. Unfortunately, the page has been torn so that we cannot see the names of the next thirteen households listed after Taylor Polk on this page; if there were additional Polks listed next, we would have reason to believe those were also part of the family of John & Eleanor Polk.
For the benefit of other people reading this, I will point out as an aside that there is evidence that John Polk was Captain of a militia district at least two years BEFORE the Revolutionary War. In the papers of Henry Eustace McCulloh we find references to Polks including: “A list of deeds in Mecklenburg Co, property of Henry Eustace McCulloh esq, in hands of Col. Thomas Polk, of said county, May 17, 1773” followed by a listing of deeds; and “A list of places left with Capt. John Polk of Mecklenburg Co to dispose for the use of Henry Eustace McCulloh esq May 15 1773 all in Anson Co” followed by a listing of land tracts. See “Abstracts of Henry E McCulloh’s Survey Book and Petition to the Crown and Warrants (Money) Issued in 1787 by Gov. Richard Caswell” by Dr. A.B. Pruitt (1992).
In my view the evidence of John Polk/ES being the father of Charles Polk who made the pension application and therefore part of the same family as Col. Thomas Polk, Maj. Charles Polk, etc., is overwhelming and conclusive.
So if John Polk and Eleanor Shelby were NOT your fourth greatgrandparents, then who WERE your fourth greatgrandparents?
I am going to assume for present purposes that you have correctly identified your third greatgrandparents as the Taylor Polk and Jency Walker who lived in Arkansas beginning in about 1808.
Let’s start with the most solid information I understand there is about the family of Taylor Polk and Jency Walker. That information is the letter, dictated by their daughter Jency Polk Anderson, giving information about the family intended to be sent to Mrs. Angellotti but apparently never sent. As I understand it, that letter reads as follows:
[BEGIN QUOTE]
My father's name was Taylor Polk. My mother's maiden name was Jincy Walker. Their first born was a boy his name was Ben, the second a boy Taylor, the third a boy, Jim, the fourth a boy Cumberland, fifth a girl Patsy, the sixth a boy, William, seventh girl Jincy, eight a boy Alfred. My father Taylor Polk's second wife's name was Polly Warren, their first child a girl was Nelly, second a boy Washington, third Warnell.
My father had three Bros. John, Charley and William. One sister Ellen.
[END QUOTE]
This is fairly high quality evidence, in my view. I would expect her to know who her parents were and who the children of her parents were. And I would expect her to know who her uncles and aunts were, at least the uncles and aunts who were in the Arkansas-Oklahoma-Texas area. I think it possible that if there were siblings of her father who remained behind in North Carolina or Tennessee, then perhaps she might not have been aware of those individuals.
So it appears we have a Polk family in which the children consisted of Taylor Polk, John Polk, Charles Polk, William Polk and Ellen Polk.
Note that Jency Anderson did NOT identify the name of the father of these children. It might have been a John Polk, or a Hugh Polk, or an Andrew Polk, or a Rumpelstiltskin Polk for all we know.
So how did the assertion arise that this family of children was connected to John and Eleanor Polk of Mecklenburg County NC and later York District SC?
Tracing it back, it appears to me that this assertion first appears in Mary Winder Garrett’s article in the October 1997 issue of The American Historical Magazine (Vol II, No. 4), page 386, where she wrote:
[BEGIN QUOTE]
John Polk, fifth child of William Polk and Priscilla (Roberts) Polk, was a soldier in the revolution. He married Eleanor Shelby, and his children were 1, Shelby Polk; 2, Charles Polk; 3. John Polk; 4. Taylor Polk; 5. Eleanor Polk.
Taylor, son of John Polk and Eleanor, his wife, married Jency Walker, and had seven children, viz.: 1, Benjamin Polk; 2, Taylor Polk; 3, James Polk; 4, Cumberland Polk; 5, William Polk; 6, Alfred Polk; 7, Jency Polk.
[END QUOTE]
Of course, right off the bat we have an apparent mistake with the reference to Priscilla Roberts. Setting that aside, we have on the one hand, children identified by Jency Anderson as:
John, Charley, William, Taylor & Ellen
and on the other hand, we have children of John Polk and Eleanor Shelby that are believed to include
John, Charles, Shelby, Taylor & Eleanor
Well, that’s pretty close. It’s a little bit of a square peg into a round hole, but if we pretend that William Polk and Shelby Polk are the same person, then we can force that square peg into that hole.
I suggest that what likely happened was that Miss Winder, or whoever gave her this information, looked at these two lists of children, and concluding that it would be quite a coincidence if they were not the same family, just went ahead and assumed they were the same family, connecting dots that in reality, may not have been connected at all. Then William Harrison Polk and Mrs. Angellotti repeated the purported connection in their own writings.
