Sarah Childress Polk [SEP] position held
Sarah Childress Polk
Sarah Polk ("née" Childress; September 4, 1803 – August 14, 1891) was the First Lady of the United States from 1845 to 1849. She was the wife of the 11th President of the United States, James K. Polk.
Early life and education.
Sarah Childress was born in 1803 to Elizabeth Whitsitt and Joel Childress, a prominent planter, merchant, and land speculator — the third of their six children. She was well educated for a woman of her
in 1886 and is buried in Nashville.
Early life.
Elias Polk was born into slavery in 1806 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He and his mother were held by Samuel Polk, was a surveyor.
Career.
Samuel gave Elias, then 18-years-old, to his son James K. Polk as a gift upon the latter's wedding to Sarah Childress in 1824, as was often the custom in slaveholding families. Elias Polk worked as a "body servant," or valet, and "coachman