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Overview
(1803-1891) Sarah Childress Polk was born September 4th, 1803 to Joel and Elizabeth Childress of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The daughter of a wealthy planter, Sarah received a well above average education for a woman of the time. Sarah met her husband and future U.S. president James Knox Polk in Murfreesboro, and the two were married January 1st, 1824. Sarah Polk took an active part in her husband’s political campaigns, providing advice, copying correspondence and working behind the scenes to aid James K. Polk’s endeavors. She was successful, and in 1845, James K. Polk was elected the 11th President of the United States. Sarah took great pride in being a humble but social host, notable in her deeply religious stands against gambling, hard liquor and dancing. After the death of her husband in 1849, Sarah Polk lived in Nashville at a home known as Polk Place. There she would live with her adopted grandniece, Sarah Polk Jetton, and would host such guests as Ulysses Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, Rutherford B. Hayes and Grover Cleveland. Sarah Polk is the longest widowed first lady in American history, outliving her husband by 42 years. Information provided by Tom Price, Director of The Maury County Archives