Mrs. Angellotti apparently contacted descendants of Taylor Polk and Jency Walker seeking information. We know this first of all because of the letter written by Jency Anderson, which was said to be prepared to be given to Emma Angellotti, but never sent.
And we know this secondly because of the following bit of information that Mrs. Angellotti included in a footnote to her data on Taylor Polk and Jency Walker, which I consider important:
“Taylor Polk was married when he was but seventeen years old, and boasted that he ‘stood six feet two in his stockings’ at that age.” (p. 20 of the reprint of “The Polks of North Carolina and Tennessee”)
This kind of information can only have come from the family of Taylor Polk and Jency Walker. Mrs. Angellotti may have been a little sloppy here and there, and she certainly was not careful to cite her sources, but there is no reason to believe she fraudulently manufactured information out of thin air for inclusion in her work.
Mrs. Angellotti also stated on that page that Taylor Polk and Jency Walker were married on November 1, 1798.
So why do I suggest that Miss Garrett connected dots that may not in reality have been connected at all? Because when we begin to examine the facts of this family, evidence contradicting the claimed connection to John Polk & Eleanor Shelby arises.
1. First, as already mentioned, one family has a Shelby Polk as a child, while the other family has a William Polk. This problem was “solved” by pretending that Shelby Polk and William Polk were the same person.
2. The Taylor Polk who married Jency Walker was 17 years old when he married in 1798, placing his birth in 1780 or 1781. However, the Taylor Polk who lived next door to John & Eleanor Polk in the 1800 census in York District, South Carolina and who was probably their son, was between 26-44 years old in that census, placing his birth at or before 1774.
3. Benjamin Polk, the son of Taylor Polk who married Jency Walker, is believed to have been born in 1799 and it was stated in Census reports that he was born in North Carolina (there is one such report that states Tennessee, but I think likely that information was erroneously given to the census-taker by someone else in the household). Yet the Taylor Polk who was the son of John Polk and Eleanor Shelby was living in South Carolina at the time of the 1800 Census.
4. Other sons of Taylor Polk and Jency Walker including and consisting of, according to Mrs. Angellotti, Taylor Polk, born 1800, James Polk, born 1801 and William Polk, born August 7, 1803 were born in Tennessee, according to Mrs. Angellotti. However, we know that the Taylor Polk who was the son of John Polk & Eleanor Shelby was still in South Carolina in 1803, because he witnessed his mother Eleanor Polk’s will on May 6, 1803 and was present in court on October 31, 1803 where Taylor Polk made oath that he was present at the signing of the will on May 6, 1803. Now it may be that the birth years for some of these sons of Taylor Polk and Jency Walker are incorrect as given by Mrs. Angellotti; but if there is reasonable evidence that any of these were born in 1803 or before and somewhere other than South Carolina, then we have a contradiction.
One, maybe two discrepancies one could perhaps explain away, but I have to tell you Bill that it looks like what we have here are two different Taylor Polks.
So getting back to the original question, if John Polk and Eleanor Shelby were NOT the parents of the Taylor Polk who married Jency Walker, then who WERE the parents of that Taylor Polk?
Well, as I noted above, the information from Jency Anderson did not state who the father was of the Taylor Polk who married Jency Walker.
But we do have a reasonable starting point. Taylor Polk was a youth of only 17 when he married Jency Walker, stated to be on November 1, 1798. His son Benjamin Polk is believed to have born in North Carolina in 1799. So we would look for a Polk family in North Carolina around 1800 and before that fits the profile of Taylor Polk and his brothers and sister.
In fact, there is a quite promising candidate for the father of Taylor Polk who fits that criteria. That person is John Polk the weaver of Burke and Tryon/Lincoln Counties, North Carolina (whom you refer to as “John Polk/BNC”**).
Let me start by first setting forth the abstract of a deed record which sparked the chain of thought I am laying out for you now, which record I do not recall seeing in your October 2007 listing of records pertaining to John Polk/BNC:
From Abstracts of Deeds: Lincoln Co, NC 1783-193 (Books 3, 4 & 16) by Dr. A.B. Pruitt:
“359. Nov. 26, 1788 John Polk, weaver (“Burke Lincoln” Co) to William Moore (Lincoln Co); for 100L sold 200 ac on waters of Crowders Cr; border: Richard Venable’s corner; granted Feb. 28, 1775 to John Polk. Signed John Polk. Witness Samuel Taylor, J Thomson, & James Johnson. Rec. Jan. 1789. Book 3 p. 451; Book 15 p. 142.”
There is little doubt in my mind that this John Polk the weaver, who described himself as being of both Burke and Lincoln Counties, is the same as your “John Polk/BNC” (the same being the one who appears in the 1790 Census in Burke Co. with 2 white males over 16, 4 white males under 16 years and 3 white females).
Isn’t it interesting that here we have a man named Samuel TAYLOR witnessing John Polk the weaver’s deed. Perhaps there is no particular significance to this. On the other hand, is it possible that John Polk the weaver had a connection to a Taylor family? Why not? Why should we assume the answer is no? For all we know, his wife Agnes may have been a Taylor. Or maybe his mother was a Taylor. Or some other connection. It might well be the case that among his sons John Polk the weaver had a son named Taylor Polk, which Taylor Polk married Jency Walker in 1798 probably in Burke county NC where his father lived (and NOT in York Co SC) and which son Taylor Polk had a son Benjamin born 1799 there in North Carolina (and NOT in South Carolina) and who later removed to somewhere in Tennessee and ultimately Arkansas. Yes, sure it would be a slight coincidence that John Polk the weaver and John Polk/ES both had sons named Taylor, but sometimes coincidences do happen.
Let’s take a more in-depth look at this John Polk the weaver, starting with a probable chronology of likely events relating to him:
Late-1760s (probably): John Polk the weaver settled on a 400-acre tract of land on both sides of Crooked Run of First Broad River. This land is located in the northern part of what is now Cleveland County. At the time he settled it, it was probably in Tryon County, or if earlier than 1768, then in Mecklenburg County. We know that he probably was the first settler on this land, because in the deed selling this land in 1778 (listed down below in this chronology) John Polk stated that the land included “his own improvement.” This was probably a log cabin and some cleared fields. This land was located on a “path” between a place called “Polk” and a place called “Davises.” That he lived near another place called “Polk” I believe is quite important, and strongly suggests that Polks lived or had lived nearby, perhaps his father or a brother. The time of settlement is an educated guess on my part; you could find more information on when tracts of land at this location were first settled by locating this land exactly, identifying the neighbors and looking at the land records and historical sources to determine when this part of the headwaters of the First Broad River was settled. I suspect, from the ages of his likely children, that John Polk the weaver and his wife Agnes settled down upon this tract after getting married, and perhaps prior thereto he was living with his father at the place called “Polk” nearby, but this of course is speculation.
1775 -- February 28. 200 acres granted to John Polk on the waters of Crowders Creek in Tryon County. Crowders Creek runs through what is now southern Gaston County into South Carolina and empties into the Catawba River. One can’t tell from the date of the grant alone when he moved onto this tract. If the area he had settled on in what is now northern Cleveland County became more dangerous because of Cherokee hostility, perhaps he moved his family to this location for safety.
1777 – Burke County formed from part of Rowan County (Rowan and Burke Counties being north of the Granville line).
1778 – March 19. John Polk and his wife Agnes of Tryon County sell the land he had settled on in what is now northern Cleveland County (Crooked Run of First Broad River). ("p. 408-410 19 Mar 1778, John Polk & wife Agness of Tryon Co. to Wm Hanna of Camden Dist, SC for L 100 ...and on both sides of Crooked Run of First Broad river including his own improvement near a path leading from Polk to Davises, 400 a...John Polk (seal) Agnis Polk (0) Seal Wit (Vel or Uel) Lamkin, Samuel Wallace Rec Oct term 1778")
1778 – Spring probably. I suspect that around the time he sold the land in now northern Cleveland County, he moved to a tract of land consisting of 82 acres at a location about 20 miles or so northwest of the northern Cleveland County tract, on the south side of Bobes Creek off of Muddy Creek. I haven’t located Bobes Creek, but the mouth of Muddy Creek is in what is now Burke County, and further up the creek it consists of two branches flowing through what is now McDowell County (near the border with Burke County), with the sources near the border of what is now Rutherford County. I suspect this because later this year he starts the years-long process of acquiring a warrant, obtaining a survey and receiving a final grant of the tract of the land at this location, in the following steps: Step One: December 1778 – John Polk receives a substituted warrant for land. Step Two: The survey under this warrant is ordered March 1780. Step Three: The survey was completed April 1784.
1779 – Tryon County renamed Lincoln County and Rutherford County formed out of the western part thereof.
1787 – John Polk receives final grant to land no 1034 in Burke County. Is this the final grant for the Bobes Creek/Muddy Creek land? I don’t know, I haven’t seen the paperwork but I suspect so.
1788 – November 26. John Polk sells the 200 acres of land he was granted back in February 1775 in probably what is now southern Gaston County. (“359. Nov. 26, 1788 John Polk, weaver (“Burke Lincoln” Co) to William Moore (Lincoln Co); for 100L sold 200 ac on waters of Crowders Cr; border: Richard Venable’s corner; granted Feb. 28, 1775 to John Polk. Signed John Polk. Witness Samuel Taylor, J Thomson, & James Johnson. Rec. Jan. 1789. Book 3 p. 451; Book 15 p. 142.”)
So it appears that John Polk of Burke and Lincoln Counties maintained two tracts of land for this period of 13 years or more, one a northern tract (first location in what is now northern Cleveland County, second location 20 miles away in what is now eastern McDowell County along the border with Burke County and perhaps Rutherford County) and a southern tract (located on Crowders Creek probably in what is now southern Gaston County). Why he maintained the two locations, which were fairly far apart, I don’t know, but further investigation might supply an explanation. It may simply be that the Gaston County location was considered safer during the war years (except the year Cornwallis invaded North Carolina) and during the times of danger on the frontier, he had his family living at the Gaston County location. After 1788 it appears he maintained only the northern tract.
1790 Census of Burke County, NC – Jno Polk: 2 males 16+, 4 males <16, 3 females. Could this profile fit your Polk family? Looks like it fits quite well, if we speculate as follows:***
1 male over 16: John Polk the weaver
1 female: wife Agnes Polk (if she is still alive, or perhaps a second wife; I raise this point because the abstract for the 1788 land sale did not show Agnes signing the deed)
1 male over 16: son William Polk
1 male under 16: son Charley Polk
1 male under 16: son John Polk
1 male under 16: son Taylor Polk
1 male under 16: a son of William Polk if he was married by now
1 female: Ellen Polk unless she was married and elsewhere by now, in which case perhaps a daughter of William Polk if he was married by now
1 female: a wife of William Polk if he was married by now
no slaves
This actually fits your family pretty well – certainly we can say that there is no reason from the breakdown of this 1790 Census why this could not be your family.
1790s tax data: Union soldiers destroyed much of Burke County’s records. There are a few tax records in the late 1790s that survived. According to the transcription that appears in Volume IV of “Burke County North Carolina Records“ many names on these lists are unreadable. Nevertheless, we find John Polk with 96 acres (pretty close the 82 acres in the land records) and one poll living in Capt. Morrison’s district, so this appears to me to likely be John Polk the weaver. He does not appear on tax lists thereafter, so perhaps he died about this time. Or maybe he appears in the records of Rutherford County after this time, which I have not looked at.
1800 Census of Morgan Township, Rutherford County, NC – William Polk. Why am I including this Census record for William Polk in this chronology? Well, Morgan Township was within Rutherford County along the border of what is now McDowell County, according to a history of Rutherford County I consulted. In 1787, part of Burke County was annexed to Rutherford County. See http://www.ncgenweb.us/burke/burkform.htm Perhaps it was the case that this William Polk was living on the same 82-acre tract of land that John Polk the weaver had in Burke County, except at a later point in time considered to be within Rutherford County. One would have to identify the specific location of that 82-acre tract of land to know for sure, which I have not done. Or it might have been the case that John Polk the weaver had died and William Polk moved the remaining family just over the border to a new location that was within Rutherford County. I don’t know, but in either case we should take a serious look at this William Polk.
William Polk: males 3 1 2 1 0 females 1 1 0 1 0
Could this profile fit your Polk family? We could speculate as follows, on the assumption that John Polk the weaver and his wife were deceased by this time:
1 male 26-45 William Polk son of John Polk the weaver
1 male 16-25 Charley Polk son of John Polk the weaver
1 male 16-25 John Polk son of John Polk the weaver
1 male 10-16 son of William Polk – this would correspond to the possible son of William identified above in the 1790 Census
3 males < 10 more sons of William Polk
1 female 26-45 wife of William Polk
1 female 10-16 daughter of William Polk – this would correspond to the possible daughter of William identified above in the 1790 Census
1 female <10 daughter of William Polk
no slaves
Where is Taylor Polk? One might imagine that the teen-aged couple Taylor and Jency with their recently-born infant were living with the Walker in-laws, where Jency’s mother could help with the baby. That would be a natural place to find them. Indeed, maybe the Walker family went to Tennessee about this time and took the teen-aged couple and baby with them – that would be consistent with the notion that the next few children of Taylor and Jency were born in Tennessee.
1804 – March 21. John Polk sells to Benjamin Wilson a tract of land in Burke County. Proved by W.J. McRee; January Sessions 1805. From “Burke Co. Deeds Registered 1804-1813” by Katherine G. Sullivan (1995).
Other than references to a man whose name I think is likely Daniel Pogue or Polgue,**** the foregoing are the only references to Polks that I find in this area. I draw your attention to the fact that we have here in this area a record of a William Polk (1790 census) and a John Polk (1804 land sale), which names are included among the names Jency Anderson gave as brothers of her father Taylor Polk. After the 1804 land sale, perhaps these remaining Polks went west, for I do not find any further references to them (although there may be such references).
Let us consider the Walker family for a moment.
When a male youth of only 17 years of age living in a rural area gets married, we can be sure that in almost every case the girl he is marrying is a girl from a neighboring farm or at least the same church congregation. If Benjamin Polk was indeed born in 1799, and if we knew the month in 1799 in which he was born, and if it is true that Taylor Polk and Jency Walker were married on November 1,1798, then the event that prompted a 17-year old male youth to get married might be made clear.
So, do we find a Walker family living near the John Polk the weaver family?
Yes, we do. The 1800 Rutherford County Census is alphabetized, so therefore less helpful (and perhaps the Walkers and Taylor & Jency Polk may have left the area by then anyway), but a look at the 1790 Census for Burke County (which is not alphabetized) reveals, on the very same page as John Polk, in the very next column, the household of Jno Walker, who has:
1 male 16 and over
3 males under 16
2 females
It might well be the case that one of those females in that household in the 1790 Census is a little girl named Jency Walker who would become your third greatgrandmother.
Of course her family might well be a different Walker family, because in fact there are several Walker households in Burke and Rutherford Counties in the 1790 census.
Or maybe the father of Jency Walker was an Alexander Walker, as was claimed early on, or a Tandy Walker, as was claimed later on, but in looking into this there does not appear to be any actual evidence at the foundation of either assertion.
In considering who the parents were of John Polk & Jency Walker, one should take into account the evidence of Indian ancestry.
First, the evidence, quoting from Dawes Commission file MCR 4560 “Taylor Polk et. al,” in which Taylor Polk, grandson of the Taylor Polk who married Jency Walker, appeared before the Commission at Atoka, Indian Territory on June 4, 1900 and made application for himself and child as citizens of the Choctaw Nation.*****
[BEGIN QUOTE (RELEVANT EXCERPTS ONLY)]
Question: State your name?
Answer: Taylor Polk.
Question: What is your age?
Answer: I was born in '39 (1839). He indicates his residence and postoffice address as Davis, Indian Territory.
Question: Are you a Choctaw?
Answer: That is what I have been taught and what I claim.
Question: What is the name of your father?
Answer: Taylor Polk.
Question: Is he living?
Answer: No sir.
Question: Was he on the Choctaw roll?
Answer: I don't think he was.
Question: What is the name of your mother?
Answer: Prudence Anderson.
Question: Is she living?
Answer: No sir.
Question: Was she on the Choctaw rolls?
Answer: I am not claiming it on my mother; it is on my father.
Question: Did you apply to the Dawes Commission in '96 (1896)?
Answer: Yes sir.
Question: Were you admitted or rejected?
Answer: I was rejected but my mother had some Cherokee blood in her and I applied for citizenship in the Cherokee nation and was rejected there; I never applied in the Choctaw Nation.
Question: What proportion of Choctaw blood do you claim?
Answer: The evidence I am giving you is just what I have been taught from my father, and I suppose he was about a quarter.
[Among the supporting affidavits were submitted the following:]
By the joint ex parte affidavit of Manervia Anderson and Joseph Freeman, it is attempted to be shown that affiants were acquainted with the father and grandmother of the principal applicant, the latter of whom (grandmother) ... was named Mrs. Patsy Polk (nee Walker) at Doaksville, Indian Territory, and that said persons enjoyed all the rights and privileges of Choctaw Indians by blood and were recognized as such.
By the ex parte affidavit of Jonas Frazier it is attempted to be shown that the affiant was acquainted with one Patsy Polk (nee Walker) and her son Taylor Polk, grandmother and father of the principal applicant, near Doaksville, Choctaw Nation, between the years 1836 and 1844, and alleges that said persons were part Mississippi Choctaw Indians by blood.
By the joint ex parte affidavit of F.M. Shipp and Sarah D. Shipp it is attempted to be shown that affiants were acquainted with the entire family of Taylor Polk, deceased, father of the principal applicant, in Pike County, Arkansas between the years 1857 and 1865 and know them to be part Mississippi Choctaw Indians by blood, and that affiants were present at the wedding of Taylor Polk Jr., the principal applicant herein, and his wife, Mary Ann Petty, on the 21st day of August, 1859.
Pedigree (Excerpts)
Patsy Polk, nee Walker, claim Choctaw, name of husband not given; (son) Taylor Polk Sr., dead, claim Choctaw, married Prudence Anderson, dead, Cherokee.
Henry Anderson married Bettie Mitchel, ½ Cherokee; (son) James Anderson married Fannie Griffin, 1/2 Cherokee; (daughter) Prudence Anderson, dead, Cherokee, married Taylor Polk Sr., dead, claim Choctaw
[END QUOTE]
To summarize, the grandson of Taylor Polk who married Jency Walker, testified, under oath, that he “was taught” and “claimed” that his father, the son of Taylor Polk and Jency Walker, was one-quarter Mississippi Choctaw Indian, based on the parentage of his mother Jency Walker (whom he calls “Patsy Polk (nee Walker)”******). In other words, according to this testimony, Jency Walker was one-half Mississippi Choctaw Indian.
The claim was rejected by the Commission apparently by reason of the fact that there was no evidence the Choctaw tribal authorities had ever recognized his family as members of the Mississippi Choctaws.
If the 17 year-old Taylor Polk who married Jency Walker really was from North Carolina, as indicated by the place of birth of his son Benjamin Polk, and married a local girl, then it would be quite surprising to find that his young wife was half Mississippi Choctaw. This would be the case whether his father was John Polk the weaver, John Polk who married Eleanor Shelby or any other Polk family in North Carolina.
But it would not be at all surprising to find that Jency Walker was half Cherokee. There was quite a lot of intermarriage with the Cherokees in western North Carolina. And if we return our focus in particular to John Polk the weaver as the possible father of Taylor Polk who married Jency Walker, the general location of his land in Burke County appears to lie along a main trading route into the Cherokee lands (the “Old Cherokee Path to Virginia”), if the map of Indian trails at the following site is accurate: http://ncnatural.com/maps/pathsandtowns.jpg
So it would be quite consistent with the historical context if Jency Walker’s father, from his location in, say, Burke/Rowan County or Rutherford/Tryon County, had been trading with the Cherokees down the Old Cherokee Path and had married a Cherokee woman.
It may be that Taylor Polk, in his testimony before the Commission, let the cat out of the bag when he referred to having had Cherokee blood. The manner in which he answered questions raises a red flag in my view; note how he was always careful to hedge his answer with “so I was taught.” By doing so, if unexpectedly confronted with evidence that his grandmother was really Cherokee and not Choctaw, he could evade a perjury charge by claiming he was told this in private conversations with his father when his father was still alive, which assertion would be impossible to refute. On the other hand, perhaps he was being completely honest. And perhaps Jency Walker really was half Mississippi Choctaw.
I wonder whether a mitochondrial DNA test would reveal whether you have matches with haplotypes of Indian tribes and could distinguish between Cherokee and Choctaw.
Let me now offer some speculation on the origins of John Polk the weaver. There are so few facts to go on here, that all can I offer you is some speculation, but perhaps my speculation may prove a constructive path for your future research.
Let’s go back to John Polk’s land on Crooked Run off of the First Broad River in what is now northern Cleveland County. John Polk stated that the land included “his own improvement” so it is likely he was the first settler on this land. And this tract was stated as located on a “path” between a place called “Polk” and a place called “Davises.”
When we consider the ages of John Polk the weaver’s apparent children from the 1790 census, I suggest that he was likely quite a young man, probably a newlywed, when he first settled on this land, perhaps in the late 1760s or so. The fact that it was on a path from another place called “Polk” suggests to me the possibility that the nearby place called “Polk” was where the parents of this young John Polk the weaver lived.******* Looking at a map, I wonder whether the place now known as Polkville was this place “Polk” from colonial times. Or perhaps the name Polkville is of more recent origin; if I were you I would investigate that.
So who might have been the head of that Polk family from which young John Polk the weaver might have come? There are a number of possibilities I can think of (no doubt among many others) for which there is at least some support in the historical record.
Possibility No. 1: The father of John Polk the weaver could have been a son of one of the three Polk brothers who settled on the waters of Octoraro Creek in 1727. Recall that Nathaniel Ewing, in his 1844 letter to President Polk, said as follows:
[BEGIN QUOTE]
In the year seventeen hundred and eighty eight I found living on Cripple Creek one of the head branches of the New River a numerous band of my relatives desendants of those who had removed from Cumberland County Pa. and from the old settlement in Cecil County, MD. I understood that the Polks had settled further south in Carolina. In this tour I found my relatives scatted from Prince Edward Co. Va. through Bortitort Wythe Washington and down to Knoxvill, all the desendants of the emigrants of seventeen hundred and twenty seven.
[END QUOTE]
If Ewing was indeed correct that a branch of the 1727 Octoraro Creek Polks settled down in Carolina, then perhaps that was the family who established themselves at this place “Polk” on the waters of the First Broad Creek in what is now northern Cleveland County. That might have been as early as the 1750s.
My impression is that there are many male-line descendants of the three Octoraro Creek Polk brothers living today in the United States, many I think going under the name Pollock. If your DNA were to match the DNA of these Polk/Pollock descendants, then this possibility no. 1 may be the reason why.
Possibility No. 2: In “A Record of the Descendants of John Alexander, of Lanarkshire, Scotland, and His Wife, Margaret Glasson, Who Emigrated from County Armagh, Ireland, to Chester County, Pennsylvania, A.D. 1736,” by the Rev. John E. Alexander (1878), it is asserted as follows, beginning at p. 11:
[BEGIN QUOTE]
John Alexander...[h]aving married Margaret Glasson, daughter of Ronald Glasson, he emigrated first to County Armagh, Ireland, and after residing there a few years he came to America in 1736....Besides his three sons, Hugh, James and John, and his daughters, Rachel and Margaret, there came also with him to America his two nephews, Hugh and James, and his niece, who had married a Mr. Polk in Ireland.
It is uncertain whether they landed at Philadelphia or at New Castle, Del., but it is clear that they made their first settlement in West Nottingham, in Chester county, Pa., and on the east side of the Octorara Creek, near to the Maryland line....
After residing a few years in Chester county our small colony divided and dispersed. The nephews, James and Hugh Alexander, with Mr. and Mrs. Polk, went to Mecklenberg county, N.C....
[END QUOTE]
So perhaps this “Mr. Polk” who supposedly came down to Mecklenburg County at a very early date (in the late 1740s? early 1750s?) with these Alexanders according to this information, was the father of John Polk the weaver. I also wonder whether or not, given the fact that these Alexanders are said to have settled on Octoraro Creek where the 1727 Polks already were, the “niece” actually married this “Mr. Polk” after arriving in America in the Octoraro Creek settlement, and not back in Ireland, in which case this possibility no. 2 may in fact be the same as possibility no. 1.
Possibility No. 3:
Quoting from the Draper Manuscripts material I know you are already familiar with:
[BEGIN QUOTE]
There Andw. Linn, Sr. when he grew up, married, raised six children -- two daughters, name not recollected, one of them married a John Polk & emigrated to Carolina, to the neighborhood or region of Mecklenburg -- then Andw. (the father of my informant) born in 1732; then Col. Wm. Linn, born in 1734; then Nathan born in 1736; & the youngest Benjamin born in 1738.... Andw. Linn, the Elder lost his wife, and subsequently, about 1750, emigrated with this family to the western frontier of Maryland, near where Fort Frederick on the Potomac was subsequently erected about half way between Hancock and Hagerstown, about 3 miles below Licking Creek....With Adrw. Linn, came his brother Thos. Linn and family.
[END QUOTE]
So the father of John Polk the weaver might be the John Polk who married Andrew Linn’s daughter and went down to the region of Mecklenburg County. (If this were so, one wouldn’t be surprised if the John Polk who married Andrew Linn’s daughter had a son named Andrew Polk, and I understand there is a reference to an Andrew Polk in Tryon/Lincoln deed records.)
I have previously set forth in posts on this forum information suggesting that this John Polk who married the Linn daughter might be the son of Thomas Polk of Aston Township near Philadelphia. I think it very likely that Thomas Polk of Aston came from Ireland. If he were part of the waves of Polks who came from Coleraine, as apparently did the 1727 Octoraro Creek Polks as well as families who came into Carlisle PA in the 1750s and 1760s, then your DNA match with other Polks and Pollocks might be indistinguishable from possibilities No. 1 and 2 set forth above, even if possibility no. 3 were indeed the case.
Possibility No. 4:
There was a William Pollock who purchased land in the Borden tract in Virginia in 1765, which land was near the border of present Rockbridge and Augusta Counties, close to Steeles Tavern, VA. The 1768 Augusta County records indicate that William Pollock had gone to “Carolina.” Perhaps he settled at the place called “Polk” in what is now northern Cleveland County and was the father of John Polk the weaver. I’ve also wondered whether this William Pollock might be William, the son of William Polk & Margaret Taylor because after appearing as William Jr. in a 1757 estates record, William Jr. seems to disappear from North Carolina records for many years.
Possibility No. 5:
The father of John Polk the weaver might be Charles Polke the Indian Trader. I believe you are aware of this theory. Perhaps after the death of Charles Polke, as a young orphan he was bound out to learn the trade of weaver. However, John G. Kester, the author of “Charles Polke: Indian Trader of the Potomac, 1703-1753” which appeared in Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol 90, No. 4, believes John Polk the son of Charles Polke the Indian Trader settled on Raccoon Creek in Washington County, PA in 1774 and was likely the John Polke killed in September 1777 at Foreman’s Defeat.
Possibility No. 6:
The father of John Polk the weaver originated with the Darlington, SC Polks who are reputed to be descendants of Thomas Polk, reputed son of Robert Polk & Grace Gullett.
To summarize: I believe the assertion that your third greatgrandfather, Taylor Polk, was the son of John Polk and Eleanor Shelby to be highly questionable. I think a more likely candidate for the father of Taylor Polk who married Jency Walker is John Polk the weaver, who lived in Tryon/Lincoln and Burke counties in North Carolina. If I were you, I would seriously investigate that possibility as your most likely ancestors. However, if that doesn’t pan out, I would look at other Polks, Pollocks, Pogues, etc. who were living in North Carolina at the relevant time.********
Good luck with your search. I hope you will continue to let us readers of the GenForum know how it goes.
S.C. Connor
__________
* I acknowledge there is also the statement by Col. William Polk of Raleigh in his autobiography that the family had “emigrated from Ireland about the year 1722 and settled on the Eastern Shore of Maryland; where they resided untill about the year 1740 when they removed into the State of Pennsylvania and in the neighborhood of Carlisle.” But it is clear from Col William Polk in his autobiography that he knew little about his family beyond his grandfather, and therefore it would be a mistake to place too great a weight on that one statement. Indeed, the year 1722 might well be the exact year William Polk moved from southern Maryland to the New Munster community on the Maryland/Delaware border (which New Munster community was formed by families, such as the Alexanders and the Wallaces, who had relocated from southern Maryland to that location).
** I point out that I do not believe it possible that the John Polk who was a sergeant in the North Carolina Continental Line, served 84 months, and whose heirs received a land warrant for that service is the same person as John Polk the weaver, because it appears that John Polk the weaver was still alive in September 1785 when Peter Polk, the heir of Sergeant John Polk, assigned his rights to Sergeant John Polk’s land warrant. As an aside, I point out that the Peter Polk who was his heir need not have been a son of that Sergeant John Polk but could have been a brother or other relative. As I understand it, you have not ascertained in what unit Sergeant Polk served or even what part of North Carolina he was from, and neither have I.
*** One Polk researcher has speculated that the sons of John Polk the weaver may be a William Polk, a Richard Polk, a John Polk and a Joseph Lee Polk, which individuals appear in Tennessee records. This may simply be speculation about whether certain Polks found in Tennessee might be sons of John Polk the weaver, but obviously this should be investigated to determine whether there exists or can be found any evidence tying any of these Polks to John Polk the weaver. I understand there is evidence that Joseph Lee Polk was born in Mecklenburg County NC, which if true would likely rule him out as a possible son of John Polk the Weaver. See http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.polk/118/mb.ashx and http://searches2.rootsweb.com/th/read/NCBURKE/2000-04/0955060529.
**** This man sometimes appears in tax lists as Daniel Polke. In my view, the most accurate information on the spelling of this man’s name would likely be deeds and legal proceedings, as to which there are:
“Polgue [or Pogue?], Daniel to Albert Corpenny Bill of Sale for a Negro Slave Abram dated 29 October 1806 proved by Jacob Corpenning; January Sessions 1807”
“Polgue, Daniel to Peter Limboh for 350 acres dated 15 March 1802 proved by James Erwin; July Sessions 1810”
[these two references are from “Burke Co. Deeds Registered 1804-1813” by Katherine G. Sullivan (1995)]
February 1805 legal dispute in superior court Mary Jones & Elizabeth Ashe vs James Smith & Daniel Pogue. [from “Petitions for Land Grant Suspensions in North Carolina 1776-1836, Part 2” by Dr. A.B. Pruitt (1993).
He appears as “Daniel Polk” with 150 acres in the 1796 tax list of Capt Andrew Beard of Burke County, a different militia district than the one in which John Polk is found.
Daniel Polk received a 1799 land grant on Smokey Creek in Burke County, which appears to me likely to be in what is now Caldwell County, almost two counties away in modern terms from where John Polk the weaver appears to be.
In the 1800 census for Burke County, he may be the man listed as Daniel Page with 2 men 26-44 and 5 slaves.
So there is good reason to think this Daniel Pogue or Polge or Polk is not part of John Polk the Weaver’s family, but I certainly do not exclude the possibility, and in any event one should not put too much weight on differences in spelling.
***** The text of Taylor Polk’s deposition before the Commission was reprinted in “The Gems of Pike County Arkansas,” Vol VI No. 3, Summer 1995.
****** We should note the inconsistency between the name Jency Walker, named as the wife of Taylor Polk by his daughter Jency Anderson, and the name Patsy Walker, named here as Taylor’s grandmother by Taylor Polk and by the people who made affidavits. “Patsy” was typically used as a nickname for “Martha.” http://www.geocities.com/edgarbook/names/p/patsy.html This inconsistency may be important. Were there two wives, one named Jency and one named Martha? If so, which one was really a Walker?
******* It strikes as me very unlikely, but perhaps not impossible, that the “Polk” reference referred to Ezekiel Polk’s place all the way down near King’s Mountain.
******** There is a Hugh Pollock/Polk who is found in Tryon/Lincoln and Mecklenburg County records beginning in the 1760s.
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